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Finding pathways to enhance the resilience of farming systems (FSs) in Europe is key, given the increasing challenges threatening them. FSs are complex socio-ecological systems in which social and ecological components are strongly linked. Social actors have the capacity to shape the FSs' resilience, but there is a knowledge gap about how they can best do it. The aim of this paper is to analyse the roles played by the actors in FSs when dealing with challenges and assess how these roles may contribute to the resilience attributes (conditions that enable resilience) and resilience capacities (robustness, adaptability, and transformability). To this end, ten focus groups have been conducted across FSs in Europe. Results suggest that each actor in the FSs can shape and strengthen different resilience attributes which in turn result in combinations of resilience capacities that are specific to the FS. Thus, enabling resilience is best accomplished with actors taking different roles and jointly configuring the most adequate combination of capacities, which differs across FSs. This paper provides a set of resilience-enabling roles that delineate the pathways to make FSs more resilient. The diversity of actors and resilience-enabling pathways require flexible, coordinated and comprehensive policies that encompass the complexity of the socio-ecological systems. • Enabling resilience of farming systems is best accomplished with actors taking different roles. • Improving farming systems' resilience requires enhancing their transformability capacity. • The actors enhance resilience by reinforcing human capital, response diversity, social organization and learning. • This paper provides a set of resilience-enabling roles that delineate the pathways to make farming systems more resilient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper scrutinises European methods developed since 2010 for identifying urban, rural, and intermediate areas, addressing the need for locally relevant and internationally comparable methodologies. The inadequacy of the traditional urban-rural dichotomy methods in describing peri-urbanisation and the demand for efficient fund allocation and international performance comparisons has driven the proliferation of these methods by European institutions, national governments, and statistical offices. Since a comprehensive study of such methods is lacking, the paper analyses their characteristics (through the variables and statistical techniques used, along with the spatial unit of reference), as well as their local relevance and international comparability. The analysis reveals the predominance of a multi-scalar approach emphasising territorial discontinuity patterns and challenging traditional administrative boundaries. While these methods are effective for local policymaking with variables such as demographic dynamics and economic specialisation, they exhibit limited international comparability. Instead, methods relying solely on demographic data demonstrate harmonization, enabling more robust statistical comparisons due to their inherent simplicity. • There is a need for delimitation that is locally relevant and internationally comparable contemporarily. • National governments and statistical offices, as well as scholars propose some original methods to settle this dispute. • More articulated methods provide a solid evidence-based policymaking but less reliable statistical comparisons. • Demographic methods are the most widely used for comparable statistical information due to their reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this introductory article to the special issue on 'Agricultural Regimes and Migrant Labour', we first propose the analytical concept of the 'agriculture–migration nexus'. This is made up of a series of causal and co-constructive links between specialised agriculture, on the one hand, and seasonal and temporary regimes of migrant labour on the other. In the second part of the paper we identify a number of cross-cutting themes which resonate across the papers that make up the special issue. These include new geographical patterns of agricultural labour migration, especially in Europe; a focus on specialised agricultural districts involving the intensive production of crops such as tomatoes and strawberries; the disciplining function of time, inscribed into regimes of seasonal migrant labour and daily work rhythms; and moral questions surrounding the justification for agricultural labour exploitation and how it can be challenged. The final section of the article presents highlights from the eight substantive papers that follow, demonstrating how they are logically sequenced and integrated as a whole. • The agriculture–migration nexus is an effective analytical device for studying the links between farming and migrant labour. • The increased capitalisation and intensification of agriculture produces new geographies of labour migration. • Migrant agricultural workers' vulnerability is exacerbated by their invisibility, temporariness and often undocumented status. • Agriculture migrants enact agency; to understand their lives, we need to listen attentively to their own voices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically analyses and discusses the research gap regarding the current lack of reflection on the importance and potential of applied agricultural research policy for the broader aspects of rural resilience. The basis of the paper is the evaluation and critical reflection of the relevance of applied agricultural research policy to the needs of agricultural practice at the national level, on the one hand, and to general trends in agricultural research needs at the EU level, on the other hand. Special attention is paid to the case of the Czech Republic and international comparison of the situation in neighbouring countries in Central Europe. The results show a certain closedness of the national system of agricultural research in terms of supporting traditional themes related to creating innovations and strengthening the environmental dimension of conventional agriculture. On the contrary, the perception of some key trends at the EU level is weak, i.e. the role of digitisation, Agriculture 4.0 and wider rural aspects. The biggest challenge for applied agricultural research will be to develop the role of agriculture in the context of rural resilience. • Critical reflection of applied agricultural research in the context of rural resilience. • International comparison of the situation in countries in Central Europe. • The focus of agricultural research at EU level is more complex compared to the situation in the evaluated countries. • The results showed a limited emphasis on broader aspects of rural development at the national level of agricultural research. • Digitisation trends enabling wider rural development are also challenging and underused. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses lifestyle migrants' choice of relocation and experiences of growing older in the Azores islands, drawing on Bourdieu's concept of 'distinction'. The paper weaves together two main contributions: it develops empirical research on a 'new frontier' for lifestyle migration in Europe, operationalising the concepts of social and spatial distinction in this rather unique rural insular context; and it unpicks the complex relationship between lifestyle migrants and local Azoreans. The article draws on extensive field research in the Azores archipelago, including 66 life narrative interviews with older foreign lifestyle migrants and local people. A quest for social and spatial distinction is found to be deeply embedded in the migrants' decision to relocate to and grow older in these rural islands, and this distinction is discursively co-produced by both migrants and locals. Lifestyle migrants to the Azores are shown to construct their 'difference' mainly in relation to lifestyle migrants in other, so-called 'mainstream' destinations and to validate this narrative by displaying their pursuit for alternative lifestyles, where rurality, closeness to nature, place attachment, and a 'true' belonging to the islander community feature as centrepieces in their narratives. • Research on an insular rural-space and 'new frontier' for lifestyle migration in Europe. • Desire for social and spatial distinction as part of migrants' decision to relocate. • Distinction discursively co-produced by migrants and local islanders. • Pursuit of alternative lifestyles, rurality, and belonging to an islander community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farming systems in Europe are experiencing multiple stresses and shocks that may push systems beyond critical thresholds after which system change is expected to occur. These critical thresholds may lie in the economic, environmental, social and institutional domain. In this paper we take a participatory approach with involvement of farming system stakeholders to assess the presence of critical thresholds in 11 European farming systems, and the potential consequence of surpassing those with regard to system sustainability and resilience. First, critical thresholds of the main challenges, key system variables and their interactions in the studied farming systems were assessed. Second, participants assessed the potential developments of the key system variables in case critical thresholds for main system challenges would be exceeded. All studied systems were perceived to be close, at or beyond at least one identified critical threshold. Stakeholders were particularly worried about economic viability and food production levels. Moreover, critical thresholds were perceived to interact across system levels (field, farm, farming system) and domains (social, economic, environmental), with low economic viability leading to lower attractiveness of the farming system, and in some farming systems making it hard to maintain natural resources and biodiversity. Overall, a decline in performance of all key system variables was expected by workshop participants in case critical thresholds would be exceeded. For instance, a decline in the attractiveness of the area and a lower maintenance of natural resources and biodiversity. Our research shows that concern for exceeding critical thresholds is justified and that thresholds need to be studied while considering system variables at field, farm and farming system level across the social, economic and environmental domains. For instance, economic variables at farm level (e.g. income) seem important to detect whether a system is approaching critical thresholds of social variables at farming system level (e.g. attractiveness of the area), while in multiple case studies there are also indications that approaching thresholds of social variables (e.g. labor availability) are indicative for approaching economic thresholds (e.g. farm income). Based on our results we also reflect on the importance of system resources for stimulating sustainability and resilience of farming systems. We therefore stress the need to include variables that reflect system resources such as knowledge levels, attractiveness of rural areas and general well-being of rural residents when monitoring and evaluating the sustainability and resilience of EU farming systems. • Concern on exceeding critical thresholds is justified as studied farming systems are perceived to be close to such thresholds. • Challenges in the environmental domain were least often perceived to have reached critical thresholds. • Economic viability at farm level is a central, interacting critical threshold observed in all farming systems. • The economic, environmental as well as social domain are important for the sustainability and resilience of farming systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social science research highlights the proliferation of metric-based forms of accountability in contemporary governance, and explores their possibilities as well as limitations in furthering the multiple goals of sustainable development. This work draws critical attention to tensions between the means and ends of governance, and how these can render invisible the power of those who give and receive accounts, and the knowledges created in the process of governance. However, little is said about the fact that accountability is often conducted and deliberated through different kinds of meetings (internal and external, closed and open, etc.) which circulate assessments, discuss results, and deliberate actual and possible future measures. Addressing this lacuna, this paper examines the role of meetings in creating accountability in contemporary agri-environmental governance. Based on research with the Donau Soja organisation, which is the leader in implementing standards to increase the cultivation of soybeans in Europe, we analyse the role of a cross-section of meetings in creating accountability. Building on the assemblage approach, we situate meetings as agentic elements in a configuration of human and non-human actors. This emphasises the relational attributes of accountability as a concept. Meetings form a key part of the assemblage that configures assessment tools for accountability to not only shape technocratic forms of governance but to also strengthen political ontologies of governance. We show that meetings complement metric assessments in the processes of accountability by specifically shaping the meaning of metrics and by shaping the emergence of new accounts. New accounts strengthen the organisations' supraordinate aims for a European protein transition wherein soybeans contribute significantly. • Deploys the assemblage approach to situate meetings as part of governance arrangements steering agri-environmental change. • Highlights the value of relational attributes of accountability for making visible dynamics between governance tools. • Analyses how meetings reorder both the place of metrics and the accountable relations for governance ends. • Underlines the importance of deliberation of leverage points for a European protein transition in standard-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the complex process of generational renewal (GR) in agriculture is essential for supporting the continuation of farming. This paper demonstrates how multiple factors, simultaneously and through their mutual interactions, influence GR and related individual decision-making processes. Results originated from 155 in-depth interviews performed on 85 farms in eleven European regions, and were triangulated with the literature. Our analysis, combining inductive and deductive approaches, revealed three conceptual phases (successor identity formation, farm succession process, and farm development) and fourteen factors important to understand GR. We elaborate how these factors interact, hence exert their impact on (one of) the phases in a complex and variable way. Implications highlight potential pitfalls and opportunities for attracting people into agriculture. Although policy-makers should be aware of their limited ability to affect GR by targeting the first phase, we propose some ideas that would complement current existing measures acting on the third phase. • Attracting people to farming demands profound understanding of generational renewal. • We study decisions relating to generational renewal on 85 farms in 11 EU regions. • Fourteen factors can impact three phases of the farm generational renewal process. • Current policy might miss its goals because of targeting the wrong phase. • Future policy must better address relevant (interplay of) impact factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, there has been relatively little focus on Eastern European ‘accession’ (EU8) migrants' representations of the rural in Western Europe. Through drawing on research conducted in England, this paper highlights how the materiality of the English countryside strongly shapes EU8 migrants' views of rural space. In turn, their representations of the rural as ‘idyll’, as social and cultural capital and as relational, coupled with their own moral values promoting self-sufficiency serve to perpetuate the rural as being ‘problem free’. Furthermore, the conflation of the rural idyll with ‘Englishness’ and ‘whiteness’ provides EU8 migrants living in the countryside with the opportunity to become involved in various aspects of rural community life. Consequently, the paper argues that their actions, as well as their representations of the rural, further contribute to the cultural ‘screening out’ of rural problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mountain areas have been the testbed for sustainable development models focused on balancing their vulnerability and the value of their natural, cultural, and social resources. In these areas, the continuous adaptative interaction between bio-geophysical and socio-cultural processes assembles Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) characterized by a great diversity of ecosystems and land uses, which provide substantial support for the livelihoods of mountain communities and essential ecosystem services for uplands and lowlands. In this paper, we take value chains to be the operative units of analysis to examine human-natural systems interactions in mountain areas. Value chains mobilize resources and connect actors beyond territorial boundaries and economic sectors to generate economic, environmental, and social values. Strategies for local development of these areas should direct attention to value generation activities and require a systemic, integrated and assets-based approach which explores the potential synergies emerging from the coordination of the diversity of local specificities and considers the opportunities and threats emerging from external sub-systems. This paper proposes a novel comparative framework to characterize value chains contribution to resilient and sustainable development of SESs in mountain areas. This framework is meant for researchers and policy analysts to identify the role value chains might accomplish for a better balance between natural resource conservation and sustainable socio-economic development in European (remote) rural areas. Two mountain food value chains are used to illustrate the framework and test its efficacy. The cases depict two value chain configurations which result in different social, economic and environmental outcomes for the sustainable development of the SES. • Mountain areas provide essential public good and services to rural communities. • Strategies for mountain areas require integrated and assets-based approaches. • The coordination of local specificities and external factors must inspire mountain policies. • Value chains mobilize resources to generate socio-economic and environmental values. • Value chains can balance resources conservation and socio-economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mediterranean olive triptych –i.e. the conceptual integration of an ecosystem (the olive-grove), a product (olive-oil) and a nutrition/diet scheme (Mediterranean olive-based diet)– is a discernable cultural model in Europe. In this paper, we attempt to explore the potential and limitations of statistical analysis of compositional data –especially ternary plotting techniques– vs. typical representations of Google Trends -based Conservation Culturomics. In that perspective, typical representations of GT -data in published Culturomics literature, e.g. reference term/country/language/time, are considered as descriptors of variation of public interest (2D trend lines, 3D graphics and triangular projections). Ternary plots, i.e. a typical representation of compositional data, conventionally differ significantly from the previous representations, since the primary GT -data are weighted so that ternary sum equals to 1 (or 100%). We present the technique for such a calculation method. The comparison of these representation techniques allows for strongly diverging interpretations. Lower level interpretations show significant differences between (Mediterranean) countries and/or groups-of-countries (Mediterranean vs. non-Mediterranean) where higher ternary compilations do suggest that cultural pattern across Europe actually diverge. The overall conclusion of this research is that GT -based Culturomics should overcome earliest simplistic approaches, such as linear regressions; and, it has to progressively construct a new epistemology where the significance of accumulation of empirical evidence should be strictly connected to scientific paradigm shift. • Mediterranean olive oil triptych is a pan-european flag cultural human-nature system. • Google Trends data are transformed into ternary plots statistical compositional data. • Ternary plotting uncovers inter-countries/intra-system variations of public interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the European Union, the setting of Operational Groups (OG) is supported by the European Innovation Partnership to tackle specific problems and favor innovation in agriculture. They constitute an important aspect of the current Common Agricultural Policy. Increasing or maintaining soil organic carbon (SOC) content under arable farming has been acknowledged as a primary target of European agriculture. SOC-preserving agriculture needs its techniques to be tailored to local conditions, namely, the combination of factors related to the environment (climate and soil characteristics), to the farming system (land use type, farm specialization, crop management), but also to the social and cultural context (market and availability of production means, subsidies, farmers' education, propensity for innovation and change). In this paper we present inspirational ideas and show success examples of local adaptations strategies to increase or maintain SOC content in soils under arable farming in Europe. They include: · Adoption of soil management strategies to improve SOC storage in irrigated systems. · Precision farming and other high-tech solutions able to generate local diagnosis and adaptive strategies for increasing SOC and reducing greenhouse gasses emissions. · Innovative strategies for extending soil cover periods and introducing cover crops in rotations in areas with limited water availability or prone to harsh weather conditions. · Management of rainfed and low input crops to maintain and increase SOC in dry climates and erosive prone soils. These case studies could facilitate the setting up of OGs and the application of innovative practices in different European countries. • Rationale is given for considering local soil and climate in farming strategies. • Limitations to increase SOC in arable land are described. • Case studies illustrate possible references for Operational Groups. • Diversification of cropping system as key factor to increase SOC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current policy discourse in the European Union and elsewhere identifies the 'multi-actor approach' and 'co-innovation' as powerful tools for 'speeding up' innovation in agriculture and related sectors. This paper analyses tensions in five project-based multi-actor partnerships (MAPs) in Europe. The ways in which actors form partnerships and the evaluation principles they follow to coordinate their work are explored through a focus on 'objects of justification'. We identified four objects, on which partners express different opinions and disagreements: the creation of partnerships, how actors work together, their attitudes to societal challenges (in particular, the environment) and their understanding of the benefits of participation. The tensions that arose around these four objects were linked to different evaluation principles that the partners employ, which in turn were attributable to their contrasting experiences of working in MAPs. Convention Theory was applied to understand these points of tension and to identify significant problems that the project activity can generate. These included segmentation between the partners that influences the way the project objectives and activities are formulated, inadequate addressing of practical problems by the set project objectives and conflicts of environmental perceptions. Opportunistic actions may compromise the benefits of the project activity. To work together and overcome tensions, partners most often use a strategy of compromise. Denunciations and clarifications, although present, do not necessarily lead to a premature end of the project activities. • Multi-actor partnerships (MAPs) are collective structures that function also by overcoming various tensions due to moral dilemmas of actors. • Four main issues ('objects of justification') create tensions between MAPs partners, namely, the selection of partners, how they worked together, their perceptions of societal challenges, and their understanding of the benefits they derived from their collaboration. • Project-based multi-actor partnerships raise segmentation between partners due to their different experience with 'project world' but mitigate existing social and professional stereotypes; • The tensions do not necessarily lead to premature project or partnership closure. Applying Convention theory, we understand that the most common strategy used to solve tensions is that of compromise and clarifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation is critical for the development of European farming. It has consequences in terms of changing roles for farm households and their capacity to develop new skills to be competitive, and also for the structures of governance required to support innovation and diversification. The innovative and diversification process is complex for farm households. It requires synergistic combinations of local and expert knowledge, capacity to build networks and extract value from those networks, and it requires personal motivation and resilience to achieve business objectives. This paper analyses a number of farm households in Co. Offaly and Co. Mayo, Ireland. Its focus is on household capacity for innovation across a wide range of socio-economic circumstances taking an individual ‘case study’ perspective through data collected on farms and with development agencies/extension services that support them. While innovation appears ‘natural’ to some households in both the agricultural and non-agricultural business sectors, the study also highlights that many farm households struggle to network and tend to rely heavily on the direction of policy actors, neighbours and friends. The paper considers innovation as a complex, territorially embedded process individual to each household and bound up with ideas of self, identity, and place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread transformations in farming practices during recent decades across many parts of Europe – increased capital intensity, scale enlargement, specialization, intensification and mechanization have been accompanied by a quite dramatic shift towards more standardized agricultural information and knowledge. Previous research reveals that transition towards more sustainable agriculture requires a new knowledge base, with new content and forms of knowledge and new processes of learning. In this paper, we explore the relevance of informal farmer knowledge and learning practices in constructing alternative pathways in sustainable agriculture and strengthening agricultural resilience. It is based on 11 case studies carried out within the international RETHINK research programme. The cases reveal the diversity of knowledge sources and learning forms that farmers use and the particular role of farmers’ experience-based knowledge. Farmers greatly value local experiential knowledge as they see it as having practical, personal and local relevance. Given the limitations of more standardized information and knowledge, and the urgent need for a transition towards more sustainable and resource-efficient practices, we argue that the potential of local farmer knowledge is not being optimally used and that a better integration of various forms of knowledge is needed. We identify several ways in which different kinds of knowledge can be integrated. For the individual farmer this can be done by synthesising knowledge from different sources. It can also be done through farmer networking – whether or not facilitated by formal agricultural knowledge institutions, through collaboration between farmers and researchers as knowledge co-generators, and through multi-actor knowledge networks that bring together participants from various fields. We conclude that the dynamic contexts, complexity and the local specificity of the current challenges facing agriculture and the many roles it is being asked to fulfil require more inclusive, flexible modes of governing the generation, integration and sharing of knowledge. All stakeholders, including farmers, need to be recognised as equal co-authors of knowledge generation, and all kinds of knowledge, both formal and informal, need be brought together in innovation processes. Knowledge networking and multi-actor knowledge networks that facilitate knowledge exchanges, joint learning and the generation of new more integrated solutions, are crucial if agriculture is to become sustainable and resilient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group extension promises to be more effective than conventional approaches, in particular when combined with participatory approaches, but little is known about how group extension approaches work as part of advisory programmes in a European context and the factors that influence their success. This paper investigates two examples of group extension for knowledge exchange and innovation among farmers: discussion groups within the Beef Technology Adoption Programme (BTAP) in Ireland and monitor farms in Scotland. An analytical framework is developed for the systematic analysis of group extension approaches as embedded in advisory programmes. Drawing on empirical data from qualitative interviews, participant observation and document analysis, we analyse how the design of an extension programme shapes its delivery, its outcomes and the measurability of outcomes. We distinguish levels of learning and adoption, and argue that in general these are higher for discussion groups than for the wider monitor farm participants, although the most substantial practice changes can be expected for the monitor farmer. We conclude that the more structured the group extension approach and the more detailed the programme targets, the more likely it is to achieve the expected (technology adoption) outcomes. However, such a prescriptive programme will struggle to simultaneously encourage farmer-led processes. The more open and flexible the approach, the more potential options for experimenting and learning are created, but this requires farmers to adopt a mindset of being active knowledge creators rather than knowledge consumers, and outcomes are more difficult to measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Over the last 15 years dedicated markets for halal meat have emerged in a number of European countries. While ethnic stores still constitute the major retail outlet for halal meat in most countries, ‘halal’ labelled meat and meat products are increasingly available in supermarkets and fast food restaurants. Market expansion has also facilitated the rise of new certification bodies, each with their own marketing strategies and interpretations of what constitutes authentic ‘halal’, who question the reliability of certification policies that allow the practice of stunning before slaughter. This paper offers a comparative analysis of these market trends and developments across four European countries. Based on research carried out during the EU funded Dialrel project, it draws attention to the ways in which EU legislation and WTO trade guidelines hinder attempts to standardize halal certification by giving equal weight to pre-stun and non-stun halal slaughter practices emanating from different regional schools of thought within Sunni Islam. Whilst recognising the impact of global politics on the identity claims of Muslim groups across Europe, the paper draws on Einstein''s work on the ‘supply side’ theory of religion to demonstrate how the diverse halal practices evident in the marketing strategies of commercial and religious actors are now driving the rapid growth and development of halal meat markets across Europe. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The global trend of fisheries overexploitation and collapse has resulted in the need to reduce fishing effort, and providing alternative employment for fishermen is a frequently mentioned policy option in order to achieve this goal. Reducing fishing effort is central to the European Commission Common Fisheries Policy and over the years, the Commission has developed a number of socio-economic measures to encourage labour mobility among fishermen, and as such mitigate the impact caused by the structural adjustment. Considering this aim, this paper seeks to identify European fishermen''s willingness for occupational and geographical mobility and the characteristics that influence this willingness. A survey was conducted with the participants in the inshore commercial fisheries of the Highlands of Scotland (UK), the Algarve (Portugal) and the South Evoikos Gulf (Greece), and logit models fitted to identify the characteristics that influence willingness for labour mobility. The paper argues that there are differences in attitudes towards labour mobility among fishermen from the different countries and that personal preferences, demographic characteristics, job-related and financial reasons influence the willingness for both occupational and geographical mobility. The paper concludes by pointing out the importance of taking local conditions and the heterogeneity that characterizes fishermen''s behaviour into account, in order to achieve successful policy measures aimed at providing alternative occupations for fishermen. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In a period of agricultural decline in the uplands of Europe, agriculture is ceasing to provide the primary rationale for the organisation, utilisation and functioning of rural space. Policy reform, market trends and changes to the way citizens and consumers think about the countryside all suggest a need for thinking strategically about the future development of these areas. However, without a broad involvement of stakeholders, land use conflicts, and social and cultural conflicts in general, may increase. Involving stakeholders in upland areas can be facilitated by using scenario technique and by discussing alternative futures in local stakeholder panels. In this paper we present four scenarios of land-use change for the year 2030, and their assessments by stakeholder panels in Scotland, France, Norway, Switzerland, Slovakia and Greece. The aim of the paper is to explore the ways in which stakeholders in these locations advocate and assess these scenarios. We also explore how stakeholders in different countries weight the visual landscape impacts, the livelihood and biodiversity aspects of the scenarios in their assessment, and the reasons for their prioritising. The cross-country analysis shows that stakeholders across the study areas are united in their overall rejection of agricultural liberalisation, advocating a production-oriented, but multifunctional and environmentally-friendly agriculture that maintains landscapes and biodiversity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Many authors have proposed cooperatives as one of the preferred governance structures for realising alternative food systems, being recommended both in farming and also downstream at consumer level. However, recommendations for the cooperative model still draw dividing line between producer and consumer cooperatives. As opposed to conventional agricultural cooperatives (ACs) made up of farmer members only, the multi-stakeholder model brings together producers, consumers and/or restaurateurs under one single enterprise. This paper analyses multi-stakeholder cooperatives’ (MSCs) potential to recreate more sustainable food flows between rural and urban areas and to overcome the limitations of conventional farmer cooperatives focused more on economic than social and environmental benefits. As part of this research, historical data from cooperative archives is used to look at the history and early attempts of multi-stakeholder cooperation in food and farming. Additionally, current supporting evidence from Spain and UK, in the context of European food policy frameworks, is also presented. A four-fold proposal for open cooperatives is discussed and applied to the analysis of the case studies in the framework of global transformative networks and alliances. The introduction of different types of members seems to both complicate and enrich the cooperative mission, both theoretically and in practice. Their networks with other social movements reveal how the MSCs presented are trying to change, rather than adapt to the market economies they struggle to survive in. The findings suggest MSCs in food and farming are striving to achieve more-than-economic benefits and are moving into the arena of the open and pro-commons economy and other global social movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term high nature value (HNV) farming, acknowledges that the conservation of a large proportion of European biodiversity and important semi-natural habitats are dependent on low-input, mainly extensive farming practices. HNV has become a focus for nature conservation and countryside management in Europe. This paper critically analyses the drivers of change and the challenges facing two European HNV upland pastoralist systems, one in the French Atlantic Pyrenees and the other in the Irish uplands. The detailed case studies highlight the traditional linkages between the landscape, grazing management, locally adapted animal breeds and social capital, all of which are currently under threat from globalised markets and policy orientation. The research findings indicate that the European multifunctional model of agriculture and its support for farm diversification including the provision of environmental goods and services has not been successful in targeting and rewarding HNV systems. In the search for economic viability (and social acceptance) many are left with the stark choice of intensification or abandonment; ultimately meeting neither market demands nor ecosystem services. We conclude with a recommendation for more targeted, evidence based support for HNV farmland, along with better integration in the wider rural economy, if these farming practices are to survive into the future and if the EU is to meet its 2020 biodiversity targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on the transition literature to examine niche-regime interaction. Specifically it aims to reveal and contribute to an understanding of the processes that link sustainable agriculture innovation networks to the agricultural regime. It analyses findings from participatory workshops with actors in 17 Learning and Innovation Networks for Sustainable Agriculture (LINSA) across Europe. Framing linkage as an adaptive process, whereby regime actors and entities adapt to incorporate LINSA, and vice versa, reveals different patterns and processes of adaptation. Five adaptation modes are distinguished and described corresponding to different levels of adaptation between LINSA and the agricultural regime. Understanding adaptive linkage processes within and across these modes as reflexive, learning and networking processes enabled and facilitated by individuals and organisations provides more insights into linkage processes than a hierarchical approach. Analysis of results from 17 LINSA from a number of different contexts across Europe allows a broad empirical analysis and an overview of the interplay of processes contributing to the agricultural regime's adaptive capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we assess the evidence for a ‘young farmer problem’ in Europe, deconstructing the underpinning arguments through a review of recent literature and statistical analysis of Eurostat figures. We find a major inconsistency between European policy documents, which conflate young farm holders with new entrants; Eurostat numbers, which focus on young sole holders; and the academic literature, which consistently demonstrates the importance of farming successors to farm business development. Analysis of Eurostat figures evidences considerable national differences in young farmer numbers, suggesting that there is no shortage of young farmers at national level in Germany, France, Switzerland, Finland, Austria, France, the Czech Republic and Poland. The apparent shortage of young farmers occurs in countries where small-scale holdings are more prevalent, particularly Portugal, Italy, Romania and Greece. The statistical analysis also demonstrates considerable differences in farm structure between old and new member states, and provides support for the contention that young sole holders are more likely to operate modernised, profitable farms. The authors argue that there is insufficient evidence to adequately inform debates about the role of young people in European agriculture, proposing a research agenda which includes more consistent conceptualization of the ‘young farmer problem’, targeted research on the role of young people in agricultural innovations, assessment of regional differences within countries, and identification of farm succession processes in new EU Member States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Innovation is a central factor for the development of rural areas, both in terms of diversification and increased competitiveness, also related to new structures of governance. The creation, adoption or adaptation of innovations is particularly complex, requiring the right combination of local knowledge (often tacit and implicit) with expert knowledge (often more explicit and formalised), as well as the support of extensive networks. This paper analyses a number of innovation projects in several European rural areas, through the data collected via in-depth interviews. It examines the projects' contributions and the role played by stakeholders in each stage of the projects. On the one hand, some findings suggest that innovation is particularly common in food production, as well as in the environmental and energy sectors. On the other hand, these projects tend to rely more heavily on large networks, in which the presence of public actors is often critical. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper investigates notable examples of sustainable lifestyles in relation to food systems. It explores the surprisingly neglected case of widely practised and environmentally sustainable food self-provisioning in post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe. Our argument is rooted in qualitative and quantitative data gathered over a seven-year period (2005–2011). The research considers the extent of and motivations for these practices in Poland and Czechia. The very high rates compared to Western Europe and North America have generally been explained in terms of an ‘urban peasantry’ meeting essential needs. After reviewing and rejecting those accounts we present evidence for these as socially and environmentally beneficial practices, and explore how the motivations derive from a range of feelings about food, quality, capability and family and/or friendship. Rather than relate these practices to temporal signals of quality and sustainability in food ('slow' and 'fast'), or presenting them as 'alternative food networks' we suggest that they represent 'quiet sustainability'. This novel concept summarises widespread practices that result in beneficial environmental or social outcomes and that do not relate directly or indirectly to market transactions, but are not represented by their practitioners as relating directly to environmental or sustainability goals. These practices represent exuberant, appealing and socially inclusive, but also unforced, forms of sustainability. This case further demonstrates the severe limitations of decision makers' focus on economics and behaviour change, and their neglect of other dimensions of social life and change in developing environmental policies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: European agriculture and rural areas are facing multiple socio-economic changes, including a transition from an agriculture-based to a service-based economy. This restructuring forces agricultural and rural actor-networks to reformulate their (self-)definitions. One reformulation prevailing both in policy and scientific circles focuses on the notion of multifunctional agriculture (MFA). This paper critically examines the dominant role that this notion has played in legitimising and shaping the pathways of rural development now present in Europe. More specifically, we examine MFA's role in promoting and organising Green Care as an innovative agricultural activity in the Netherlands and in Flanders (Belgium). We will demonstrate that the MFA frame does not sufficiently grasp the complex reality of Green Care developments. More importantly, the dominance of the MFA frame and related practices and institutional structures enable as well as constrain Green Care's continuity and further development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines the extent to which rural studies conducted in Europe (compared to other countries in the Global North) have addressed the phenomenon of rural ageing. Through a review of the literature published on rural ageing research in the last decade, it compares the research goals identified by the International Rural Ageing Project (IRAP) in 1998 with progress in this area. In addition to the key themes for rural ageing research identified by IRAP, the authors believe that there are others topics that will emerge and impact on rural ageing in Europe in the coming decade. These have been highlighted consistently in futures studies as ‘global challenges’ and can be grouped as social, economic and political, technological, relating to climate change, or related to agriculture and food security. In addition to the literature review, the authors undertook a consultation exercise with more than 50 eminent academics and directors of key organisations who were interested in rural issues, ‘global challenges’ or rural ageing. Their feedback is included within a framework for future rural research. The article concludes with a discussion of emerging areas for rural ageing in the European context and the challenges that the EU may potentially face over the coming decades. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Evidence is emerging from across Europe that contemporary agri-environmental schemes are having only limited, if any, influence on farmers’ long-term attitudes towards the environment. In this theoretical paper we argue that these approaches are not ‘culturally sustainable’, i.e. the actions are not becoming embedded within farming cultures as part of conventional ‘good farming’ practice. We propose (following Bourdieu) that, in order to culturally embed the environmental values, beliefs and knowledges that underlie such schemes, policy-makers need to devise approaches that allow the creation of cultural and social capital within farming communities – rather than simply compensating for economic capital lost. We outline the theoretical basis of our position and discuss how the contemporary agri-environmental approach of paying for specified environmental management services restricts the ability of such schemes to generate cultural and, thereby, social capital. Finally, we outline two possible ways of accounting for cultural capital in scheme creation: either through the development of measures of cultural capital that enable its incorporation into contemporary economic models or through a major revision to the way we construct and apply agri-environmental schemes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The liberalization of agricultural policy is a more realistic prospect today than ever before. Following the Uruguay Round Agriculture Agreement of 1993, European policymakers are committed, at least at thelevel of rhetoric, to the further progressive decoupling of agricultural support in order to increase the exposure of Europe's farmers toworld markets. There are compelling reasons to believe that, by the turn of the century, policymakers will come under mounting pressure to further liberalize the CAP. The environmental implications of this policy shift are profound. According to some commentators, the rural environment stands to benefit from a double dividend: once when the reduction in prices brings about an extensification of production, andagain when resources previously committed to price support are reinvested in agri-environmental schemes. This paper considers the validity of this important idea. It examines the assumptions behind the extensification effect and discusses the willingness and ability of policymakers to plough substantial sums of public money into fully decoupled agrienvironmental programmes. The paper suggests that the first round effects of a withdrawal of support may not be unambiguously good for the European countryside, while the 'green recoupling' of supportcould prove more complicated politically than is often assumed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]