Introduction: Agroecology as a Transdisciplinary, Participatory, and Action-oriented Approach

Méndez, V. Ernesto; Bacon, Christopher M.; Cohen, Roseann

doi:10.1201/b19500-2

Cited by 181 publications

(306 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…In this context, interrelations between scientists and farmers have been encouraged (MacMillan and Benton, 2014) and conceptualised by scientists as participatory approaches (also called transdisciplinarity, collaborative, iterative, action research, Cerf, 2011;Méndez et al, 2013). While farmers experiment, observe and evaluate innovations themselves and progressively engage into the transition process individually and collectively, interactions with scientists allow the latter to consider farmers' constraints and opportunities as well as wishes and objectives in their studies.…”

Section: When Scientists Accompany Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial diversification of agroecosystems to enhance biological control and other regulating services: An agroecological perspective

Hatt

Boeraeve

Artru

et al. 2018

Science of The Total Environment

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Spatial diversification of crop and non-crop habitats in farming systems is promising for enhancing natural regulation of insect pests. Nevertheless, results from recent syntheses show variable effects.One explanation is that the abundance and diversity of pests and natural enemies are affected by the composition, design and management of crop and non-crop habitats. Moreover, interactions between both local and landscape elements and practices carried out at different spatial scales may affect the regulation of insect pests. Hence, research is being conducted to understand these interdependencies.However, insects are not the only pests and pests are not the only elements to regulate in agroecosystems. Broadening the scope could allow addressing multiple issues simultaneously, but also solving them together by enhancing synergies. Indeed, spatial diversification of crop and non-crop habitats can allow addressing the issues of weeds and pathogens, along with being beneficial to several other regulating services like pollination, soil conservation and nutrient cycling. Although calls rise to develop multifunctional landscapes that optimize the delivery of multiple ecosystem services, it still represents a scientific challenge today. Enhancing interdisciplinarity in research institutions and building interrelations between scientists and stakeholders may help reach this goal. Despite obstacles, positive results from research based on such innovative approaches are encouraging for engaging 2 science in this path. Hence, the aim of the present paper is to offer an update on these issues by exploring the most recent findings and discussing these results to highlight needs for future research.

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Section: When Scientists Accompany Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial diversification of agroecosystems to enhance biological control and other regulating services: An agroecological perspective

Hatt

Boeraeve

Artru

et al. 2018

Science of The Total Environment

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“…Beyond the production of citrus, other traditional ancillary cultivars such as capers, olive trees, vineyards, could be reintroduced. This scenario, which can be framed in an agroecological perspective [24,25], will exploit a greater range of Ecosystem Services, viz, beyond the aesthetic aspects, the knowledge and the memories of local autopoietic practices, the food production and the protection of the territory [26,27,28]. Moreover, the lemon houses may become the means with which networks and new economic relationships among stakeholders can arise.…”

Section: The Contribution Of Economic Geographymentioning

confidence: 99%

Lake Garda lemon houses (Italy): Opportunities of a sensitive, marginal area in urban planning

Badiani¹,

Barontini²,

Bettoni³

et al. 2017

Change and Adaptation in Socio-Ecological Systems

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The lemon houses of Lake Garda provide Ecosystem Services, due to their history and their deep rooting in the landscape. Unfortunately, Urban Planning hasn’t ever taken into account these possible benefits. In fact, it has always allowed their reuse as residences and it has sustained the conservation of the buildings only. The lack of interest in reintroducing lemon growing or other agricultural activities has produced a noticeable impoverishment of the local landscape. To overcome these limits, Urban Planning should be oriented to implement practices, which take root in and bring out the variety of local landscapes. In order to reach this result, Urban Planning may help to bring some lemon houses, especially the abandoned or the most vulnerable ones, back to their original agricultural vocation, reintroducing autopoietic agricultural techniques, which are in balance with the environment. An interdisciplinary approach may be adopted in a profitable way, to strengthen the efficiency of the Urban Planning. Aiming at this interdisciplinary approach the paper reports our first investigations concerning the contribution of different disciplines, which will help Urban Planning to consider, in case of the reuse of Lake Garda lemon houses, immaterial benefits and to reintroduce activities linked to their original vocation.

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“…Like organic food proponents, agroecologists can take diverse identities. Several surveys of agroecology have considered the people who are agroecologists, their backgrounds, and their affiliations Wezel and Soldat, 2009;Méndez et al, 2013;Gliessman, 2013;Méndez et al, 2016). These works have mapped the history and evolution of agroecology dating back to at least the 1930s, in terms of Western scientific recognition.…”

Section: Mapping Agroecology Epistemic Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…traces distinct lineages of agroecology with separate emergences of 'science' in Germany, 'practice' in France, and 'movement' occurring alongside science and practice in both the US and Brazil, albeit with different emphases (more science in the US, more practice and movement in Brazil). By contrast, Méndez et al (2013) and Gliessman (2013) depict agroecology as a co-production of science, practice, and movement. For these authors, the practice of agroecology reciprocally informs scientific Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene • 4: 000115 • doi: 10.12952/journal.elementa.000115 theory, and the science is rooted in social movement resistance to Green Revolution interventions.…”

Section: Mapping Agroecology Epistemic Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Public funding institutions (and private foundations) often provide streams of resources that are narrowly framed within traditional disciplinary boundaries, making it difficult for agroecology to compete (Vandermeer and Perfecto, 2013;Méndez et al, 2016). Moreover, public research has increasingly emphasized the priorities of commercial interests, such as precursors for seeds that industry can patent or animal science that can improve livestock productivity (Kloppenburg, 2004).…”

Section: Public Fundingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Toward thick legitimacy: Creating a web of legitimacy for agroecology

Wit

Iles

2016

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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Legitimacy is at the heart of knowledge politics surrounding agriculture and food. When people accept industrial food practices as credible and authoritative, they are consenting to their use and existence. With their thick legitimacy, industrial food systems paralyze the growth of alternative agricultures, including agroecology. Questions of how alternative agricultures can attain their own thick legitimacy in order to compete with, and displace, that of industrial food have not yet attracted much scrutiny. We show that both agroecological and scientific legitimacy grow out of a web of legitimation processes in the scientific, policy, political, legal, practice, and civic arenas. Crucially, legitimation often comes through meeting what we call 'credibility tests'. Agroecologists can learn to navigate these co-constituted, multiple bases of legitimacy by paying attention to how credibility tests are currently being set in each arena, and beginning to recalibrate these tests to open more room for agroecology. Using a schematic of three non-exclusive pathways, we explore some possible practical interventions that agroecologists and other advocates of alternative agricultures could take. These pathways include: leveraging, while also reshaping, the existing standards and practices of science; extending influence into policy, legal, practical, and civic arenas; and centering attention on the ethical legitimacy of food systems. We conclude that agroecologists can benefit from considering how to build legitimacy for their work.

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Introduction: Agroecology as a Transdisciplinary, Participatory, and Action-oriented Approach

Cited by 181 publications

References 36 publications

Spatial diversification of agroecosystems to enhance biological control and other regulating services: An agroecological perspective

Spatial diversification of agroecosystems to enhance biological control and other regulating services: An agroecological perspective

Lake Garda lemon houses (Italy): Opportunities of a sensitive, marginal area in urban planning

Toward thick legitimacy: Creating a web of legitimacy for agroecology

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