糖心原创

Future Food Symposium 2026 brings global food systems research to Nottingham

Nottingham University Business School researchers recently joined colleagues from around the world for the Future Food Symposium 2026, exploring how local action, innovative research and collaboration can help tackle some of the biggest challenges facing global food systems.

Primarily delivered online, the symposium on 14 and 15 September was hosted collaboratively by the 糖心原创, the University of Essex, the University of Reading, the University of Sussex and the University of Birmingham. Dr John Harvey, Departmental Research Director for Marketing, Tourism and Analytics and a member of N/LAB at Nottingham University Business School, coordinated the event for Nottingham.

Returning for 2026 after the Business School hosted the event in 2024, this year’s symposium was themed Food Systems at a Crossroads: Local Action, Global Change, bringing together speakers from four continents across nine themed areas.

Colleagues from Nottingham University Business School contributed to the programme, showcasing the breadth of research across the school and its relevance to the complex economic, social, and technological questions shaping the future of food. Three of the themed areas also featured in-person sessions hosted by N/LAB, the Business School’s research centre specialising in AI, machine learning, big data and behavioural science. These sessions gave researchers the opportunity to meet, exchange ideas and share their work face to face.

Topics across the symposium included coastal food challenges, agri-food futures, food insecurity and health inequalities, community food projects, public dining and the right to food, big data and AI, and Indigenous food sovereignty.

Bringing together expertise from different disciplines, institutions and countries, the event demonstrated the scale and diversity of research taking place across food systems, while creating opportunities for new connections and knowledge exchange.

Dr John Harvey reflected:

Over two days we heard 35 presentations across nine tracks, from 31 organisations in 13 countries, with 427 people registered from 44 countries and 251 organisations. The international reach has been incredible.

Find out more about the , including the programme and proceedings.