STREAM 2: The LINCAM AgTech Cluster

不可避免的农业粮食系统需要为所有人提供负担得起的健康食品。然而，现在人们普遍认为，粮食生产带来了不可接受的环境和社会成本。它占英国温室气体排放总量的24%，导致了严重的生物多样性损失，并引发了具有挑战性的社会问题，尤其是季节性工人涌入农村社区。此外，农民承受着来自主要供应链参与者的无情成本压力，这侵蚀了供应链公平和当地经济。这些挑战是严峻的，尤其是在大林肯郡和北剑桥郡（LINCAM地区），英国主要的农作物农业和相关供应链的生产中心。虽然没有解决这些挑战的灵丹妙药，但同时推动经济和环境/社会生产力的农业技术（AgTech）具有关键作用。LINCAM供应链的重要性和规模已经建立了一个全国知名的农业技术集群，尤其是林肯大学和剑桥大学。这两所高等教育学院都专注于跨学科的农业食品创新，专注于包括机器人和人工智能在内的数字技术，以提高生产率。他们的工作与更广泛的公民社会建立了密切的工作关系，并在整个行业中共同创造。对于这个已建立的集群，LINCAM命题支持下一步的更改。我们将利用农业技术帮助解决非洲中部地区和全球农业生产力面临的一些最艰巨的挑战。我们将通过以下方式交付一个阶梯式变更：通过向所有希望从农业科技创新中发展影响的英国高等教育机构提供LINCAM集群访问来扩大参与。活动将包括与领先的商业和社会合作伙伴广泛的共同创造，以及直接培训和资助影响交付。为了嵌入影响交付行为，所有奖项都将具有里程碑式的意义（通过/不通过），并伴随着积极的获奖前、获奖中和获奖后指导。2. 与领先的企业和公民社会（GLLEP， CPCA，林肯郡议会和西林赛区议会）进行广泛的KE，以了解和减少采用的障碍。活动将包括直接支持民间行动者制定地方工业战略、锁定外国直接投资、地方规划、基础设施和社区发展。LINCAM项目使集群能够巩固并交付新生的开发目标。这包括在林肯以北实现全国重要的农业增长区；我们的目标是将大学的Riseholme校区转变为农业科技的全球创新中心。通过为整个地区和英国高等教育机构的农业科技创新嵌入共同创造和人力技能，确保遗产。我们的目标是使LINCAM地区成为世界农业科技的门户，使技术在一个具有工业规模的地方发展，为农业科技公司提供出口机会，并在农业科技和初级生产部门提供内向投资机会。我们的主要区域合作伙伴是公民社会和工业部门，支持88,000个工作岗位，产生38亿英镑的GVA，农场占英国一级土地的50%。然而，尽管规模如此之大，基于地点的影响的机会是巨大的。整个地区的社会剥夺和成就是紧迫的问题，许多公民得不到充分的服务。LINCAM提供了一个确保可持续增长的机会，为该地区带来高价值和技术工作，同时减轻粮食生产系统对环境的严重影响。

The unavoidable agri-food system needs to provide affordable and healthy food for all. However, it is now widely accepted that food production comes with an unacceptable environmental and social costs. It accounts for 24% of all UK GHG emissions, led to significant biodiversity losses and driven challenging social issues not least from seasonal worker influxes to rural communities. In addition, farmers are under relentless cost pressure from dominant supply chain actors, eroding supply chain equity and local economies. These challenges are acute, not least across Greater Lincolnshire and north Cambridgeshire (LINCAM region), the UK's major production centre for crop-based agriculture and associated supply chain. Whilst there is no simple panacea for these challenges, agricultural technologies (AgTech) that concurrently drive economic and environmental / social productivity have a critical role. The LINCAM supply chain's significance and sheer scale has established a nationally renowned AgTech cluster, not least from the Universities of Lincoln and Cambridge. Both HEI's have specialised in interdisciplinary agri-food innovation, focussing on digital technologies including robotics and AI to drive productivity. Their work exploited a close working relationship with wider civic society and has been co-created across industry. For this established cluster, the LINCAM proposition enables the next step change. We will use AgTech to help address some of the most daunting challenges facing the LINCAM region and global agricultural productivity.We will deliver a step change by;1. Broadening participation by provisioning LINCAM cluster access to all UK HEI's who wish to onward develop impacts from their AgTech innovations. Activities will include extensive cocreation with leading business and society partners plus direct training and funding for impact delivery. To embed impact delivery behaviours, all awards will be milestoned (go/no go) and accompanied by active pre, through and post award mentoring. 2. Extensive KE with leading businesses and civic society (GLLEP, CPCA, Lincolnshire County Council and West Lindsey District Council) to understand and mitigate barriers to adoption. Activities will include direct support with civic actors to develop local industrial strategies, lock down foreign direct investment, local planning, infrastructure and community development. The LINCAM project enables the cluster to consolidate and deliver nascent development objectives. This includes realisation of a nationally significant Agricultural Growth Zone north of Lincoln; our ambition is to transform the University's Riseholme Campus to a global innovation centre for AgTech.3. Securing a legacy by embedding cocreation and human skills for AgTech innovation across the region and UK HEI's. We target the LINCAM region to become an AgTech gateway for the world, enabling the development of technologies in a place with industrial scale, export opportunities for AgTech companies and inward investment opportunities within both the AgTech and primary production sectors.Our key regional partners are civic society and an industry sector that supports 88,000 jobs, generates a GVA of £3.8bn and farms >50% of the UK's grade 1 land. However, despite this scale, the opportunity for Place based impact is significant. Social deprivation and attainment across the region are pressing concerns, many citizens are underserved. LINCAM offers an opportunity to secure sustainable growth, bringing high value and skilled jobs to the region, whilst mitigating the serious environmental impacts of the food production system.