Katrin Prager

Stakeholder involvement in agri-environmental policy making : Learning from a local-and a state-level approach in Germany

Recent European regulations for rural development emphasise the requirement to involve stakeholder groups and other appropriate bodies in the policy-making process. This paper presents two cases involving stakeholder participation in agri-environmental development and policy making, targeted at different policy-making levels. One study was undertaken in Lower Saxony where a local partnership developed and tested an agri-environmental prescription, which was later included in the states menu of agri-environmental schemes. In Sachsen-Anhalt, state-facilitated stakeholder workshops including a mathematical model were used to optimise the programme planning and budget allocation at the state level. Both studies aimed at improving the acceptance of agri-environmental schemes. The authors gauge the effectiveness of the two approaches and discuss what lessons can be learned. The experience suggests that the approaches can complement one another and could also be applied to rural policy making.

Local and regional partnerships in natural resource management: the challenge of bridging institutional levels.

Although collaboration and multi-stakeholder partnerships have become a common feature in natural resource management throughout the world, various problems are associated with attempts to up-scale community-based natural resource management from the local to the regional level. To analyze the reasons behind these problems, this article reports on two examples of collaboratives in Australia: local Landcare groups, and regional natural resource management (NRM) bodies. Recent government-induced changes have shifted the focus from local Landcare group action to strategic planning and implementation by regional NRM bodies. Two typologies of collaboratives are applied to analyze the characteristics of both these groups. The study uses data from 52 qualitative interviews with key informants at the local and regional level in Victoria and Tasmania, participant observation, as well as literature and document analysis. The article illustrates how the groups’ distinct characteristics can cause conflicts when the different types of collaboratives operate in parallel. In addition, the article reports how stakeholders perceive the level of community participation in decision-making processes. The key message is that the benefits of community participation and collaboration that arise at the local level can be lost when these approaches are up-scaled to the regional level unless there is an intermediary or ‘mediating structure’ to facilitate communication and create the link between different types of collaboratives.

Final Report on the Project 'Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation (SoCo)'

In 2007, the European Parliament requested the European Commission to carry out a pilot project on ?Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation through simplified cultivation techniques? (SoCo). The SoCo project was designed in a close cooperation between the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in form of an administrative arrangement (AGRI-2007-336). It has been implemented by the JRC?s Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) and Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES). The overall objectives of the SoCo project are: (i) to improve the understanding of soil conservation practices in agriculture and their links with other environmental objectives; (ii) to analyse how farmers can be encouraged, through appropriate policy measures, to adopt soil conservation practices; and (iii) to make this information available to relevant stakeholders and policy makers EU-wide. This report synthesises the findings of the SoCo project and translates them into conclusions and recommendations. It reviews soil degradation processes, soil conservation practices and policy measures at European level. The analysis is taken to the local scale by means of ten case studies distributed over three macro-regions. Aggregated environmental benefits of adopting particular soil conservation practices are explored with model calculations. Finally, the report discusses the effectiveness and efficiency of instruments for soil protection, maintenance and improvement in Europe, exploring opportunities and critical issues linked to the adoption of conservation practices. The report closes with policy-relevant conclusions as a basis for policy recommendations.

The AKIS concept and its relevance in selected EU member states

Recently, Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKISs) have gained considerable attention in scientific and political forums in the European Union (EU). AKIS is considered a key concept in identifying, analysing and assessing the various actors in the agricultural sector as well as their communication and interaction for innovation processes. Using qualitative expert interviews and organizational mapping, the features of national AKISs were investigated in selected EU member states (Belgium, France, Ireland, Germany, Portugal and the UK). The authors present the different national AKISs and compare them qualitatively with regard to their institutional settings, their overall policy frameworks and their coordinating structures. Conclusions are drawn with regard to AKIS appraisal in general and the usefulness of the AKIS concept, particularly for the understanding and evaluation of policy-induced innovation in agriculture.

Costs of Implementing Agricultural Soil Protection Policies—Insights from Two German Cases

Abstract Transaction costs (TCs) are often claimed to be a key determinant of how policies are actually implemented on the ground and what effect they ultimately deliver on soil quality and functions. Focusing on agriculture-related soil protection policies in Eastern Germany, we analyse data from key informant interviews in two case study areas (Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt) in order to provide new evidence that TCs do indeed matter for policy implementation. We systematically map TCs that occur at the policy implementation and operation stages and their drivers. Our data showed that in addition to TCs for ‘information management’ and ‘coordination’, existing frameworks need to be extended to explicitly consider TCs for ‘enforcement’. Results illustrate that there is a broad range of TCs that are due to the complexity of soils and their management, property rights assignment and administrative processes. To some extent TCs in one policy arena can be reduced; however, often they are only superseded in place and time and, moreover, there are trade-offs between different kinds of TCs. The paper emphasizes that every assessment of effective policy implementation requires a specification of TCs and over what time frame they occur.

Becoming a behavioral science researcher. A guide to producing research that matters

Although the subtitle ‘A guide to producing research that matters’ seems very ambitious, this book has the potential to make a valuable tool to achieve this aim. The book is aimed at students conducting a research project who already have basic knowledge of research methods and statistics but who are in some ways lacking ‘the bigger picture’. This wider view relates to an understanding of the whole research process, from designing research to answer a particular question, gathering data, analysing and interpreting results, to finally presenting and critically reflecting on their implications. With exercises and suggested answers, further references and illustrative examples from psychology, education and health, this book is an excellent resource for both behavioural science students and their instructors. Although written for the behavioural sciences, much of what is said in the first part of the book (1 Promise and Problems) and in the last part (III. 9 Writing and 10. Presentations) is applicable to other areas as well. I particularly appreciate the clear and open way that Kline points out the potential and possible limitations of research. Even advanced researchers should spend some time thinking about the reasons for wasted resources in research, the gaps between research and policy/practice, and the ‘economy of publish or perish’, as well as considering what implications this has for their own work. Knowing about these aspects of research will enable a student to make a more conscious choice about whether he or she wants to become a researcher. In text book style, Kline deals in a well-structured manner with three main components of research, i.e. designing research, analysing data, and measurement. This structure, along with the introduction to each chapter explaining its scope and particularities, makes the density of the material less daunting. However, for a reader without prior experience in statistics this main part of the book could be too demanding, despite selected exercises and the inclusion of a ‘Review of Statistics Fundamentals’ as an annexe to Chapter 5. This is partly due to the complexity of concepts and methods that are explained, and partly due to the use of acronyms that are only spelt out once. A list of acronyms would have helped here. Kline is a strong advocate of statistics reform, and his arguments are logical and well-reasoned. To a mixed methods researcher, this does not sound completely new, but it will provide substantial arguments in discussions with very statistics-focussed colleagues. There is a place for statistical significance tests, but, as Kline shows, they are not always an indicator of quality or importance of results, and do not International Journal of Social Research Methodology Vol. 14, No. 4, July 2011, 327–335