Jonny has been awarded a 2023 Nuffield Farming Scholarship by the Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust, a program engaging future farming leaders with the future of farming.
Jonny said, “With a foot in both camps, I’ll be researching ‘Large carnivore reintroductions to Britain & Ireland: farmers’ perspectives & management options’.”
“I’m especially grateful to my sponsor, the Thomas Henry Foundation, whose generous support will enable my program of travel and study.”
Three generations cycle length and breadth of Ireland for 40th anniversary of round–the–world trip.
In September 1981, John Hanson and fellow Ulsterman John Rodgers set off on an epic bike journey from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, that took them around the world in 12 months and 13,000 miles.
Raising over £50,000 for development charity Tearfund, John Hanson also published a book on the journey, Around the World in Cycle Clips, and donated his bicycle to the Ulster Transport Museum, where it remains on display.
“The main purpose of the round-the-world cycle was to draw attention to the appalling that millions of people didn’t have food to eat or clean water to drink.” Rev John Hanson
In 1998, John Hanson and his son Jonny, then aged 10, cycled the 330 miles from Cork to Coleraine by tandem in 3.5 days. They raised money for repairs to the roof of their church, Second Ballybay Presbyterian, and for the Camphill Community at Ballybay. They never got round to writing a book about it but the tandem is still in use today.
“The ‘get-up-and-go’ that characterises these cycling adventures is the same ‘get-up-and-go’ required to transition our economies and societies to sustainability. Everyone has a part to play.” Dr Jonny Hanson
To mark this special 40th anniversary, John, Jonny and Jonny’s eldest children, Joshua (11) and Bethany (10), will cycle the length and breadth of Ireland from Tralee, Co Kerry, to Jubilee Farm, Co Antrim, on two tandems, 14 – 20 August 2022. They’ll be raising money to support the work of Tearfund and Jubilee in tackling the causes and effects of climate change, while also highlighting the need for action on these issues from church leaders and churchgoers in particular.
“We’re looking forward to seeing different parts of Ireland and feeling good about cycling across it.” Joshua and Bethany Hanson
This is the Hanson Global Cycle: 40 years. 3 generations. 1 world.
Jonny with colleagues (from left) Aruna Bahia of the Co-op Foundation, Tiziana O’Hara of Co-operative Alternatives and Julie Hoey of Azor Community Farm.
Jonny’s involvement in the Cultivating Community Farming project – aimed at increasing the capacity of 10 early-stage community farming projects across Northern Ireland – was featured in this Farming Life article and on BBC Radio Ulster’s flagship daily new programme, Good Morning Ulster (from 22:43 here). Inspired by a workshop on food and farming hosted by Jonny at the NI Science Festival Sustainability Fair, journalist and commentator Rosalind Skillen featured Jonny in this piece on the importance of vision and imagination for effecting change.
Join big cat conservationist and livestock farmer Dr Jonny Hanson at the 2021 Northern Ireland Science Festival for an electrifying yet balanced look at the issue of large predator reintroductions to rewild landscapes, one of the most novel yet controversial conservation issues of our time. Covering both history and natural history, Jonny explores the varied dimensions, feasibility and ethics of reintroducing wolves, lynxes and brown bears to the island of Ireland, assessing the case for and the case against.
Pre-recorded at the Ulster Museum, humorous and thought-provoking in equal measure, and featuring live audience polling to enable you to have your say, this talk promises to excite, enthral, and perhaps even enrage
