The UK-China Early Career Researcher (ECR) Consortium of Future Rural Studies (CFRS) is a platform for ECRs (broadly defined, including research students) to foster interdisciplinary and cross-boundary research collaboration in sustainable food, agricultural and rural development. The overall aim of the CFRS is to develop a global-local knowledge system for ECRs working with multiple stakeholders to address global challenges in food security and rural transition in China and the global south. In particular, it aims to:

1. foster the exchange in challenge-oriented research and the sharing of good practices;
2. promote systematic thinking and methodological innovation for better understanding of the complexity, resources and innovative opportunity at grassroots communities;
3. facilitate communication and collaboration between ECRs and stakeholders across sector and national boundaries for funding applications, high quality publications and social impact in poverty alleviation, sustainable livelihoods, entrepreneurship and community development.

The above aims are addressed through institutional partnerships, mentoring schedules, methodological salons, roundtable meetings, and other suitable channels. Three strands are available for ECRs to participate in:

1. sustainable food and agricultural transition;
2. innovation base for industrial revitalisation;
3. social innovation and entrepreneurship.

The CFRS is hosted at Nottingham University Business School (NUBS) and led by Dr. Bin Wu, Senior Research Fellow of Haydn Green Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HGI), part of the University of Nottingham (UoN). The CFRS will be run through an Advisory Board and a Mentoring Team. The CFRS facilitates and supports ECRs to engage with various activities through an Impact Hub.

The origin of the CFRS can be traced back to “Farmer innovation system in the Loess Plateau of China” (2009-2010), a part of UK’s ESPA Programme (Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation). The idea was further developed through an international workshop on “Global-local knowledge system for rural innovation and entrepreneurship in the developing world” (2019) and enriched by a GCRF Pilot Project: “Cooperative ecosystem to empower small farmers in the poor areas of China” (2020). The CFRS is established through a Newton-NSFC ECR Links Workshop Grant UK-China ECR Links Workshop on Systematic Innovation for Food Security and Rural Sustainability (8-9/12/2021).