Cultivating Common Good: A Call for Transformative Science to renew the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

Abstract

This paper calls for transformative science to catalyze the needed change in the agricultural sector. It sheds light on the current dysfunctional system of resource allocation of the CAP and its poor economic, ecological and social outcomes. While the disparity between the desired outcomes and the reality is undisputed within research, former reforms have resulted in little change of the CAP. However, there is now a window of opportunity for real change with the transitional phase of the CAP, the shock event of the Coronavirus pandemic as a magnifying glass for underlying systemic problems and the proclamation of the European Green Deal, in particular the Farm-to-Fork-Strategy. The current system is impoverishing our biodiversity, soils, health and rural socio-economic tissue. To break this downward spiral, the authors suggest allocating resources according to the common good that a farm produces. To design change, this article assigns a major role to transformative science and lays out starting points and missions for further research.