How Can Collective Action Support the Agroecological Transition in Geographical Indication Vineyards? Insights from the Loire Valley Wine Area

Abstract

Few studies have examined the agroecological transition in viticulture, which involves transformation processes, especially at the territorial scale where collective action plays a key role in the dissemination of transition strategies. Collective action in the agroecological transition must be studied in order to encourage and accelerate changes in practices. In this study, collective action is analyzed to understand how governance structures influence the development of collective agroecological transition strategies. Elinor Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development and Social–Ecological Systems analysis frameworks were applied to the Anjou-Saumur wine area in the Loire Valley, where nearly 80% of wine production is under protected designations of origin. Data were collected through seven semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed qualitatively in order to identify the main actors and collective strategies in the agroecological transition. The study showed that the polycentric structure of governance in the protected designations of the origin system enables institutional actors to collectively coordinate their actions. Moreover, collective action is structured in three focal action situations that overlap at the institutional level due to two key actors in the agroecological transition, but also due to tacit rules of the organizational structure for some actors. Action situations dynamically interact with each other across time and geographical scales, helping the agroecological transition process forward by combining top-down and bottom-up strategies. This study provides a novel way of applying the IAD/SES framework as well as a new look at collective action for the agroecological transition at the institutional scale in French viticultural systems under protected designations of origin. This paves the way for interdisciplinary research for the agroecological transition, and might help to select the best strategies to encourage changes of viticultural practices.

Geographical Indications and Sustainable Viticulture: Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives

“…Given its bottom-up and polycentric character, the GI system has itself been described as a sustainable policy instrument [22]. Indeed, empirical studies have highlighted the potential of GIs to contribute to different dimensions of sustainability [23][24][25][26]. However, some cases, including some of the most notorious GI "success stories" have shown that introducing GIs can also negatively affect various sustainability dimensions in the respective areas [19,27,28].…”

“…Given the bottom-up nature of GIs in a polycentric governance framework, the theoretical work of Elinor Ostrom seems to provide a fitting analytical framework [24,25,35]. In particular, the empirically derived "design principles" for collective choice arrangements provide an intuitive yet comprehensive framework to analyse situations where stakeholders themselves develop institutional arrangements to overcome common challenges.…”

Early Growth Assessment of Lolium perenne L. as a Cover Crop for Management of Copper Accumulation in Galician Vineyard Soils

“…In response to these challenges, alternatives based on the principles of agroecology have emerged in recent years, which are based on ecological principles and biological interactions in agrosystems, with the aim of making agricultural processes sustainable. This includes pest control, appropriate fertilization, and environmental protection in all dimensions [34,35].…”