Comprehensiveness or implementation: Challenges in translating farm-level sustainability assessments into action for sustainable development

Olde, E.M. de; Sautier, Marion; Whitehead, Jay

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.11.058

Cited by 60 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…An important aspect of this project was to assess the impact and sustainability of the strategies used with tools that integrate social, economic, and environmental factors. Over the last several years, a range of measures and tools to assess agricultural sustainability have been developed along with the corresponding comparative assessments of these tools and their applicability to a range of contexts and purposes [12,[32][33][34]. The tool chosen to conduct this analysis is the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) [11].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Sustainability in Traditional Silvopastoral Systems (caívas): Looking Beyond the Impact of Animals on Biodiversity

et al. 2019

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Caívas are traditional silvopastoral systems that occur in the Araucaria Forest biome, Southern Brazil, in which animal production and erva-mate extraction are integrated. Participatory research was conducted in caívas in the Northern Plateau, Santa Catarina State, to identify strategies to intensify pasture use and increase animal productivity. To better understand the outcomes of these strategies, a sustainability assessment was conducted in properties that participated in the research (improved caívas; IC) and those that did not (traditional caívas; TC). The Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) tool 2.0.0 for smallholders was chosen as it evaluates the productive unit as a whole using environmental, social, economic, and governance indicators and is tailored for small-scale production. All evaluated indicators showed higher scores for IC properties in relation to TC. In general, the SAFA analysis showed that when evaluated as productive systems, TCs are a strategic option for rural development, as 65% of their indicators were evaluated as good. With the support of rural outreach and research and the adoption of appropriate technologies, this percentage increased to 86% in ICs. These results confirm that with adequate support caívas can significantly contribute to the development of more sustainable livestock farming in Southern Brazil.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Sustainability in Traditional Silvopastoral Systems (caívas): Looking Beyond the Impact of Animals on Biodiversity

et al. 2019

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“…Yet, such attempts of determining the term have been criticised for not being suitable enough to represent the dynamic interaction between social and ecological systems (Bell and Morse 2008;Morse 2013) due to trying to find out the truth of sustainability and being static, mostly top-down, and expertdriven (Bell and Morse 2008;Morse 2013). Central to this critique is an understanding of nature and society as being in constant flux and hence ultimately unmeasurable (see Alrøe and Noe 2016;de Olde et al 2018). Robinson (2004) argues that no single approach or definition should be considered the ''truth'' of sustainability, rather it is more usefully thought of as approach or process of community-based thinking that indicates we need to integrate environmental, social and economic issues in a long-term perspective, while remaining open to fundamental differences about the way that is to be accomplished and even the ultimate purposes involved (p. 381).…”

Section: Attempts To Define and Determine Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…how sustainable decisions are made and exercised. Therefore, if the less powerful groups do no express their voice, they would lack agency, the legitimacy of the sustainability knowledge produced would be simplistic and hegemonic hence the integrative aspect of sustainability would be questionable (de Olde et al 2018). Moreover, such clear boundaries, in addition to being too simplistic, can also be misused for political ends, resulting in polarised debates (Bell and Morse 2018), such as in the case of post-truth politics (see Higgins 2016;Lewandowsky et al 2017).…”

Section: Attempts To Define and Determine Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining sustainability? Insights from a small village in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dogmus

Nielsen

2020

GeoJournal

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The term ''sustainability'' is flexible as it needs to function in many different contexts and across many issues. At the same time, this flexibility makes it difficult to assess and easy to misuse. Over the last three decades, numerous sustainability assessment tools have been developed to better define the term. In this paper, we critically address these attempts and argue that the flexibility of the term is not solely problematic, but allow people to create their own sustainability imaginaries, by which we mean a society's understanding of how environmental resources should be used. We show this through a case study, the Martin Brod village in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where, within a few years, the inhabitants changed their sustainability imaginaries in parallel with shifting external socio-economic conditions and expectations. We primarily applied qualitative research methods. Our results show that changing sustainability imaginaries was made possible due to the flexibility of the term which enabled otherwise disempowered local inhabitants to have agency. Consequently, a stricter definition of sustainability may have unintended consequences for people struggling to maintain a political voice in settings such as Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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“…Recent research shows that the assessment of farm-level SIA can be achieved by quantifying the economic, social and environmental outcomes of a range of farm management practices [14,[18][19][20][21]. However, this type of research tends to focus on the results rather than the reasoning behind the methods used to measure SIA and is limited when explaining the way SIA is applied in practice [22]. In reality, farm management decisions are largely affected by external factors that are beyond the control of farmers and interfere with their personal decision-making processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Complex Pathway towards Farm-Level Sustainable Intensification: An Exploratory Network Analysis of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and Perception

et al. 2020

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Farm-level sustainable intensification of agriculture (SIA) has become an important concept to ensuring food security while minimising negative externalities. However, progress towards its achievement is often constrained by the different perceptions and goals of various stakeholders that affect farm management decisions. This study examines farm-level SIA as a dynamic system with interactive components that are determined by the interests of the stakeholders involved. A systems thinking approach was used to identify and describe the pathways towards farm-level SIA across the three main pillars of sustainability. An explanatory network analysis of fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) that were collectively created by representative groups of farmers, farm advisors and policy makers was performed. The study shows that SIA is a complex dynamic system, affected by cognitive beliefs and particular knowledge within stakeholder groups. The study concludes that, although farm-level SIA is a complex process, common goals can be identified in collective decision making.

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Comprehensiveness or implementation: Challenges in translating farm-level sustainability assessments into action for sustainable development

Cited by 60 publications

References 44 publications

Evaluating Sustainability in Traditional Silvopastoral Systems (caívas): Looking Beyond the Impact of Animals on Biodiversity

Evaluating Sustainability in Traditional Silvopastoral Systems (caívas): Looking Beyond the Impact of Animals on Biodiversity

Defining sustainability? Insights from a small village in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Complex Pathway towards Farm-Level Sustainable Intensification: An Exploratory Network Analysis of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and Perception

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