Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/N005619/1
Understanding Socio-Economics in the Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices
Fellowship Award
- Fellow:
- Professor D Feliciano, University of Aberdeen, Inst of Biological and Environmental Sci
- Grant held at:
- University of Aberdeen, Inst of Biological and Environmental Sci
- Science Area:
- Atmospheric
- Earth
- Freshwater
- Marine
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Unknown
- ENRIs:
- None
- Science Topics:
- Earth & environmental
- Earth & environmental
- Ecosystems
- Climate & Climate Change
- Ecosystem impacts
- Greenhouse gases
- Environmental economics
- Ecological economics
- Economic effects of environmental policies
- Environmental externalities
- Environmental impact
- Environmental public goods
- Sustainable development
- Environment
- Agriculture
- Climate
- Planning
- Abstract:
- Governments around the world and supply chain companies are looking to set ambitious GHG emission reduction goals that include farmers. It is recognised that other factors than those related to environment issues influence the adoption of mitigation practices in the agricultural sector, namely economic impacts associated to management practices. There is clear evidence that policy makers and agro-food businesses are interested in understanding the different components needed to successfully implement sustainable interventions. There are several tools that help stakeholders to account GHG emissions associated to management practices, which practices can mitigate GHG emissions, and what are their associated mitigation potentials. The University of Aberdeen is involved in the development of two of these tools, the Cool Farm Tool and more recently the CCAFS mitigation tool. But tools by themselves are not of much use without the knowledge on how to use them to provide solutions. In this KE fellowship I will co-create, with researchers and committed tool users, effective economic indicators to inform farmers and advisors to policy-makers about the economic impact of practices that reduce GHG emissions. I will measure the success of the project by monitoring the adoption of practices that reduce GHG emissions, in a two year period, in the case of the Cool Farm Tool users. For CCAFS mitigation tool, case studies will be used to demonstrate how the information provided has been used in the design of national programmes for climate change mitigation on agriculture as well as supporting the adoption of sustainable practices. The programme of work will be structured around scheduled engagement events with CCAFS and Cool Farm Tool users, especially workshops. I will also seek to engage early with on-going NERC funded research and KE to identify synergies and further opportunities for knowledge translation, more specifically: Claire Feniuk & Andrew Balmford at University of Cambridge, mapping of landscape features to biodiversity; Ann Bruce at University of Edinburgh, working on social indicators of sustainability; Mat Williams at University of Edinburgh, leading the GREENHOUSE consortium, Laura Vickers at Harper Adams University, working on horticulture crops and Claire Quinn at University of Leeds, working with M&S. The main engagement commitments I will have are: 1)Meetings with researchers to assess expertise on an indicator of economic impact associated to the implementation of practices in the CCAFS and Cool Farm tools; 2)To organise workshops with CCAFS and Cool Farm tool users to monitor the influence these indicators will have on farmers' implementation of agricultural practices during the period of a year & to assess the ability of the indicators to drive positive environmental change together with the users of the decision tools. Behaviour change theories will be explored in these workshops. The Defra Agricultural Change and Environment Observatory Discussion Paper "Understanding behaviours in a farming context" (2008) will be used. Other theories might also be explored for suitability. For example, the website https://www.forumforthefuture.org/thebigshift gives examples of how businesses shape and influence the whole sector within which they operate - whether that is food, energy or beyond. A psychological model such as the Theory of the Planned Behaviour might also be tested. This theory states that the performance of a certain kind of behaviour is determined by three kinds of beliefs: one's beliefs about the likely outcomes of the behaviour and the evaluation of these outcomes, normative beliefs about what other people do and what they expect a person to do, and finally beliefs about the presence of factors that may facilitate or hamper the performance of the behaviour. In this case, I will liaise with my colleague Dr William van Dijk who applied an extension of this theory in his PhD project.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/N005619/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Knowledge Exchange Fellowships
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- KE Fellows
This fellowship award has a total value of £101,473
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Exception - Other Costs | Exception - Staff | Exception - T&S |
|---|---|---|
| £5,451 | £65,737 | £30,285 |
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