
Trainees selected to receive Oxford Farming Conference 2023 Bursary
This month, MDS Trainees were fortunate enough to be able to attend one of the most important events in the agri-food and farming calendar, the Oxford Farming Conference 2023. The event sets the tone for the year ahead in the food and farming industry and supports leaders in sharing knowledge to overcome the expected challenges for 2023 and beyond. Trainees were supported to attend through the conference’s bursary, which they received after undergoing the programme’s application process.
With a strong focus on networking, as well as social activities, this year’s conference focused on “Farming a New Future”. Trainees had full access to the event and enjoyed networking with fellow scholars from around the globe and discussing leadership opportunities within the industry.
Two days packed full of inspiring speakers and a great selection of workshops and networking opportunities, OFC 2023 was an exciting and inspiring career development opportunity for all of those involved.
The delegates were finally able to feel the buzz and excitement of the in-person conference, which had been virtual for the last two years due to the pandemic.
The following Trainees were selected for the bursary:
- Angus Bartlett
- Alex Muxworthy
- Harvey Griffiths
- Tara Stacey
- Arunima Amar
- Harry Mulligan
Group 50 Trainee Arunima, who studied at the University of Oxford before joining MDS, enjoyed her time at the conference:
“It was lovely to attend the conference in Oxford and a bit surreal how much life had changed for me since I did a French and Linguistics degree there. One of my favourite talks was Farming and Beavers because it was a neat working example of so many key themes from the conference: diversification, land management, and farming for the future. Kind of like how the beavers were part of a wider, interconnected system, the conference reminded me the industry is much the same way.”
Harry Mulligan created a video to summarise his time at the conference:
The MDS team were also able to attend the OFC Leadership Pathways event to catch up with the other OFC young leaders and discuss how MDS can support with careers in the agri-food sector. The energy in the room was palpable, and it was clear that this year’s Oxford Farming Conference had made a significant impact on everyone involved.
A huge congratulations to all of the selected trainees, who came away from this exciting and inspiring development opportunity with many new friendships and connections.