The efficiency of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy in mitigating the negative effe... more The efficiency of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy in mitigating the negative effects of agricultural intensification on the landscape and biodiversity is increasingly being questioned. Enhancing a reciprocal understanding of various stakeholders' mental models of agro-social-ecosystems has been proposed to trigger changes in both policy design and farmers' behaviors. However, the relationship between farmers' mental models and practices is rarely considered. Here, we explore the relationship between farmers' individual mental models (IMMs) of the agricultural landscape and their land management practices. To do so, we developed a theoretical and methodological framework grounded in cognitive psychology and farming system research for eliciting and comparing IMMs and land management practices. We applied this framework in the Coteaux de Gascogne territory, a hilly crop-livestock region in southern France. We identified groups of farmers according to their cropland and semi-natural habitat management practices. The results of our quantitative and qualitative comparisons of mental models between farmer groups showed that the way of farming partly relates to farmers' ways of thinking about the landscape and highlighted the heterogeneity of IMMs between and within farmer groups. We found evidence that path-dependent factors that constrain farmers' practices can modify their mental models, e.g., the role of agricultural machinery. Our study illustrates how an interdisciplinary framework coupling mental models and farming systems approaches provides an opportunity to enhance our understanding of the relationships between farmers' world views and their practices. Moreover, our results challenge current ways of thinking and designing biodiversity conservation policies in farmed landscapes.
In France, agricultural intensification and sectoral public policies have led to rural landscapes... more In France, agricultural intensification and sectoral public policies have led to rural landscapes simplification, impairing their ecological and cultural functionalities. Today, looking for sustainable agriculture and wise use of natural resources, it is crucial to understand and co-define the conditions for sustainable social-ecological systems. Within the Biodiversa International FarmLand Project, we aimed at (i) capturing the relationships networks of rural landscapes as perceived and explained by farmers and (ii) reconnecting the biophysical dimensions of the landscape to the social representations of such relationships. Mixing human geography, social psychology, agronomy, and ecology, we compared individual mental models of rural landscape dynamics – i.e. perceptions of the relationships between stakeholders, biophysical components and drivers of change – between farmers from different regions. Fieldwork took place in Camargue, Coteaux de Gascogne, Plaine de Niort and Pleine- Fougères to interview 140 people using a direct cognitive mapping method. We run a comparative analysis between regions and social groups using qualitative analysis and indicators of network analysis theory. Our results showed an inter-individual variability and a weak consensus amongst groups and regions. They highlighted the key role of some biophysical components and stakeholders. We discuss why biodiversity is mainly a “receiver” component, with no feedback on the system. We conclude that un-disciplined practices of geography can help dealing with complexity of social–ecological systems. Effective biodiversity conservation on farmlands requires understanding the different types of knowledge of the various actors involved.
La demande croissante de la société pour la prise en compte de la multifonctionnalité des paysage... more La demande croissante de la société pour la prise en compte de la multifonctionnalité des paysages dans les politiques publiques invite à clarifier les enjeux sociaux, économiques et écologiques de la production et de la gestion des paysages agricoles. Plusieurs décennies d’intensification des pratiques ont conduit à la simplification de ces paysages et à de multiples impacts sur les fonctionnalités écologiques et la biodiversité. Il s’agit aujourd’hui de penser les conditions de résilience socio-écologique des paysages agricoles. Pour cela il convient d’une part, de penser les réseaux d’interdépendances qui prennent place au sein de ces socio-agro-écosystèmes et d’autre part, de reconnecter les dimensions matérielles du paysage aux représentations sociales, collectives et individuelles des jeux d’interdépendances. Dans ce contexte, notre travail de thèse interroge la manière dont les agriculteurs – en tant que principal producteur du paysage – pensent la production du paysage agricole et les interactions entre ses différents acteurs, ses composantes et ses dynamiques. Pour cela, dans le cadre du projet Biodiversa FarmLand, nous comparons les différentes représentations que les agriculteurs ont du fonctionnement et de l’évolution du paysage agricole de quatre régions (Camargue, Plaine de Niort, Pleine-Fougère, Coteaux de Gascogne) caractérisées par une agriculture intensive et différents niveaux de protection de la biodiversité (un ‘haut lieu’ de nature, une zone Natura 2000, et deux régions de nature ordinaire sans animation territoriale relative au paysage et à l’environnement). Après un rappel du cadre théorique mobilisé, nous présenterons notre méthodologie d’échantillonnage et d’élicitation directe des modèles mentaux des agriculteurs Nous discuterons : (1) les différents modèles produits et les résultats de leur comparaison intra et inter régions ; (2) les apports de ce type d’approche dans l’étude interdisciplinaire des représentations sociales mais aussi pour l’élaboration de politiques publiques agro-environnementales à l’échelle des paysages.
The efficiency of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy in mitigating the negative effe... more The efficiency of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy in mitigating the negative effects of agricultural intensification on the landscape and biodiversity is increasingly being questioned. Enhancing a reciprocal understanding of various stakeholders' mental models of agro-social-ecosystems has been proposed to trigger changes in both policy design and farmers' behaviors. However, the relationship between farmers' mental models and practices is rarely considered. Here, we explore the relationship between farmers' individual mental models (IMMs) of the agricultural landscape and their land management practices. To do so, we developed a theoretical and methodological framework grounded in cognitive psychology and farming system research for eliciting and comparing IMMs and land management practices. We applied this framework in the Coteaux de Gascogne territory, a hilly crop-livestock region in southern France. We identified groups of farmers according to their cropland and semi-natural habitat management practices. The results of our quantitative and qualitative comparisons of mental models between farmer groups showed that the way of farming partly relates to farmers' ways of thinking about the landscape and highlighted the heterogeneity of IMMs between and within farmer groups. We found evidence that path-dependent factors that constrain farmers' practices can modify their mental models, e.g., the role of agricultural machinery. Our study illustrates how an interdisciplinary framework coupling mental models and farming systems approaches provides an opportunity to enhance our understanding of the relationships between farmers' world views and their practices. Moreover, our results challenge current ways of thinking and designing biodiversity conservation policies in farmed landscapes.
In France, agricultural intensification and sectoral public policies have led to rural landscapes... more In France, agricultural intensification and sectoral public policies have led to rural landscapes simplification, impairing their ecological and cultural functionalities. Today, looking for sustainable agriculture and wise use of natural resources, it is crucial to understand and co-define the conditions for sustainable social-ecological systems. Within the Biodiversa International FarmLand Project, we aimed at (i) capturing the relationships networks of rural landscapes as perceived and explained by farmers and (ii) reconnecting the biophysical dimensions of the landscape to the social representations of such relationships. Mixing human geography, social psychology, agronomy, and ecology, we compared individual mental models of rural landscape dynamics – i.e. perceptions of the relationships between stakeholders, biophysical components and drivers of change – between farmers from different regions. Fieldwork took place in Camargue, Coteaux de Gascogne, Plaine de Niort and Pleine- Fougères to interview 140 people using a direct cognitive mapping method. We run a comparative analysis between regions and social groups using qualitative analysis and indicators of network analysis theory. Our results showed an inter-individual variability and a weak consensus amongst groups and regions. They highlighted the key role of some biophysical components and stakeholders. We discuss why biodiversity is mainly a “receiver” component, with no feedback on the system. We conclude that un-disciplined practices of geography can help dealing with complexity of social–ecological systems. Effective biodiversity conservation on farmlands requires understanding the different types of knowledge of the various actors involved.
La demande croissante de la société pour la prise en compte de la multifonctionnalité des paysage... more La demande croissante de la société pour la prise en compte de la multifonctionnalité des paysages dans les politiques publiques invite à clarifier les enjeux sociaux, économiques et écologiques de la production et de la gestion des paysages agricoles. Plusieurs décennies d’intensification des pratiques ont conduit à la simplification de ces paysages et à de multiples impacts sur les fonctionnalités écologiques et la biodiversité. Il s’agit aujourd’hui de penser les conditions de résilience socio-écologique des paysages agricoles. Pour cela il convient d’une part, de penser les réseaux d’interdépendances qui prennent place au sein de ces socio-agro-écosystèmes et d’autre part, de reconnecter les dimensions matérielles du paysage aux représentations sociales, collectives et individuelles des jeux d’interdépendances. Dans ce contexte, notre travail de thèse interroge la manière dont les agriculteurs – en tant que principal producteur du paysage – pensent la production du paysage agricole et les interactions entre ses différents acteurs, ses composantes et ses dynamiques. Pour cela, dans le cadre du projet Biodiversa FarmLand, nous comparons les différentes représentations que les agriculteurs ont du fonctionnement et de l’évolution du paysage agricole de quatre régions (Camargue, Plaine de Niort, Pleine-Fougère, Coteaux de Gascogne) caractérisées par une agriculture intensive et différents niveaux de protection de la biodiversité (un ‘haut lieu’ de nature, une zone Natura 2000, et deux régions de nature ordinaire sans animation territoriale relative au paysage et à l’environnement). Après un rappel du cadre théorique mobilisé, nous présenterons notre méthodologie d’échantillonnage et d’élicitation directe des modèles mentaux des agriculteurs Nous discuterons : (1) les différents modèles produits et les résultats de leur comparaison intra et inter régions ; (2) les apports de ce type d’approche dans l’étude interdisciplinaire des représentations sociales mais aussi pour l’élaboration de politiques publiques agro-environnementales à l’échelle des paysages.
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