Congratulations to Co-Centre researchers, Alice Gilmour, John Ingram, Jing Zhang, and Monika Zurek on the publication of their new paper in Global Food Security by Elsevier: “A compass identifying outcomes for sustainable food systems” (𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀).

The Sustainability Compass emerged from collaborative work within the Co-Centre for Sustainable Food Systems and was first initiated during the Co-Centre’s kick-off event in 2024.

Over the past two years, researchers across the Co-Centre’s partner institutions have contributed to the development of the framework, alongside engagement with stakeholders from government, industry, and civil society.

The Compass is designed to support more integrated thinking around food-system sustainability by helping decision-makers consider how interventions or innovations may create synergies, tensions, or unintended consequences across environmental, health, economic, and social dimensions.
The framework is intended to support more holistic and transparent approaches to food-system decision-making across different sectors and geographies.

There is also exciting potential in what comes next! Work is now underway on an interoperable online Compass platform that will map how Co-Centre research influences food-system outcomes across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, alongside a searchable data function and glossary. A major flagship report mapping the food system across ROI and NI is also due for publication in the coming months.