Title: chairman

Association/Company: UK URBAN AGRITECH

Biography
Mark has been involved in the Vertical Farming industry for around 9 years. He is the Founder & Chairman of UK Urban AgriTech (UKUAT) collective, bringing together the leading companies, universities and individuals in the UK urban agritech industry. He is also Communications Manager at The FarmTech Society, the Co-Founder of The Soya Project, and does freelance consulting work across the industry.
In his work he has dealt extensively with industry standardisation, sustainability certification, vertical farming education and vertical farming policy. His expertise is in building networks and associations that maximise value for their members, and for the industry as a whole. 
Mark’s primary interest is in taking a systemic overview of how vertical farming can be integrated with other systems, to deliver on its promises of regenerative food production and resilient societies.

Speech session
Farming the city

Speech
Urban AgriTech: Creating Urban Food Ecosystems

Abstract
Cities face a major challenge to meet their food needs more sustainably & equitably. Their populations need good, nutritious, healthy, and culturally appropriate food, and they need it at an affordable price. But achieving this cannot come at the expense of the wider natural world. The extent of this challenge should not be underestimated, but neither should it be viewed as impossible. This session will take a birds-eye overview of the different types and kinds of Urban AgriTech. It will introduce the various ways that these can be integrated into the urban environment. It will then explore the enormous potential offered by these technologies to contribute to these challenges, by helping to create more sustainable and resilient urban ecosystems. Finally, it will look briefly at how this then begins to fit together with the bigger picture; how this urban approach can establish mutually beneficial connections and relationships with other sustainable food production systems.