Considering agro-ecosystems as ecological funds for collective design: New perspectives for environmental policy

Elsa Berthet (), Blanche Segrestin () and Gordon Hickey ()
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Elsa Berthet: CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3 - Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, SADAPT - Sciences pour l'Action et le Développement : Activités, Produits, Territoires - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - AgroParisTech, McGill University = Université McGill [Montréal, Canada]
Blanche Segrestin: CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3 - Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Gordon Hickey: McGill University = Université McGill [Montréal, Canada]

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Abstract: Enhancing agro-ecosystem sustainability raises difficult challenges for environmental policy: it requires both increasing knowledge on these complex systems to design effective solutions and coordinating stakeholders with diverging interests. However, most existing environmental policies consider ecosystems' desirable properties as given, leading ecosystem managers to favor "turnkey" solutions. How could public policy better support local collective initiatives aiming at reconciling agriculture and the environment? This paper presents an empirical case study from western France, in which a partnership between an agricultural cooperative and an ecological research center resulted in a collective design initiative. We conceptually model this initiative drawing upon recent design theories and Georgescu-Roegen's ‘fund-flow' model, defining ‘ecological funds' as the starting point of a collective design process. The results highlight the importance of developing policy instruments that can better support local innovation processes through greater democratization. Adopting a design approach to sustainable agricultural landscape management could be particularly fruitful in situations where collective action is necessary but where there is no common good recognized as such, and no existing community identified.

Keywords: Public policy; Governance; Innovative design; Collective action; Biodiversity conservation; Agriculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-04-14
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published in Environmental Science & Policy, 2016, 61, pp.108-115. ⟨10.1016/j.envsci.2016.04.005⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01305924

DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2016.04.005

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