Drivers and barriers of Agroecology Transition

What are factors that influence a transition towards a more sustainable agriculture and food system? How can Living Labs (LLs) and Research Infrastructures (RIs) support this transition? To better understand the drivers and barriers of the agroecology transition ALL-Ready spoke with national actors across 23 EU countries about their perceptions and experience. The synthesis of this work will soon be published as a report “Drivers of Agroecology Transition”.

ALL-Ready's work has shown that the perception of agroecology differs substantially across different European countries and that the concept “agroecology” is seen as novel and not formally recognised and codified in domestic regulation.  However, agroecological practices are widely applied among practitioners and research infrastructures are considered sufficiently attuned to support the agroecology transition in most of the countries.

While competencies for agroecology transition diverge quite a lot across the different European countries, the report emphasises that Living Labs (LLs) offer a powerful tool that may be strengthened to ensure better processes around stakeholder involvement. This implies a need for designing activities that are agile and which support particular national needs. ALL-Ready is working on a capacity building programme to cater to these needs. For more information see here.

ALL-Ready’s work confirms that the nature of farm advisory service varies across countries. While many private and cooperatively owned advisory services are found in the western part of Europe, Eastern Europe’s advisory services are mainly owned and managed by the state and have a focus on improving productivity, rather than alternative modes of production. Ongoing engagement activities with regards to agroecology and Living Labs should take this into account.

As regards policies in support of agroecology transition, there are strong indications that some principles and practices associated with agroecology feature prominently in current policy making. Here it is important to emphasize that the advancement of agroecology presupposes an integrative approach which should preferably also be supported in policies.

Our interview partners stress a number of barriers for agroecology transition. Research and innovation systems are often reported to lack a system- and transdisciplinary perspective, meaning that it is difficult to properly reflect the holistic thinking required for agroecology transition. This suggests that supporting the agroecology transition requires fundamental changes in subsystems, including research, practices and supporting policies.