The UK considerably exceeds its target for saturated fats in the diet, and milk and milk products are the single largest source contributing about 30-40% of the total with cheese and butter contributing most. There is however evidence that there are likely to be benefits in terms of reduced vascular disease and some cancers from increased milk consumption although the evidence for cheese, butter and cream is lacking. Thus simply reducing consumption of milk to reduce saturated fat consumption is likely to be counterproductive. Studies with humans where blood cholesterol has been measured suggest that replacing a proportion of the saturated fat in milk/milk products with mono or polyunsaturated fats does improve their health value. Also there is now good evidence that changing the diet of the dairy cows can lead to milk being produced with reduced saturates and increased monounsaturates although a consequence is often a small increase in trans fats. These trans fats are different to those produced by industrial processes and are not likely to be as harmful to health. Such changes to the diet of the dairy cow may also have another postive effect as they are likely to reduce the amount of methane (a potent greenhouse gas) produced by the cow thus reducing the carbon footprint of the milk. This project will examine the potential of approaches to reduce saturated fats in milk in on-farm production, in research aimed at reducing saturates further whilst minimising trans fat and methane production and will also study the health benefits of such foods in humans using new methods of assessing risk of cardiovascular disease. The project will be organised into four workpackages (WP): WP1 will study the changes in the various types of fat in milk when cows on a selection of commercial dairy farms are fed oilseeds in their diets scientifically proven to reduce saturates. Most work to date has been only in research centres and it is important to understand what happens in a commercial situation with many different factors (e.g. cow breed, background diet etc) WP2 will examine new approaches to the production of milk with reduced saturated fat and whilst minimising the amount of trans fat in the milk and methane produced by the cow. Trans fats are produced by bacteria in the digestive tract of the cow by changing the make up of fats in the cow's diet. Methods to 'protect' these fats from bacterial action will be studied. Bacteria in the digestive tract are also responsible for the methane produced. WP3 will undertake a detailed human study to assess the effect of including in the diet dairy products with reduced saturated fats and increased with mono or polyunsaturated fats. New, more valuable methods of assessing any change in the risk of cardiovascular disease will be included as these are thought to be more predictive than the more traditional approaches relying in blood cholesterol. WP4 will compile all the results and findings and will prepare a structured plan to disseminate the findings. The overall aim is to reduce the amount of saturated fat in the UK food chain. There is potential to reduce this by some 90,000 tonnes/year if the work led to widespread application. Also of note is the fact that the changes to the diet of the cow proposed are likely to have significant environmental benefits, mainly through a reduction in the amount of methane produced by the cow.

This innovative multi-disciplinary project will develop, prototype, and evaluate a novel circular business model that combines smart-technology enabled products and services to reduce the environmental, societal, and economic impact of Food-to-go packaging. Food-to-go (FTG), fresh and chilled foods such as sandwiches and prepared salads sold by food retailers for consumption out of the home, is a growing UK market driven by the rise in convenience lifestyles. The FTG industry at present yields a significant amount of single-use packaging waste which is detrimental to our planet, but also represents substantial resource value loss. Driven by traditional business models that operate on a 'take-make-dispose' economic system, efforts to transform the FTG industry to a more circular economic system (the Circular Economy (CE)), one in which plastic packaging is no longer single-use and resource value is retained within a loop, have been limited. This is partly due to the lack of historic cooperation across the supply chain to define and address the problem; the complexity of transitioning multiple industry and consumer stakeholders to a new circular approach; and the lack of understanding of consumer behaviour. Recognising that no one single approach will overcome the identified problems, we bring together academics with expertise in sustainable design, sustainable manufacturing, and polymer chemistry with project partners that represent the interests of all operators and stages within the FTG supply chain; from manufacturer through to retailer. Together, we will use a combined approach of novel smart technologies and quality assurance methods, in-depth understanding and modelling of consumer behaviour, and comprehensive supply chain value assessment to propose a novel future FTG Circular Product-Service System (CPSS). Specifically, the project will: (i) develop and validate novel combinations of 'track and trace' smart sensors, tracking, end of life detection technologies, and robust quality control systems to support the design and development of new FTG CPSS concepts that could maximise the lifetime of plastic packaging, enhance resource management, and reduce premature waste disposal; (ii) define how 'value' is prioritised, moved, and maintained within existing FTG supply chains so to develop new tools and methods for determining the necessary supply-side value movements and flows within new FTG CPSS concepts; (iii) seek to understand current consumer behaviours with existing FTG packaging in order to propose new tools and methods that enable and evaluate meaningful behaviour change towards less resource intense and environmentally destructive demand-side action; (iv) take a structured co-design approach that partners academic research with industry experience to create, based on the findings above, and evaluate, through live proof-of-concept prototype trials, a novel FTG CPSS that will improve the environmental, societal, and economic impact of FTG packaging. The project will be as far as possible 'open source' through academic publication, industry networking, and a vibrant digital social media presence to help foster the UK and international transition to CE, disseminating and translating project outputs to both academia and industry. Outputs will include: Track and trace, cleaning, and detection technology concepts with feasibility/stability studies and design implications; supply chain value indicators and datasets, resource and value flow models, and evaluation tools; consumer behaviour baseline dataset and modelling tools, with personas and scenarios of use; and a novel FTG CPSS concept with validated proof-of-concept packaging prototypes, and business/service modelling and blueprints. We will also produce a toolkit for policymakers which will synthesise the generated tools, methods, and case study examples to both underline and reinforce our impact and the national importance of our findings.

Since 2014 the Consumer Data Research Centre based at University College London and the Universities of Liverpool and Oxford (CDRC-ULO) has been a leading international centre for the acquisition, analysis and provisioning of consumer and business data to the UK research community. As of September 2021, we have supported 27,494 users through our public data portals and Trusted Research Environments (TREs), with usage growth of 104% (121% for Controlled/Safeguarded data and 87% for Open data) over the preceding 12 months. We aim to sustain this performance during ESRC's planned transition to the DigitalFootprints Data Service. The CDRC-ULO service delivers against ESRC's national priorities and needs for the social sciences by facilitating unique and cutting-edge research. As of September 2021 CDRC-ULO data have been cited in 203 peer reviewed academic papers. It also sustains an infrastructure that has nationally significant social and economic impact. Indicative examples include: provision of data integral to Transport for London's "Healthy Streets 2021/2" planning that supports £2.1 billion of infrastructure investment to encourage more active, efficient and sustainable travel modes; use of the Ethnicity Estimator tool (ee.cdrc.ac.uk) developed in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) by Public Health Wales to examine ethnic variations in outcomes for patients hospitalised in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic; emergency provision of current small area ethnicity estimates to the UK Government Joint Biosecurity Centre's (JBC) pandemic response; and participation with ONS/JBC/ADRUK in the "Local Data Spaces" initiative to deliver and evaluate the UK Covid-19 "mass testing" exercise and subsequent opening up of society and the economy (winner of a 2021 ONS Research Excellence award). Such cases demonstrate fulfilment of CDRC-ULOs objective of enabling the user of consumer / business data to develop the quality, quantity and impact of social science research and anticipates the value of the prospective DigitalFootprint data service. CDRC-ULO continues to build on such successes with the mission: (a) to sustain international leadership in the identification, acquisition and preparation of strategic consumer / business data assets; making these findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) for innovative thematic research; (b) to enable best use of strategically important data that are developed using cutting edge research supported as appropriate by Trusted Research Environments (TREs) and digital platforms; (c) to build data skills capacity through training and successful research applications using consumer data, consistent with UKRI and wider UK Innovation / National Data Strategies; and (d) to ensure responsible (lawful, secure, fair and ethical) use of consumer / business data. These infrastructural, service, capacity building and ethical functions underpin our ongoing commitments to innovation and service delivery in the context of the Digital Footprints prototype initiative. CDRC-ULO is funded by the ESRC to deliver a comprehensive and internationally leading data service to external users. To maximise its role as core UK social science infrastructure, CDRC-ULO has pursued increased harmonisation of data acquisition and asset use with other ESRC centres (specifically UBDC and CDRC-Leeds) and has worked with NCRM on training provision. CDRC-ULO continues to innovate in data service provision, development and enhancement, while also supporting the immediate objectives of the DigitalFootprints Prototype.

The retail sector is a crucial part of the UK economy accounting for 11% of UK economic output and nearly 16% of GB employment in 2014 (Rhodes, 2014). The UK government recognises the importance of the sector and its potential to contribute to economic growth and published 'A Strategy for Future Retail: Industry and Government Delivering in Partnership' in 2013. A UKCES report (Vokes and Boehnke, 2014) highlights key themes for the sector including attracting talent, image of the sector (as employers), employee retention and progression and employee issues relating to technological innovation/change. A great deal has been written about diversity and inclusion, and prior to that equality and equal opportunities, in the business, academic and public policy domains. Yet much of this literature focuses on the negative effects of inequality or lack of diversity or on making the business and moral case for adopting diversity policies and relating diversity to organisational performance. While this has been a worthy focus, what is lacking is a clear understanding of the processes involved in bringing about a major programme of organisational change in a large company or public sector organisation and understanding what it is that makes diversity policies actually work and achieve the desired results. The research focus on a major British retail company who are collaborative partners with the University of Leeds provides a unique opportunity to access a large organisation during a period of strategic change. The proposal has been user-led with the research objectives and topics being discussed and agreed with the company and emerging from an initial exploratory study commissioned by them with members of the research team. Using a case study approach focusing on the company, the team will investigate diversity and inclusion in relation to a number of Human Resource (HR) issues: retention and inclusivity, career success, progression and development and the intersectionality of protected characteristics under UK legislation (The Equality Act, 2010). The research objectives cover these topics. The research design uses mixed methodologies including face to face interviews with employees, HR staff, directors and senior managers. There will be a shadowing/observation study with regional teams in the company. Survey data will be collected at two intervals. The research team will analyse the data on an ongoing basis throughout the longitudinal study, with themes emerging and building as the data grows. This organic process will mean that the company will be provided with interim reports on the findings at various stages along the way. DELIVERABLES SUMMARY 1) Direct benefits for the employees, senior management and Directors of the company. Research findings to be shared in a business-friendly manner with regular presentations and full involvement of the company in the process 2) Generalizable findings to be disseminated through academic channels: research conferences and seminars, journal articles and business channels: business conference presentations and seminars, business networks, institutions (e.g. 30% Club, 2% Club, Women in Business), Executive Education and teaching 3) Policy engagement including a parliamentary briefing and an event targeted specifically at policymakers. Proactive use of the key findings to stimulate progress in all sectors

The UK food chain, comprising agricultural production, manufacturing, distribution, retail and consumption, involves more than 300,000 enterprises and employs 3.6 million people. The food and drink industry is the largest manufacturing sector, employing 500,000 people and contributing £80 billion to the economy. It is also estimated that the food chain is responsible for 160 MtCO2e emissions and 15 Mt of food waste, causing significant environmental impacts. Energy is an important input in all stages of the food chain and is responsible for 18% of the UK's final energy demand. In recent years, progress has been made in the reduction of energy consumption and emissions from the food chain primarily through the application of well proven technologies that could lead to quick return on investment. To make further progress, however, significant innovations will have to be made in approaches and technologies at all stages of the food chain, taking a holistic view of the chain and the interactions both within the chain and the external environment. The EPSRC Centre for Sustainable Energy Use in Food Chains will make significant contributions in this field. It will bring together multidisciplinary research groups of substantial complementary experience and internationally leading research track record from the Universities of Brunel, Manchester and Birmingham and a large number of key stakeholders to investigate and develop innovative approaches and technologies to effect substantial end use energy demand reductions. The Centre will engage both in cutting edge research into approaches and technologies that will have significant impacts in the future, leading towards the target of 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050, but also into research that will have demonstrable impacts within the initial five year lifetime of the Centre. Taking a whole systems approach, the research themes will involve: i) Simulation of energy and resource flows in the food chain, from farm-gate to plate to enable investigations of energy and resource flows between the stages of the chain and the external environment, and facilitate overall energy and resource use optimisation taking into consideration the impact of policy decisions, future food and energy prices and food consumption trends. ii) Investigation of approaches and technologies for the reduction of energy use at all stages of the chain through reduction of the energy intensity of individual processes and optimisation of resource use. It is expected that a number of new innovative and more efficient technologies and approaches for energy reduction will be developed in the lifetime of the Centre to address processing, distribution, retail and final consumption in the home and the service sector. iii) Identification of optimal ways of interaction between the food chain and the UK energy supply system to help manage varying demand and supply through distributed power generation and demand-response services to the grid. iv) Study of consumer behaviour and the impact of key influencing factors such as changing demographics, increased awareness of the needs and requirements of sustainable living, economic factors and consumption trends on the nature and structure of the food chain and energy use. Even though the focus will be on the food chain, many of the approaches and technologies developed will also be applicable to other sectors of the economy such as industry, commercial and industrial buildings and transportation of goods. The Centre will involve extensive collaboration with the user community, manufacturers of technology, Government Departments, Food Associations and other relevant research groups and networks. A key vehicle for dissemination and impact will be a Food Energy and Resource Network which will organise regular meetings and annual international conferences to disseminate the scientific outputs and engage the national and international research and user communities