FARMING ECONOMICALLY · Farming economically, a new path to sustainable rural development in Galicia, Spain
FP6 — Marie Curie Actions (Human Resources and Mobility)
- Duration
- 2004-10-15 → 2006-10-14
- EU contribution
- €143,040
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- EIF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Final Activity Report Summary - FARMING ECONOMICALLY (Farming Economically, a new path to sustainable rural development in Galicia, Spain)
The overall objective of this research project was to develop a new approach to sustainable rural development, in which sustainability was not only economically defined but social and ecological aspects were also taken into account. In order to do so, this approach combined a multifunctional concept of agriculture with a multidimensional concept of sustainability. Both were integrated into a multilevel analysis that took into account not only the level of individual farms but also the level of the regions, which together built one agro-ecosystem. The multifunctional character of farming was carried out by reviewing the transformation at regional level of the farming sector, which if fact revealed a sort of homogenisation, specialisation and intensification in terms of the orientation of the activity and output. However, at a micro-level analysis, when considering a representative sample of dairy farms, heterogeneity in the management arose. Furthermore, the different socio-economic and ecological impact of different styles of farming, among which economically farming was present, was assessed by considering different sorts of indicators. This helped to approach the different degree of socioeconomic and ecological sustainability as well as the real and potential impact of the different ways of doing both within the contexts of the cooperative and the region. The most important scientific achievement was that farming economically came as an interesting point of departure for the construction of sustainability in a multidimensional level. Furthermore, this style revealed a way of implementing a practice that was closest to the traditional peasant one, where locally available knowledge and resources were used more intensively than external ones. It, hence, mattered how farming was carried out. Strategies based on local ecosystems and resources were a response to the homogenising way that modernisation imposed during the last forty years, as well as a step forward towards a more sustainable agriculture and more balanced and fair rural development.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Research on Galician agriculture so far emphasised the need of scale enlargement and modernisation. As a result, social and environmental aspects of development were ignored. This research aims at supplying an alternative approach to rural development applying a tri-dimensional (ecological, economic and social) concept of sustainability within a regional context. It integrates multiple disciplines - ecological economics, agroecology and rural sociology- in order to assess the sustainability of different sty les of farming and the potentials of farming economically. Farming economically is a promising farming style as it is based on low-external-input agriculture that fits well into the concept of sustainable development.Gender-specific aspects are taken into account as women's and men's possibility to profit from rural development differs. The research project will result in the development of methodological tools that allow for a multidisciplinary analysis of agriculture and rural development. Moreover, the research project will construct a multidisciplinary theoretical framework that combines economic, natural and social sciences, focusing on the so far separately developed ecological, social and economic domains of sustainability. Taking into account that t his project does empirical research in an Objective 1 region (Galicia), the research activities can be of high importance for other disadvantaged regions in Southern, Central and Eastern Europe.It delivers information that policymakers need for developing and implementing region-specific policy measures and are capable of efficiently promoting lasting local development. With the 6th framework this project as an EIF Marie Curie fellowship advances the knowledge and expertise of the candidate on matters of European concern and in a comparative European perspective. This greatly enhances the opportunity for exchanging knowledge and experiences between researchers, not only during the project but also afterwards.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITEIT · WAGENINGENCoordinatorNetherlands
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union