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BAB 056/22: Applying an agri-food systems approach

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BAB 056/22: Applying an agri-food systems approach

Created: 22 March 2022
Last Updated: 17 January 2025

BAB 056/22: Applying an agri-food systems approach

Basic principles and an analysis using the example of conflicting goals in land use

UN sustainability goals, the European Green Deal (with the "Farm to Fork" strategy, the biodiversity strategy for 2030) etc. are responses to social challenges. The goals pursued and measures taken have an impact on the agricultural, environmental and food sectors, among others. However, the demands placed on these areas (e.g. food security, extensive farming, ecosystem services) and the measures taken not only result in synergies but also potential conflicts of objectives due to the complex interrelationships. An analysis of the actors, activities, driving forces and results, the relationships between these elements, etc. increasingly requires scientific perspectives and methods that view economies and societies as embedded parts of the biosphere, in addition to sectoral and disciplinary approaches. Such a systemic approach makes it possible to identify and analyze complex interrelationships, synergy effects, conflicting goals and system innovations. Land is an essential and scarce resource for agricultural, environmental and food systems (AEE systems).
As such, there are numerous possible uses, some of which compete with each other, such as agriculture, forestry, nature conservation, recreation, tourism, housing, transportation and energy.Even within agriculture, different uses (e.g. production of food or energy crops, keeping cultivated land open) and farming methods (conventional, organic, sustainable intensification, use or non-use of pesticides, etc.) have different effects, including intended and/or unintended consequences in other areas of the economy and society.In addition, various political programs and measures (e.g. farm-to-fork strategy, biodiversity strategy, the ÖPUL agri-environmental program) formulate requirements and objectives for land use (e.g. climate protection, biodiversity conservation), which in turn can result in conflicting objectives for land use.

Objective

The aim of the project is to develop the theoretical and methodological basis for a systemic assessment of the AUE systems in Austria in order to be able to present and analyse the increasing networking and complexity, scarcity of resources and crises, changing social demands, etc. The project is divided into three work packages, which will be worked on in parallel. In terms of content, the project is divided into three work packages, which are worked on in parallel. Findings from the ‘Theory’ and ‘Methods’ work packages are to be incorporated into an applied systemic analysis in the ‘Case study: Conflicting land use objectives’ work package. Results from this can in turn be used to further develop the theoretical and methodological foundations. The fundamental work primarily serves to analyse AUE systems. Based on the results, concrete recommendations for stakeholders (e.g. beneficiaries of agri-environmental programmes, the BML, state governments, the scientific community, the Chamber(s) of Agriculture, civil society organisations) can be derived in a further step.

Status of the overall project
In three parallel work packages (theory, methods, case study: conflicting land use objectives), the state of research on theories and methods for a systemic view of agricultural, environmental and food systems was surveyed and presented, and a specific case study on conflicting land use objectives in connection with livestock farming was analysed.

Work 2025

In the last year of the project, the activities in the theory and methods work packages will be deepened and finalised and links to the results of the other work packages will be established. The results from the work packages will be summarised and published in a joint project report.

Work Package "Theory"
(Head of work package: Yvonne Stickler)

Status of the work package
Based on a literature review, the origins and key ideas of systems theory, cultural and linguistic contexts and the relationship to other research approaches were presented and discussed. Central ideas, terms and concepts such as (sub)systems and their boundaries, relations, interactions and feedback loops were explained. Important system properties and concepts such as emergence, resilience and sustainability were defined, related to each other and placed in the context of specific research questions. Goals, dealing with conflicting goals and challenges in system interventions were discussed.
Based on these general findings, various conceptual representations of agricultural, environmental and food systems were then presented, including regional and structural differences and the associated characterisation options. For a systemic analysis of relevant policy instruments, the structure and content were outlined on the basis of a literature review. An interim report provided an overview of the work completed by the end of 2022.
Work 2025
In the final year of the project, the characterisation of agricultural, environmental and food systems will be completed. In addition, a systemic examination of concrete, current policy projects such as the Green Deal will be carried out, which will deal with underlying paradigms and immanent conflicts of objectives as well as the relationship to other policy projects. In the context of past and current paradigms and discourses, the strengths and limitations of current proposed solutions will be discussed as well as possible other approaches to solving current and future challenges.
Finally, the entire output of this work package, consisting of a theoretical overview, analyses of policy proposals and conclusions, will be combined with the results from the other work packages and published in a joint project report.

Work Package "Methods"
(Work package leader: Christoph Tribl)

Status of the work package
Various methods are used in the literature to describe and analyse systems in general and AUE systems in particular. In the course of a thematically broad literature research, the qualitative and quantitative methods used were continuously recorded and structured. On the basis of the literature research, the work of the ‘case study’ work package was continuously methodologically supported. The work carried out up to the end of 2022 was presented in an interim report. In coordination with the other work packages, various concepts (e.g. resilience) and fundamental terms of systems theory (e.g. feedback loops) were selected based on the literature in addition to ongoing literature research, and the methods used in the literature to analyse the respective research questions were described and discussed.
Work in 2025
The presentation and discussion of the methods will be finalised in 2025, and gaps in knowledge (‘research/evidence gaps’) will also be identified. The results of this work package, i.e. in particular a presentation of typical elements of scientific analyses of AUE systems, a description and discussion of relevant methods for selected concepts and terms as well as conclusions, will be presented in the joint final project report.

Work package "Case study: Conflicts of objectives in land use"
(Work package leaders: Heidelinde Grüneis, Karin Heinschink)

Status of the work package
In 2022, the focus of the work was on a general examination of topics relevant to the WP case study, in particular the areas of land use, agriculture and conflicts of use. The tasks included literature research, a survey using guided interviews with experts and an analysis of the information collected. The results of this work were documented in outputs such as transcripts and mind maps. Several topics related to land use and livestock farming were identified and analysed from different perspectives (e.g. agriculture, politics, society). The meetings and consultations took place within the WP and with the involvement of the two work packages ‘Theory’ and ‘Methods’. Based on the results of the previous work, the topic of chicken fattening was selected in 2023 and analysed in greater depth as part of the case study. To this end, quantitative and qualitative information was researched and interviews and a farm visit were conducted. In 2024, further information and data on the chicken fattening case study was researched, work began on documenting the findings and previous results from the WP case study were presented (poster presentation at the ERDN Conference 2024).
Work 2025

Für das Jahr 2025 ist geplant, einen Bericht über das Fallbeispiel zur Hühnermast zu verfassen und die Ergebnisse zu disseminieren.