Transition Pathways towards Sustainability in Agriculture

Transition Pathways towards Sustainability in Agriculture PDF

Author: Lee-Ann Sutherland

Publisher: CABI

Published: 2014-11-24

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1780642199

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Based on the research of an interdisciplinary team of sociologists, geographers and economists, this book focuses on understanding farming transitions in Europe. The book discusses the importance of understanding transition pathways towards sustainability using case studies from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Assessing the utility of the multi-level perspective in transition theory for addressing contemporary issues, the book identifies future research needs and possible approaches, making this an essential read for researchers interested in issues of rural and agricultural change.

Transition Pathways Towards Sustainability in Agriculture

Transition Pathways Towards Sustainability in Agriculture PDF

Author: Ika Darnhofer

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 9781789244649

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The aim of this book is to improve the understanding of transition processes in European agriculture. It focuses on 'emerging transitions' - how new organizational forms and technologies change, and are changed by, mainstream actors and practices in the agricultural sector. This is achieved through an integration of recent academic theory on transition and change in agricultural systems and assessing its utility for empirical research. The multi-level perspective (MLP) on system transition is applied to clusters of case studies, which focus on different types and aspects of transition processes within agriculture. The purpose in studying transition in agriculture is not only to understand how change has occurred, but to assess how intervention can successfully be made to facilitate sustainability transitions. Most of the cases studied in this book have had active policy intervention, although some demonstrate that transition processes can occur endogenously without such assistance. This book is based on research findings from the FarmPath (Farming Transitions: Pathways towards regional sustainability of agriculture in Europe) project, funded by the European Commission's 7th Framework Programme. The book has 14 chapters. The findings of empirical case studies are presented in chapters 5 through 11. In each of these chapters, three regional level case studies are contrasted, selected from the seven study countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Portugal and the UK.

Our Common Journey

Our Common Journey PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1999-12-09

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 0309086388

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World human population is expected to reach upwards of 9 billion by 2050 and then level off over the next half-century. How can the transition to a stabilizing population also be a transition to sustainability? How can science and technology help to ensure that human needs are met while the planet's environment is nurtured and restored? Our Common Journey examines these momentous questions to draw strategic connections between scientific research, technological development, and societies' efforts to achieve environmentally sustainable improvements in human well being. The book argues that societies should approach sustainable development not as a destination but as an ongoing, adaptive learning process. Speaking to the next two generations, it proposes a strategy for using scientific and technical knowledge to better inform future action in the areas of fertility reduction, urban systems, agricultural production, energy and materials use, ecosystem restoration and biodiversity conservation, and suggests an approach for building a new research agenda for sustainability science. Our Common Journey documents large-scale historical currents of social and environmental change and reviews methods for "what if" analysis of possible future development pathways and their implications for sustainability. The book also identifies the greatest threats to sustainabilityâ€"in areas such as human settlements, agriculture, industry, and energyâ€"and explores the most promising opportunities for circumventing or mitigating these threats. It goes on to discuss what indicators of change, from children's birth-weights to atmosphere chemistry, will be most useful in monitoring a transition to sustainability.

Agroecological Transitions: From Theory to Practice in Local Participatory Design

Agroecological Transitions: From Theory to Practice in Local Participatory Design PDF

Author: Jacques-Eric Bergez

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-02-28

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 3030019535

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This Open Access book presents feedback from the ‘Territorial Agroecological Transition in Action’- TATA-BOX research project, which was devoted to these specific issues. The multidisciplinary and multi-organisation research team steered a four-year action-research process in two territories of France. It also presents: i) the key dimensions to be considered when dealing with agroecological transition: diversity of agriculture models, management of uncertainties, polycentric governance, autonomies, and role of actors’ networks; ii) an operational and original participatory process and associated boundary tools to support local stakeholders in shifting from a shared diagnosis to a shared action plan for transition, and in so doing developing mutual understanding and involvement; iii) an analysis of the main effects of the methodology on research organisation and on stakeholders’ development and application; iv) critical analysis and foresights on the main outcomes of TATA-BOX, provided by external researchers.

Transformative Pathways to Sustainability

Transformative Pathways to Sustainability PDF

Author:

Publisher: Pathways to Sustainability

Published: 2021-09-03

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 9780367355234

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The book draws on content and cases from across the 'Pathways' Transformative Knowledge Network; an international group of six regional hubs working on sustainability challenges in their own local or national contexts. It draws inputs from North and South, mirroring the universality of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Sustainable Agrifood Systems

Sustainable Agrifood Systems PDF

Author: Claire Lamine

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9781350101159

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Building on recent scholarship in the sociology of food, Claire Lamine uses in-depth case studies from France and Brazil to compile a critical survey of social science approaches to sustainability transitions in agrifood systems. Lamine addresses the diverse pathways of transition encountered across multiple levels, from the farm through farmers' networks and food chains, to the territorial scale of regions. She also explores the efforts made by those involved in the agricultural world to create new connections between agriculture, food, environment and health, while also taking social equity issues into account. Lamine's work adopts a comparative perspective to explore the translation of agroecology into government programmes and the specific modes of governance involved in France and Brazil - two countries that pioneer in implementing agroecology yet which differ both in visions and context. Providing new options for understanding the complex issue of agrifood transitions, this book will make an impact for those studying food systems, geography, sociology, politics and agriculture.

Transitions towards sustainable agriculture and food chains in peri-urban areas

Transitions towards sustainable agriculture and food chains in peri-urban areas PDF

Author: Krijn J. Poppe

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2023-09-04

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 9086866883

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Agriculture is changing rapidly. The greatest current challenge to the agricultural sector is for it to become sustainable in all three of the dimensions profit, people and planet. This is certainly the case in highly urbanized countries like the Netherlands, where agriculture is confronted with high land prices, rising consumer concerns for issues like animal welfare and negative environmental effects but also with new demands from the city for recreation, health care and local food products. These are some of the developments in our society that are forcing agriculture to change. The government, farmers, the agri-food industry and the retail sector struggle to meet this challenge and find new forms of governance. In the Netherlands, the government has called for a ‘transition towards sustainable agriculture’ and it is investing in this programme with its research and education policy. Similar trends have been observed in other countries. This book presents the expertise that has been accrued from at least five years of Dutch research in this area. The aim is to collate the results of the experiments, to learn from them, to confront them with existing theory and to share them with a larger audience in order to foster learning about transition. Given the leading position of the Netherlands in global agriculture, in a highly urbanized setting, and its leading position in the study of transition theory this should be of significant interest to students and researchers of the transitions in agriculture.

Transitions to Sustainable Development

Transitions to Sustainable Development PDF

Author: John Grin

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-05-26

Total Pages: 578

ISBN-13: 1135151172

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Over the past few decades, there has been a growing concern about the social and environmental risks which have come along with the progress achieved through a variety of mutually intertwined modernization processes. In recent years these concerns are transformed into a widely-shared sense of urgency, partly due to events such as the various pandemics threatening livestock, and increasing awareness of the risks and realities of climate change, and the energy and food crises. This sense of urgency includes an awareness that our entire social system is in need of fundamental transformation. But like the earlier transition between the 1750's and 1890's from a pre-modern to a modern industrial society, this second transition is also a contested one. Sustainable development is only one of many options. This book addresses the issue on how to understand the dynamics and governance of the second transition dynamics in order to ensure sustainable development. It will be necessary reading for students and scholars with an interest in sustainable development and long-term transformative change.

Sustainable Agri-food Systems

Sustainable Agri-food Systems PDF

Author: Claire Lamine

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2020-09-03

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 1350101141

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Building on recent scholarship in the sociology of food, Claire Lamine uses in-depth case studies from France and Brazil to compile a critical survey of social science approaches to sustainability transitions in agri-food systems. Lamine addresses the diverse pathways of transition encountered across multiple levels, from the farm through farmers' networks and food chains, to the territorial scale of regions. She also explores the efforts made by those involved in the agricultural world to create new connections between agriculture, food, environment and health, while also taking social equity issues into account. The book adopts a comparative perspective to explore the translation of agroecology into government programmes and the specific modes of governance involved in France and Brazil - two countries that pioneer in implementing agroecology yet which differ both in visions and context. Providing new options for understanding the complex issue of agri-food transitions, this book will make an impact for those studying food systems, geography, sociology, politics and agriculture.

Agroecology Now!

Agroecology Now! PDF

Author: Colin Ray Anderson

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-12-07

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 3030613151

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This open access book develops a framework for advancing agroecology transformations focusing on power, politics and governance. It explores the potential of agroecology as a sustainable and socially just alternative to today’s dominant food regime. Agroecology is an ecological approach to farming that addresses climate change and biodiversity loss while contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals. Agroecology transformations represent a challenge to the power of corporations in controlling food system and a rejection of the industrial food systems that are at the root of many social and ecological ills. In this book the authors analyse the conditions that enable and disable agroecology’s potential and present six ‘domains of transformation’ where it comes into conflict with the dominant food system. They argue that food sovereignty, community-self organization and a shift to bottom-up governance are critical for the transformation to a socially just and ecologically viable food system. This book will be a valuable resource to researchers, students, policy makers and professionals across multidisciplinary areas including in the fields of food politics, international development, sustainability and resilience.