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This study proposes an analytical approach to niche-regime-interactive learning, taking an inter-organisational-network-learning perspective. This approach is illustrated empirically with a network-learning episode in which several actors engage with each other for the marketing of local products in supermarkets. Its novelty is two-fold: 1) it integrates the notion of learner levels into the MLP, differentiating between learning-in and -by regime; 2) it proposes a different understanding of learning loops than usually found in ST studies, by considering them as encompassing both processes and outcomes. The paper makes both theoretical and empirical contributions: 1) it helps to elaborate multi-stakeholder learning; 2) it enables capturing learning dynamics within and between sub-system and system levels; 3) it helps to elucidate knowledge-power issues learning is subjected to; 4) it elucidates the value of this network perspective empirically, illustrating its descriptive and explanatory power in helping to further the knowledge on learning at the regime level.

More than half of adults in the European Union (EU) are now either overweight or obese (53%). Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), many of which are diet-related, account for 70% of mortality in Europe and a growing share of healthcare costs. While eating habits have an important role to play in NCD prevention, consumption patterns across the EU are diverging significantly from recommended diets. There is growing consensus on the solution: a series of coordinated and wide-ranging policy interventions to build healthy ‘food environments’. This article argues that EU governance structures remain ill-adapted to the systemic nature of this and other challenges in food systems (e.g. climate change, biodiversity loss, food poverty): conflicting objectives and missed synergies are identified between different policy areas (agriculture, trade, health, environment, etc.) and between different levels of governance (EU, national, local). An integrated food policy framework – a ‘Common Food Policy’ – is therefore required to meet the EU's public health and sustainability objectives. It identifies four distinct aspects of the governance shift required to promote healthy diets and build sustainable food systems in Europe: (i) coherence across policy areas; (ii) coherence across governance levels; (iii) governance for transition; and (iv) food democracy. Blueprints for a Common Food Policy are already emerging, and are ripe for consideration, development, and implementation by the European institutions. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

International audience; This paper investigates a situation of coexistence of landraces and modern crop varieties for market-oriented production in the Yunnan rice fields in China. Through a fieldwork survey of an experiment by the government with the introduction of modern varieties in traditional villages, the paper shows that landraces and modern crop varieties can co-exist. The analysis shows that the major features that play a role in the choices made by the individual farmers between modern crop varieties and landraces are not the agronomic conditions, although they certainly play a role, but economic and social drivers. The results of the analysis allows a better understanding of the distinct socio-economic drivers and impacts of each of the production systems. The latter can provide insights for policy strategies aimed at promoting agrobiodiversity rich landscapes in situations of co-existence of heterogeneous socio-technical production systems.

Most collective agroecological initiatives in Europe today are built around a plurality of knowledge systems. Going beyond the well-documented instrumental goals of this knowledge-plurality, this paper highlights another, perhaps less obvious objective: the pursuit of recognition and cognitive justice. The subordination of alternative farming practices, such as agroecology, to industrial high-input farming leads to the misrecognition of peasant communities. Challenging industrial agriculture hence requires both equality between different forms of doing farming and an active engagement with different ways of knowing farming. Cognitive justice, a concept originating in decolonial thought, encompasses not only the right of different practices to co-exist, but entails an active engagement across their knowledge-systems. Using an example of participatory maize breeding in France, the paper illustrates how peasant movements in Europe organize an ’agroecology of knowledges’, a counter-hegemonic engagement with modern agronomic science, through the recovery and co-production of situational, environment-specific knowledge, and the reskilling of farmers. It aims not only at improving agricultural science, but also at rebuilding collective identities and reclaiming autonomy.

Collective food buying groups, such as community supported agriculture or self-organized citizen groups for delivery of food baskets, have emerged throughout the world as an important niche innovation for promoting more sustainable agri-food systems. These initiatives seek to bring about societal change. They do so, however, not through protest or interest-based lobbying, but by organizing a protected space for learning and experimentation with lifestyle changes for sustainable food consumption and production practices. In particular, they aim to promote social learning on a broad set of sustainability values, beyond a focus on “fresh and healthy food” only, which characterizes many of the individual consumer oriented local food chain initiatives. This paper analyses the governance features of such local food buying groups by comparing 104 groups in five cities in Belgium. We find that the social networking activities of these groups, as compared to the social enterprise activities, have led to establish specific governance mechanisms. Whereas the main focus of the social enterprise activities is the organisation of the food provisioning logistics, the focus of the social network activities is the sharing of resources with other sustainable food initiatives, dissemination of information and broader discussion on sustainability issues. ispartof: Ecological Economics vol:140 pages:123-135 status: published

The field of the collaborative economy is characterized by a wide spectrum of sustainability oriented grassroots initiatives such as cooperatives, social businesses, associations and informal initiatives. However, many of these organisations are facing isomorphic pressures from the purely for profit organisational models and lack institutional support. For the further development of these grassroots initiatives, it is therefore important to better understand the organisational models that allow them to maintain a strong social mission in spite of these pressures. To this purpose, this paper develops a hierarchical cluster analysis of 50 collaborative economy initiatives operating in the Region of Brussels Capital. The analysis shows the existence of four main clusters of enterprises operating in the Brussels Region: foreign for-profit enterprises, start-ups, citizen initiatives and partnership social enterprises. Each of these clusters is characterized by a specific combination of analytical features such as the mission, the governance structure, the legal form and the type of economic resource mobilisation. On this basis, the paper explores the likely organisational trajectories of these clusters in the collaborative economy and the various institutional strategies that can strengthen the recognition and support for the sustainability oriented grassroots initiatives.

Highlights • Empirical evidence: privatisation of conservation choices of biodiversity patrimony. • Strong privatisation of microbe category with marked collective good properties. • Worldwide survey of 103 ex situ collections. • Possibly skewing the future ex situ patrimony away from low probability-high impact events., Public service (ex situ) micro-organism collections serve to secure genetic resources for unforeseen future needs, and importantly, to provide authenticated biomaterials for contemporaneous use in private and public entities and as upstream research materials. Hence, it is important to understand the functioning and strategic decisions of these providers of public good resources.2 The existing literature tends to use case studies of individual collections. This paper uses a unique worldwide survey of microbial collections to analyse the heterogeneity among culture collections, and to empirically assess the economic and institutional conditions that contribute to this heterogeneity with respect to conservation choice and associated industry spillovers. Results suggest that in the short run public-private partnerships may indeed support knowledge accumulation with particularly strong public good properties. It is important to be aware of this strong tie, in order to steer also the long term conservation patrimony into one that offers not only short term usability but also resilience to future unforeseen needs e.g. of emerging crop plagues.