LEAF announces launch of the Caroline Drummond Scholarship for innovation in sustainability​​​​​​​

The Scholarship is named in recognition of the enormous legacy of LEAF’s founder and former CEO, Caroline Drummond MBE, who led the organisation from its inception in 1991 until her sad and untimely death in May last year. The LEAF Caroline Drummond Scholarship for Innovation in Sustainability will specifically support innovations that are judged by a panel of specialists as having the potential to facilitate the adoption of commercially and environmentally sustainable farming and food production, at pace and scale.

The Scholarship, which will open for applications in March 2024, will support individuals and organisations to carry out pioneering research and innovative projects which advance more sustainable farming practices, that can be adopted and replicated at scale. Applications will be open to researchers or developers from universities, institutes, commercial companies and start up enterprises, farmers and individuals from relevant non-profit organisations and charities.

Philip Wynn, LEAF Chair explained: “Caroline was the driving force behind LEAF for over 30 years. She was an inspirational thinker, innovator, collaborator, and communicator. She was a catalyst of great change and pivotal in driving forward more sustainable, regenerative and climate positive farming – both in the UK and globally.

“Her work was driven by research and the development of novel ideas and practical approaches to accelerate the uptake of more sustainable farming through Integrated Farm Management. We are delighted to have set up this new Scholarship in her name. By supporting scholars, we will further add to the body of research contributing to the more widespread practice of IFM at an increasingly global scale along with its ongoing development in addressing current climate change challenges.”

Jake Freestone, LEAF Demonstration Farmer and Farm Manager at Overbury Enterprises added: “Caroline had an infectious passion for delivering positive change for the planet and its people. She was instrumental in the development of so many early industry initiatives, such as the Integrated Arable Crop Production Alliance (IACPA) and the European Initiative for Sustainable Development in Agriculture (EISA). It was her conviction that the pursuit of more sustainable farming had to be farmer-led, practical and grounded in rigorous scientific research that underpinned the formation of the LEAF Network of leading Demonstration Farms and world class Innovation Centres who today, collectively drive forward Caroline’s ‘science into practice’ vision.

“This important scholarship programme will help ensure that her legacy lives on by supporting the next generation of thinkers, practitioners, and innovators. It will enable cutting-edge and practical research into more sustainable farming to be undertaken, work that will make a real difference as farmers meet the challenges of feeding, fuelling, and protecting the world against a background of climate change.”

LEAF is seeking partners who share Caroline’s vision of a commercially vibrant farming sector with sustainability at its core, to support the future development of the Scholarship fund and the work of LEAF. For more information please click here or contact [email protected] for an initial discussion.

More details of The LEAF Caroline Drummond Scholarship will be announced at LEAF’s Annual Conference on the 1st February 2024, BNP Paribas Offices, UK Headquarters, 10 Harewood Avenue, London NW1 6AA. Find out more here.