Creating Conditions for Harnessing the Potential of Transitions to Agroecology in Europe and Requirements for Policy

Abstract

SummaryFood systems require reorientation to take greater account of interactions with the environment, economy, health and society. Transitions to agroecological farming practices and systems can connect policy areas and realise environmental, economic and social aims. These transitions provide a lens for reviewing policy, practice and behaviours of actors in farming systems and value chains, identification of barriers to uptake, and policy areas to which they contribute or where there are gaps. Developing social and human capital, and governance structures that enable transitions to agroecology are key to their prospects of success. Education and life‐long learning are key to developing the knowledge and skills of younger generations of land managers and other actors in value chains, throughout their careers. The outcome sought is for a shared understanding of the benefits of agroecological practices and systems, creating opportunities to rebalance policies towards delivering climate neutrality, reversing biodiversity loss, and enhancing rights of citizens. To realise those opportunities policies and strategies should be coherent across territorial and systems levels, and tailored to place, system, people, and stages of transitions. Overall, they should be designed to ensure all citizens are beneficiaries of transitions to agroecological farming systems, over the long term, and that no‐one or place is disadvantaged by the processes of change or the outcome intended.

Functional trade-offs: exploring the temporal response of field margin plant communities to climate change and agricultural practices

“…The most likely scenario is accelerating climate change coupled with an agricultural abandonment and more extensive practices in Europe (blue arrow in Fig. 5 , Miller et al, 2022; Peeters et al, 2021), which will likely result in an increase in xero-thermophilous and conservative species. However, a large part of these species are specialized to their habitat (e.g.…”

Knowledge Evolution in Agroecology in Mediterranean Areas: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…This fact could be related to the reorientation experienced by food systems with adopting sustainable agricultural practices and systems ("agroecological transition") and supported by the change in the model for the development of social capital structures and governance through policies and strategies with the capacity to address the challenges facing agri-food systems (e.g., biodiversity loss, climate neutrality, and the enhancement of human rights). At all territorial levels and systems, to the socioeconomic and environmental needs and diversities of the territory, also considering the rights of citizens; so that during the transition process, they are not harmed due to the planned change (Miller et al, 2022). The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) in 2019 concluded with the approval of the "Chile-Madrid Time to Act" Agreement, which lays the groundwork for countries to present commitments to reduce emissions and environmental degradation in 2020.…”