Rebalancing food production and nature conservation: the need for design-oriented research.

ROSSING, W.A.H.,; SABATIER, R; TEILLARD, F.; GROOT, J.C.J.; TITTONELL, P.

Food Production and Nature Conservation. Conflicts and Solutions

Earthscan Rutledge

Lugar: Oxon; Año: 2017; p. 261 - 280

In this chapter we argue on the basis of a review that many of the research contributions in the literature on linking food production and conservation have taken an analysis-oriented stand, aiming to describe and explain system functioning. We then elaborate the nexus between societal dynamics and design-oriented research from an innovation perspective, and describe an approach to design-oriented research in which multi-objective assessment of alternative systems proceeds by maintaining the objectives in their own measurement units. We present three examples of attempts at bridging the analysis-design divide at different spatial scales. These examples from grassland systems in Europe and Latin America show that major opportunities exist to re-balance agricultural production and nature conservation in these systems by making livestock production part of the solution, rather than cause of the problem as in current systems. We end by discussing the needs for more research on food production ? conservation issues that is design-oriented.