Developing farm-level social indicators for agri-environment schemes: a focus on the agents of change

Mills, Jane ORCID: 0000-0003-3835-3058, Chiswell, Hannah Marie ORCID: 0000-0003-4504-1319, Gaskell, Peter ORCID: 0000-0001-8830-5252, Courtney, Paul ORCID: 0000-0002-5683-8502, Brockett, Beth, Cusworth, George ORCID: 0000-0002-7623-938X and Lobley, Matt (2021) Developing farm-level social indicators for agri-environment schemes: a focus on the agents of change. Sustainability, 13 (14). p. 7820. doi:10.3390/su13147820

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Abstract

Most monitoring and evaluation programmes for agri-environment schemes focus on understanding the environmental outcomes and the cost-effectiveness of these schemes. Evaluation of the social dimensions of agri-environment schemes, particularly the socio-cultural factors that might influence the quality of engagement with the schemes and the social wellbeing impact of scheme engagement, is limited. This is a critical gap in knowledge as there is growing recognition that without more explicit consideration of the farmers involved in land management as agents of change, the required environmental improvements will not be achieved. The aim of this paper was to undertake a systematic literature review to inform the development of a set of social indicators that can be used to measure the level of farmers’ engagement with their scheme agreement and the social sustainability outcomes from participation. Following the literature review and a short-listing ranking exercise with two sets of experts, 20 high-level (composite) social indicators and associated sub-level (component) indicators were identified. A series of scale or ranking questions that can be used to capture the indicator data were also developed and tested. This paper presents the first stage in the development of a robust set of social indicators for agri-environment schemes that will also provide a good indicator of long-term environmental outcomes.

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Social indicators; Agri-environment; Social sustainability; Farmer behaviour; Socio-cultural; Health and wellbeing; Monitoring and evaluation
Subjects:	S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) > S589.75 Agriculture and the environment
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > Countryside and Community Research Institute
Research Priority Areas:	Place, Environment and Community
Depositing User:	Rhiannon Goodland
Date Deposited:	26 Jul 2021 13:17
Last Modified:	28 Feb 2022 17:25
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/9998

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