September provided opportunities for AFII to combine strategic policy engagement with an initiative exploring how governments, industry and societal groups can prepare for climate-change challenges to ensure sustainability of Australia’s agrifood system.

Preparing for Climate Reality: The Hotter World Symposium

In collaboration with the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, Australian Academy of Science, Western Sydney University and the University of Melbourne, ANU co-hosted a two-day Preparing Nature and Society for a Hotter World symposium at the Shine Dome in Canberra. The event brought together a truly interdisciplinary group—experts from STEM, HASS, industry, and policy — to discuss how extreme heatwaves of the near future will affect human society, natural landscapes and food production systems. Despite being aware of the challenges that multi-day, 50°C-plus events will have on plant and animal life, I was nevertheless shocked by the enduring nature of future heat.  In her presentation, Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick highlighted: (1) the importance of getting to net zero CO₂ emissions as fast as possible to limit the future intensity of future heatwaves; and (2) irrespective of when we get to net zero, society will need to adapt to decades, if not centuries, of more frequent, severe, and longer-duration extreme heat.  Through later talks and small group discussions, the symposium explored social adaptation strategies, stressing the need for communities and young people to be central to decision-making.  The practical perspectives from agrifood industry leaders such as Su McCluskey (interim CEO, National Farmers Federation) and Mark King (Chair, Dried Fruits Australia) on how to prepare to future heatwaves was invaluable.

Day two involved an intensive, invitation-only workshop where attendees stress-tested adaptive solutions for three distinct systems that will experience week-long, extreme heatwaves in the near future: food and natural ecosystems in the Renmark-Mildura area region, Western Sydney peri-urban systems, and Arnhem Land savanna systems, all facing a hypothetical week-long 50∘C heatwave. The outcomes of these discussions are currently being collated into a white paper that will help chart transformative adaptive strategies for Australian landscapes and society.

Shaping the future of Australian RD&I

The urgency highlighted by the extreme heat symposium places into context the need for AFII to help shape Australia’s policy frameworks, particularly as they relate to agrifood R&D.  Noting this, in September I submitted a response to the National Coordination for RD&I Impact Policy Paper, recently released as part of the Federal Government’s Strategic Review of Research and Development (SERD). In the submission, I strongly welcomed the proposal for a mission-based approach to align the nation’s RD&I efforts to five national challenges over a 10+ year horizon. This kind of long-term, stable investment is exactly what is needed to move beyond incremental change and achieve nationally-agreed outcomes. I was especially pleased to see Agriculture proposed as one of the focus areas. Our current agricultural R&D system, with its short 2-5 year focus, simply cannot deliver the step change in productivity needed to meet future national and global demand for nutritious food, particularly in the face of climate-change headwinds such as extreme heatwaves. In my submission, I highlighted how a mission-based structure can provide the resources and common ‘north star’ required to reach this goal sustainably and equitably. The policy paper’s proposal aligns perfectly with the proposal for a National Mission for Future Crop and Community Resilience, which we have jointly advocated for alongside the Universities of Adelaide, Western Australia, and Queensland.

My submission also highlighted how, for missions to succeed, the Government must invest in how they are designed and operated. Drawing on ANU’s extensive experience managing initiatives that address complex challenges (e.g. through initiatives such as the Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions and the Institute for Water Futures), I highlighted the necessity of explicitly addressing how interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary teams will be assembled, managed, and rewarded, ensuring that cultural, language, and motivational differences between sectors and disciplines are harmonised to co-create solutions with industry and community.

Policy learnings from Made & Grown

Building on the energy and insights from our Made & Grown – The Future of Food event in August, we leveraged the outcomes to inform our joint submission to the Feeding Australia - A National Food Security Strategy discussion paper (co-authored with the ANU National Security College and Cellular Agriculture Australia). The submission emphasized a critical point: food security is national security. We argued that proactive investment is essential to secure Australia's sovereign capability in food production and accelerate innovation.

The core of our submission centred on adopting a bioeconomy strategy which leverages new biotechnologies — from evolving conventional cropping systems to developing brand new food manufacturing processes. The submission highlighted how implementation of a bioeconomy strategy will be key to creating more resilient crops and new food production systems that are less vulnerable to external shocks, less reliant on imports, and more climate-adaptable.  We put forward ten key recommendations focusing on the need to design the enabling conditions for the bioeconomy to thrive. These included accelerating the development of a national bioeconomy strategy, ensuring regulatory and policy agility, balancing immediate action with multi-generational outcomes, and supporting the development of a biomanufacturing infrastructure pipeline and supply chain.

A lesson in connection from Far North Queensland

Finally, I took a week off in September to host friends visiting from Canada. We explored the beauty of Far North Queensland, from the Great Barrier Reef to the tropical rainforests. The most profound part of the trip was a half-day spent near Cooktown with Mr. Willie Gordon, a Nugal-warra Elder and story-keeper from Guurrbi Tours. Willie views his role not just as a guide, but as a translator—interpreting the significance of ancestral rock art and challenging us to re-evaluate our relationship with the land and with each other. What was particularly impactful was his focus on the common ground between First Nations Australians and more recent arrivals. This lesson in finding shared purpose and looking beyond differences is, in many ways, the same spirit we strive for every day in our highly interdisciplinary work here at AFII.

I look forward to continuing these important policy discussions and connecting our research with the real-world challenges facing our food system.

Owen Atkin