Reading through this issue against the backdrop of a fast-changing world, it’s striking how much we exchange information and learn from different countries. In our cover story, Sophie Gregory mentions a scholarship that allowed her to travel as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Sri Lanka to learn about and share her experiences within the dairy industry. Marine biologist Owen Day works in the Caribbean, helping to replenish dying coral, which plays a vital role in the food chain and the region’s economy. Andrew Chater, who is curating this year’s From Page to Screen Bridport Film Festival, spends a great deal of his time in America teaching at the University of California in Los Angeles. He uses fiction to help students explore the different cultures of America. Using the same concept, he hopes the films at this year’s festival will encourage dialogue and understanding in this age of profound division. Anna Whitwham, whose book Soft Tissue Damage is published in March, studied Drama and English at the same University in Los Angeles and took up boxing as a way of dealing with personal trauma. She also trained in the famous Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, New York, the gym that Muhammad Ali, then called Cassius Clay, trained at in 1964. Paul Lashmar, whose new book is also published in March, travelled to Barbados to learn more about British involvement in slavery. Dr Sam Rose, former CEO of the Jurassic Coast Trust, explored work in Chile to see the benefits of a thirty-year rewilding project. In this issue, Sam reiterates the principle of ‘right action, right place’ when it comes to rewilding, helping to find a balance between important production and encouraging farmers to use marginal land to help nature heal. So many people in local communities are proving the value of international cooperation daily.
