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Based on the research of an interdisciplinary team of sociologists, geographers and economists, this book focuses on understanding farming transitions in Europe. The book discusses the importance of understanding transition pathways towards sustainability using case studies from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Assessing the utility of the multi-level perspective in transition theory for addressing contemporary issues, the book identifies future research needs and possible approaches, making this an essential read for researchers interested in issues of rural and agricultural change.
Farming Systems Research has three core characteristics: it builds on systems thinking, it depends on the close collaboration between social and biophysical sciences, and it relies on participation to build co-learning processes. Farming Systems Research posits that to contribute towards sustainable rural development, both interdisciplinary collaborations and local actor engagement are needed. Together, they allow for changes in understanding and changes in practices. This book gives an overview of the insights generated in 20 years of Farming Systems Research. It retraces the emergence and development of Farming Systems Research in Europe, summarises the state-of-the-art for key areas, and provides an outlook on new explorations, especially those tackling the dynamic nature of farming systems and their interaction with the natural environment and the context of action.
The importance of livestock; Board of trustees; ILRI's donors in 1995; ILRI's addresses; A global livestock research institute; Moves towards a new institute; Major trends; Developing a medium-term plan; Broadening horizons; Collaboration and integration the names of the game; Live vaccine delivery systems for east coast fever; What is a live delivery system; Why live delivery systems; Progress to date; Attacking the schizont form; Where to now; Mice and cattle immune systems like chalk and cheese; Helper T cells in mice and cattle; Vital reminders; Interpreting the language of parasites; Starting from the parasite; Starting with the host; Promise for the future; GIS - a research tool and be...
This book argues for computer-aided collaborative country research based on the science of complex and dynamic systems. It provides an in-depth discussion of systems and computer science, concluding that proper understanding of a country is only possible if a genuinely interdisciplinary and truly international approach is taken; one that is based on complexity science and supported by computer science. Country studies should be carefully designed and collaboratively carried out, and a new generation of country students should pay more attention to the fast growing potential of digitized and electronically connected libraries. In this frenzied age of globalization, foreign policy makers may – to the benefit of a better world – profit from the radically new country studies pleaded for in the book. Its author emphasizes that reductionism and holism are not antagonistic but complementary, arguing that parts are always parts of a whole and a whole has always parts.
Showing how the method of sustainability assessment plays a key role in choosing the best agricultural productive mode, this book guides the reader through the process of selecting, from among the various approaches for building farming systems, the method of decision-making that will result in the most appropriate outcome, given the context. Case studies hail from polities as diverse as Portugal and Canada, Argentina and Lebanon. The work thus offers a valuable critical survey of the assessment methods that account for sustainability and economics, and which have developed considerably in the last two decades. The heterogeneous approaches covered here make this volume appropriate for consultation in a wide variety of social, political and geographical contexts.
Compelling portraits of organic farmers bring to life facts and figures in an extensive overview of the phenomenal growth in recent years of organic production and consumption.
This book represents a unique collection of European and Asian perspectives on the production, trade and consumption of high quality food. The rapidly growing demand for organic and quality food in Europe imposes new challenges on competing food value chains. Europe, as the biggest worldwide food importer, attracts many developing and developed countries in Asia. Prospering Chinese and Thai food markets offer new opportunities for European operators. Wealthy and informed consumers on both continents search for trustworthy high quality food products. Farmers, operators and retailers from distant cultures are coping with different standards, facing the ever increasing necessity for mutual unde...