Paul Swagemakers

Revitalizing ecological capital

Abstract Geografisk Tidsskrift-Danish Journal of Geography 111(2):149–167, 2011 The modernization of agricultural food production has diminished and is diminishing the sustainable use of the local natural resource base, resulting in the fragmentation of landscapes and the decline of biodiversity. In this paper we analyze the revitalization of ecological capital, which provides insights into how effective adjustments in land-use and farming practices can stimulate a reconnection between farming, nature and society. The paper focuses on a case study about endogenous knowledge on the relation between farm activities and the reproduction of the landscape and its flora and fauna in the (Dutch) Friesian Woodlands. We suggest that building adequate, local institutional frameworks that strengthen landscape structures, regional identity and the ‘branding’ of food products will sustain rural development in the area. The results should be of value for increasing the understanding among researchers and policymakers of the potential of endogenous knowledge in governing the increase of the ecological stock in an area.

MAKING A LIVING: GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES, NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT IN GALICIA, SPAIN

Making a living: Grassroots development initiatives, natural resource management and institutional support in Galicia, Spain European policy increasingly supports territorially based rural development in which local actors play a decisive role in realising economically, socially and ecologically responsible development. This paper makes use of four case-studies, from a largely depopulated mountainous area in Galicia, Spain, where local people strive to combine the creation of new businesses with the revitalisation of the natural resource base. The paper, in analysing local knowledge infrastructure and its interface with policy, reveals the dominant role of grassroots development initiatives in effecting regional learning and capacity building. Further it is acknowledged that in Galicia progress is brokered in practice by individual stakeholders who manage structural constraints, cross boundaries and construct new cross-cutting, bridging networks. It is also apparent that these niche-actors constitute a largely untapped reservoir of knowledge brokers that could be used much more effectively if more direct cooperation with policymakers and the existing knowledge infrastructure could be achieved. Las políticas europeas apoyan cada vez más un desarrollo rural territorial en el que los actores locales juegan un papel decisivo al realizar un desarrollo económico, social y ecológicamente responsable. Este artículo utiliza cuatro estudios de caso localizados en un área con problemas de despoblación en Galicia, España. En los cuatro casos los actores luchan por combinar la creación de nuevas empresas con la revitalización de la base local de recursos naturales. El artículo analiza la infraestructura de conocimiento local y sus interfaces con el ámbito político. De esta forma revela el papel dominante que las iniciativas de desarrollo enraizadas en lo local tienen en la construcción del conocimiento regional y de la capacidad de implementación. En Galicia el progreso se construye a nivel práctico gracias a la labor individual de actores que son capaces de manejar limitaciones estructurales, cruzar límites y construir nuevas redes que facilitan sus objetivos. Así, estos actores-nicho constituyen una amplia y no del todo estudiada reserva de conocimiento, que podría utilizarse de forma más efectiva si se lograse una cooperación más directa con los hacedores de política y la infraestructura de conocimiento ya existentes.

Fighting for a future: an actor-oriented planning approach to landscape preservation in Galicia

Economic optimisation of the gross margin per hectare in agriculture reduces diversity, coherence and identity of cultural landscapes. Hence, landscape preservation calls for changes in the social–ecological organisation of places, which implies complex transitional processes towards new management regimes. These are supported by CAP reforms (Horizon, 2014–2020) that increasingly turn from individual production subsidies to farmers to the collective management of natural resources and the related ecosystem services. This article explores the opportunities for landscape preservation in Galicia, Spain. The central question is: ‘How to develop a successful planning approach in the context of a geographically peripheral area facing severe ecological, social and economic vulnerabilities?’ In the case study area, contrasting viewpoints on landscape preservation among rural dwellers, entrepreneurs and representatives of institutions point to power issues on control over the natural environment, but also provide input for the development of an actor-oriented approach to landscape preservation. This article provides a ‘tool’ for catching up with the EU objectives of sustainable, inclusive and smart growth and contributes to our understanding of how place-based development in EU programs can be combined with landscape management in Galicia.

Connective storylines : A relational approach to initiatives in food provisioning and green infrastructures

Debates about the design and management of ecosystem services and interweaving of rural and urban spaces in metropolitan regions raise questions about how to conceptualize “the local”. Rather than ...

The Challenges of Governing Urban Food Production across Four European City-Regions: Identity, Sustainability and Governance

Urban agriculture as civic action Challenges to governance systems Citizenship and globalized identities Neo‐Weberian theory and urban agriculture

The Commons Revisited: Revalorizing the Role of comuneiros in the Redesign of Urban Agro-Food and Agroforestry Systems

Forest associations are successfully managing urban green space in a sustainable manner. They provide an anchor for the planning, design, and governance of societal needs. This self‐regulatory organizational form does not generate direct governance costs for the public administrations. Training could help stakeholders and administrative personnel to improve their performance. Collaborative governance arrangements are needed to spread ideas and innovative practices that meet sustainability challenges.

Urban green infrastructures in Europe: new architectural orientations for finding a way out of the dead-end road of industrialized modernity

Historically cities and urban green infrastructures showed a diverse and dynamic character. The rise of urban agriculture is increasingly embedded in urban practices that aim to fashion a more sustainable and healthy city-region and food provisioning food system. This invites to rethink city-spaces and analyze grassroots dynamics as the spatial interweaving of densely populated urban centres and green open space, which represent actively, socially constructed functionalities and multi-spatial connectivity. Developing and implementing integrated policies to support these new practices is a major challenge.