Agri Aware alongside University College Dublin (UCD) School of Agriculture and Food Science are teaming up at this National Ploughing Championships at stand number 318, Row 19, Block 3.
The theme at this year’s National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska Co. Laois at the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science and Agri Aware stand is ‘Sustainable Food Systems’.
Over the course of the three-day event – which is running from Tuesday, September 19 to Thursday, September 21 – Agri Aware will be promoting its many educational programmes as the new school year kicks off.
Agri Aware’s environmentally focused programme Environmental Innovators was recently just launched after a successful pilot year in 2022 and ties in closely with the Agri Aware’s and the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science’s theme of ‘Sustainable Food Systems’.
Speaking ahead of this year’s National Ploughing Championships, Agri Aware Executive Director Marcus O’Halloran said: “The National Ploughing Championships provides us with an opportunity to showcase the wonderful programmes we are launching once again this year across both primary and secondary schools.
“Sustainable Food Systems is an area that we have been heavily involved in from an educative point of view through our Environmental Innovators programme that we are delighted to be running again for this academic year which saw over 7,500 Transition Year students partake in last year.
“Our main objectives are to engage with teachers and students we meet over the three days to show them what we can offer as part of our programmes but also through our events that we have ran and also intend on running this academic year.
“Furthermore, it’s a great opportunity to meet with our patrons face to face and give them updates on our programmes and activities.”
Meanwhile, UCD’s activities at the ploughing will include a range of presentations highlighting the latest research findings taking place across the School as well as a series of panel discussions on Innovations in Agri-Food, Achieving our Climate Targets and Education and Upskilling in Agri-Food.
Speaking about UCD’s School of Agriculture and Food Science involvement at this year’s National Ploughing Championships, Professor Frank Monahan, Dean of Agriculture and Head, UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science said: “We are delighted to attend the National Ploughing Championships once again this year and look forward to showcasing the innovative research taking place across the School and the wide range of programmes on offer to prospective students.
“The Ploughing Championships provide an excellent opportunity to meet with prospective students, alumni and industry stakeholders and is one of the key events in the calendar year.”