Farmer clusters for Realising Agrobiodiversity Management across Ecosystems (FRAMEwork)

Time period: 2020 – 2025

Funding: Horizon 2020 of the European Union

Contributors: 18 partner organisations from 11 EU countries

Zusammenfassung: FRAMEwork seeks solutions to the challenges of biodiversity management at the landscape level by working in an inter- and transdisciplinary way with farmers, citizens, value chains, policy makers and other stakeholders to find new ways to value and appreciate a more biodiversity-friendly agriculture. The project builds on the success of the innovative Farmer Clusters in the UK. These are regional groups of farmers motivated to improve biodiversity on farmland, supported by a facilitator who can share the latest research findings and useful contacts. Osnabrück University is leading a work package on 'Behaviour and Incentives'. The aim is to understand which factors influence the success of the farmer cluster approach and how public and private incentives can help to encourage groups of farmers to adopt biodiversity-friendly practices.

Publications: n/a

Links:

Project website

Press release

Assessment of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES): Diverse conceptualization of multiple values of nature and its benefits (‘values assessment’)

Since 2019, I am a contributing author to the IPBES Report „Methodological assessment regarding the diverse conceptualization of multiple values of nature and its benefits, including biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services”. 

Links:

Website

Impact of self-identity and public perception of the role of farmers in society on compliance and environmentally relevant behavior

Time period: 2017 – 2022

Fördergeber: Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)

Contributors:

Osnabrück University: Prof. Dr. Stefanie Engel, Dr. Ann-Kathrin Koessler, Dr. Fabian Thomas

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences: Dr. Jens Rommel

Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research: Prof. Dr. Bettina Matzdorf, Dr. Claas Meyer

Summary: Agriculture, and with it farmers, is coming under increasing pressure due to the negative environmental impacts of modern farming practices. This is manifested by rapidly advancing policy reforms and a negative public image of farmers and farming in general. Farmers often feel "scapegoated" for a much deeper systemic problem. In addition, research from rural sociology reveals that many farmers still attach their professional identity mainly (but not exclusively) to the production of agricultural products, and not, as often postulated, to a multifunctional role as "preservers of the landscape". In this project, we are interested in the impact of this tension on farmers' compliance and environmental decisions. We investigate the effects of different societal views of agriculture ("part of the problem", "part of the solution") as well as the discrepancy between assumed (and thus implicitly or explicitly transported in (policy) addresses to farmers) and actual self-identity of farmers on individual decision-making behavior.

Publications: n/a

Farmers and the new green architecture of the EU common agricultural policy

Time Period: 2019 – 2021

Funding: Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC)

Contributors: Francois J. Dessart (scientific lead, JRC), Jesus Barreiro-Hurlé (JRC), Jens Rommel (SLU), Fabian Thomas (UOS), Macario Rodríguez-Entrena (UCO), Maria Espinosa-Goded (US), Katarzyna Zagórska (UW), Mikolaj Czajkowski (UW), René van Bavel (JRC)

Summary: In this behavioral experiment with 600 farmers, the effects of two policy measures of the new green architecture of the EU Common Agricultural Policy on the adoption of environmentally friendly practices were investigated: (1) increasing mandatory minimum requirements and (2) shifting resources to voluntary measures. The results shed light on possible trade-offs between mandatory and voluntary schemes to improve the environmental and climate performance of agriculture.

Publications:

Dessart, F.J., J. Rommel, J. Barreiro-Hurlé, F. Thomas, M. Rodríguez-Entrena, M. Espinosa-Goded, K. Zagórska, M. Czajkowski and R. van Bavel (2021). Farmers and the new green architecture of the EU common agricultural policy: a behavioural experiment. EUR 30706 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2021, ISBN 978-92-76-37778-8. doi.org/10.2760/718383, JRC123832

Dissertation “Behavioral Economics of Agri-Environmental Policies”

Time Period: 2015-2019

Funding: Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation

Co-authors of related scientific publications: Prof. Dr. Stefanie Engel (UOS), Dr. Ann-Kathrin Koessler (UOS), Prof. Dr. Marianne Lefebvre (Université d‘Angers), Dr. Estelle Midler (UOS)

Committee: Prof. Dr. Stefanie Engel (UOS), Prof. Dr. Bettina Matzdorf (ZALF), Prof. Dr. Claudia Pahl-Wostl (UOS), Prof. Dr. Sophie Thoyer (INRAE, CEE-M), Dr. Ann-Kathrin Koessler (UOS)

Summary: Modern agriculture is causing a wide range of environmental problems. By regulating the agricultural sector, human societies try to find a balance between enabling the production of food and public goods and preventing negative consequences for the environment. In the European Union this is mainly achieved through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Since many of the environmental indicators are still showing negative trends, an ongoing evaluation and adaptation of the policy instruments included in the CAP is asked for. At the same time, the field of policy evaluation is more and more incorporating a behavioral economic perspective on human behavior, one that deviates from the homo oeconomicus model that has long dominated research in this area. This thesis presents a study on “Behavioral Economics of Agri-Environmental Policies” by combining themes from agricultural and environmental economics with methods and perspectives from behavioral and experimental economics. It thereby contributes to the emerging field of behavioral agricultural economics. Specifically, it aims to shed light on the behavioral drivers of pro-environmental decisions of farmers and how these insights can be used to evaluate and adapt the CAP. With a lab-in-the-field experiment with farmers from Lower Saxony in Germany, an influence of the framing of the farmers’ societal role, their self-identity, as well as control aversion and feelings of warm glow on farmers’ behavior was uncovered. From a policy perspective, the results of this thesis provide a case for the continued use of both mandatory and voluntary policy instruments. Furthermore, with a Principal Components and Cluster Analysis, a multi-facetted picture of different farmer selfidentities prevalent in the sample population was revealed. Based on a literature review, the thesis also provides an analysis of how behaviorally-informed interventions might increase the environmental performance of the CAP in the future.

Publications:

Thomas, F. (2019). Behavioural Economics of Agri-Environmental Policies. Dissertation, Osnabrück University.

Thomas, F., E. Midler, M. Lefebvre and S. Engel (2019). Greening the Common Agricultural Policy: a behavioural perspective and lab-in-the-field experiment in Germany. European Review of Agricultural Economics 46(3): 367-392. doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbz014

Thomas, F. and S. Engel (2019). Understanding Farmer Self-Identities and Pro-Environmental Behaviour: an experimental approach and cluster analysis. Working Paper.

Thomas, F., A.K. Koessler and S. Engel (2019). Using behavioural insights to leverage environmental performance of the Common Agricultural Policy. Working Paper (R&R).

ZA-NExUS in-depth study

Time period: 2018-2020

Funding: German Federal Agency for Nature Protection (BfN)

Contributors:

Humboldt University Berlin (Coordinating partner): Prof. Dr. Peter Feindt, Victoria Dietze, Dr. Astrid Häger, Ronja Strauch

Project Office mareg (markt+region): Dr. Christine Krämer

Osnabrück University: Prof. Dr. Claudia Pahl-Wostl, Evelyn Lukat, Birte Fröhlich, Dr. Fabian Thomas

Justus Liebig University Giessen: Prof. Dr. Volkmar Wolters, Birgit Aue

Wageningen University: Prof. Dr. Kai Purnhagen

Summary: The aim of the in-depth study is to build on the results of the ZA-NExUS project to accompany further discussions on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) by

• further elaborating the conception of a "new architecture of agricultural policy" developed in the ZA-NExUS project with regard to the instrumental and legal design;
• empirivally collecting the reactions of farmers and the involved environmental and agricultural administration;
• assessing and evaluating the impact of the expected policy proposals of other actors, in particular the European Commission, on the objectives of nature conservation and environmental protection.

Sustainable agricultural policy: Preserving nature x safeguarding the environment (ZA-NExUS)

Time period: 2015-2017

Funding: German Federal Agency for Nature Protection (BfN) and German Environment Agency (UBA), on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Protection, Construction and Nuclear Safety (BMUB)

Contributors:

Wageningen University (Coordinating partner): Prof. Dr. Peter Feindt, Prof. Dr. Kai Purnhagen

Technical University of Munich: Prof. Dr. Alois Heißenhuber

Project office mareg (markt+region): Dr. Christine Krämer

Osnabrück University: Prof. Dr. Claudia Pahl-Wostl, Caroline van Bers, Dr. Fabian Thomas, Daniel Schweigatz

Justus Liebig University Giessen: Prof. Dr. Volkmar Wolters

Summary: The aim of the ZA-NExUS project was to formulate science-based options for the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) from the perspective of nature conservation and environmental protection and to introduce them into the public and political debate.

For this purpose...

• the systemic developments relevant for environmental protection and nature conservation in connection with agricultural development were summarised and the contribution of previous agricultural policy to the aggravation or mitigation of problematic situations as well as to the encouragement or hindrance of positive approaches and developments were shown;
• strengths and weaknesses of the current agricultural policy from the perspective of nature conservation and environmental protection were elaborated;
• a Leitbild for a multifunctional, nature- and environmentally-friendly agriculture that can appeal to a constellation of actors with a sufficiently broad political base, was developed, and differences between the model and current agricultural policy were identified;
• recommendations for policy action with regard to different agricultural policy development paths were developed;
• the results were introduced into the public and political discussion by means of a policy paper and a press briefing.

Publications:

Feindt, P.H., C. Krämer, A. Früh-Müller, A. Heißenhuber, C. Pahl-Wostl, K.P. Purnhagen, F. Thomas, C. van Bers, V. Wolters (2019). Ein neuer Gesellschaftsvertrag für eine nachhaltige Landwirtschaft. Wege zu einer integrativen Politik für den Agrarsektor. Springer, Berlin. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-58656-3

Feindt, P.H., C. Krämer, A. Früh-Müller, V. Wolters, C. Pahl-Wostl, A. Heißenhuber, C. van Bers, F. Thomas and K.P. Purnhagen (2018). Der Status quo ist keine Option - Vorschlag für eine zukunftsfähige Architektur der Agrarpolitik. Natur und Landschaft 93(6): 280-285. doi.org/10.17433/6.2018.50153589.280-285

Feindt, P.H., C. Krämer, A. Früh-Müller, V. Wolters, C. Pahl-Wostl, A. Heißenhuber, C. van Bers, F. Thomas and K.P. Purnhagen (2017). Ein neuer Gesellschaftsvertrag für eine nachhaltige Landwirtschaft: Auf dem Weg zu einer integrativen Politik für den Agrarsektor. Politikpapier des Forschungs- und Entwicklungs-Verbundvorhabens "ZA-NExUS: Zukunftsfähige Agrarpolitik - Natur erhalten, Umwelt sichern", gefördert vom Bundesamt für Naturschutz und dem Umweltbundesamt, FKZ 35158 80 400, Bonn/Berlin, 32 Seiten, Mai 2017.

Water Needs (Master thesis, 2014)

Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG)

Scientific lead: Prof. Dr. Claudia Pahl-Wostl (UOS), Dr. Kathrin Knüppe (UOS)

Summary: Discourse and practice in dealing with water resources are currently undergoing a transformation in the face of global challenges such as climate change and the ongoing degradation of ecosystems. The previous arguments of maximizing benefits and security of supply are increasingly being countered by an approach that is formulated more from an integrated and adaptation-oriented perspective and incorporates issues such as sustainability and uncertainty. The field of flood management is also undergoing this transformative change. Strategies that focus on a partnership with the river and are less characterized by technical structures are gaining importance. In the context of the master thesis, this change was investigated in a case study for the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. With the help of a literature review and the development and application of a multi-level analysis strategy, it was determined whether there are signs of a transformation of social structures. By analyzing the expression of ecosystem services in the Rhine floodplains, it was further elucidated whether a change also influences the ecosystem.

Publications:

Thomas, F. & K. Knüppe (2016). From Flood Protection to Flood Risk Management: Insights from the Rhine River in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Water Resources Management 30(8): 2785-2800. doi.org/10.​1007/​s11269-016-1323-9

Thomas, F. (2014). Flut kontrollieren – Flut integrieren. Der Wandel zu einem integrativen und adaptiven Hochwassermanagement und die Rolle von Ökosystemleistungen am Beispiel des Rheins. Master Thesis. Osnabrück University, Institute of Environmental Systems Research. Osnabrück, 2014. doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.1075.4406