Vice-Chancellor's Reading Today column - November 2021

Vice-Chancellor Robert Van de Noort has a monthly column with Reading Today and Wokingham today, where he shares University news and updates with the local community. This column was published on Saturday 27 November.

Investing for long-term success

The University of Reading is one of the oldest in England, having been granted a Royal Charter to award degrees nearly a century ago. But our history in the local area goes back even further to the 19^th Century, with our roots in schools of art, science and agriculture.

We see ourselves now, as then, as a university created by people from the local community, run by people in the community, and to benefit the local community – as well helping to advance knowledge for the benefit of society as a whole.

One example of the work we have been involved with locally is the new community centre in Shinfield which I had the pleasure of being asked to help open a few weeks ago. The School Green Centre is built on University land and is a great example of how, by working with others, we can help to benefit our neighbourhood.

That area has seen lots of changes in recent years, and Wokingham Borough Council is now asking people about plans for further changes in the years and decades ahead. The council recently published its draft Local Plan Update, which includes proposals for a new ‘garden village’ including on land at the University’s Hall Farm, situated between the M4 and Arborfield.

These proposals are at a very early stage. However, we have said that the University is keen to work with the Council, and the local community, to ensure that any development that goes ahead is both suitable and sustainable for the long-term future of the area.

The University has a rich history and a global reputation for the study of agriculture and food. In fact, while Reading is known around the world for our strengths in the arts, sciences and business, agriculture is the area in which we are genuinely world-class, year after year. We achieve this because of our long-running education and research into food and farming, dating back more than a century.

For example, almost all the world’s international trade of live cocoa plants comes through Shinfield, via the International Cocoa Quarantine Centre. And our Centre for Dairy Research is helping to reduce the environmental impact of cattle farming, crucial if we are to curb methane emissions, as highlighted recently at the COP26 meeting in Glasgow.

Our farms are where our agriculture students – the food producers of the future – get to learn first-hand about producing food, managing a business and looking after the countryside. Hall Farm is also an active working dairy farm, as well as a major research establishment.

With all this rich history, we want to invest further in this success for the long-term. There is no doubt that we will remain committed to our work, helping shape the future of farming and food – locally, nationally and internationally.

I know that values are crucial when we are facing change. As a University, our core principles include focusing on people and being engaged positively in the local community. We are also committed to excellent education and research, and environmental sustainability. Those are the things that will underpin all our work, including the conversations that lie ahead. I look forward to speaking to our neighbours and hearing people’s views and opinions as we all look to plot the best course for everyone’s future.

Previous columns

• How the University of Reading is helping to bring one of the world’s fastest-growing industries to the Thames Valley (Tuesday 5 October)
• Looking ahead to COP26 (Wednesday 27 October)