Behind the scenes of a learning agri-food value chain: lessons from action research

Abstract

The development of sustainable agri-food systems requires not only new academic knowledge, but also concrete social and organizational change in practice. This article reflects on the action research process that supported and explored the learning process in an emerging agri-food value chain in the Berlin-Brandenburg region in eastern Germany. The action research study involved value chain actors, academic researchers, and process facilitators in a learning network. By framing the network’s learning and problem solving processes in concepts of organizational learning, lessons were drawn for researchers and value chain developers. The results underline the importance of process facilitation in a learning value chain to create a social space, in which the actors in the value chain can interact and find a common basis for collaboration. In the learning process, facilitators used an iterative design to consistently align learning activities with the needs of practitioners to ensure practical relevance. To establish new practices and partnerships, value chain actors challenged existing routines and developed new ideas and visions, while at the same time improving established practices within their organizations and along the entire value chain.

Between ambitions and actions: how citizens navigate the entrepreneurial process of co-producing sustainable urban food futures

“…This begs the question what can be learned from this explanation for similar studies. Braun et al ( 2021 ) presents an action research study of 22 enterprises in farming, processing and trading in the region of Berlin, Germany. In this study, they facilitate an interorganizational learning process for entrepreneurs to both learn from one another as well as to strengthen the local supply chain.…”

“…This form of action research is useful in this instance because it is a situation where it is important to not just understand but also stimulate sustainability transformations (Miller 2012 ; Miller et al 2014 ; Wittmayer and Schäpke 2014 ; Horlings et al 2019 ). The food system specifically requires social and organizational change which action research can provide (Braun et al 2021 ). As Coghlan and Shani ( 2020 ) argue, action research results in organizational change, actionable knowledge and engaging people in a collaborative process all at the same time.…”

Value chain in agroecological organizations: analysis from the triple bottom line

“…Se destaca el interés en analizar la organización y la interacción entre actores, especialmente en cadenas de valor informales o en desarrollo, con un enfoque en pequeños productores agrícolas (Mishra & Dey, 2018;German et al, 2020). La conformación de redes de aprendizaje se presenta como una estrategia organizativa que favorece la colaboración y mejora la coordinación dentro de la cadena (Braun et al, 2021). En términos de sostenibilidad ambiental, la cadena de valor ha sido utilizada para analizar aspectos como el impacto en el uso de la tierra y las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero.…”

Plan-and-play in the polder: exploring the lived futures of sustainable food entrepreneurship in Flevoland

“…This begs the question what can be learned from this explanation for similar studies. Braun et al (2021) presents an action research study of 22 enterprises in farming, processing and trading in the region of Berlin, Germany.…”

“…This form of action research is useful in this instance because it is a situation where it is important to not just understand but also stimulate sustainability transformations (Horlings et al, 2019;Miller, 2012;Miller et al, 2014;Wittmayer & Schäpke, 2014). The food system specifically requires social and organisational change which action research can provide (Braun et al, 2021). As Coghlan and Shani (2020) argue, action research results in organisational change, actionable knowledge and engaging people in a collaborative process all at the same time.…”