Development of agroecology in Austria and Germany.

Background: Transforming food systems is necessary to address the global issues of severe biodiversity loss, hunger, and malnutrition as well as the consequences of the rapidly advancing climate change. Agroecology as a systemic approach has been recognised as a promising path of change exemplified in various case studies strengthening this transformation. The aim of this study is to get insight specifically for Austria and Germany in providing an overview of the advancement in agroecology in both countries and identify agroecology-related initiatives. Methods: 21 interviews with experts were conducted to determine the recognition, understanding, and development of agroecology in Austria and Germany in terms of movement, practice, policies, education, and research. In addition, information about agroecology-related initiatives was collected from interviews with 24 representatives of initiatives and literature analysis. Data was analysed according to five activity categories under which agroecology manifest: movement, practice, living lab, science and research infrastructure, and training and education. Results: Results show that the term agroecology is not commonly used in Austria and Germany, where the concept is mainly associated to a scientific discipline. Practices considered agroecological are implemented primarily through organic agriculture, which is very developed in Austria and to a lesser extent in Germany. Many networks, food policy councils, associations, and scientific projects related to agroecology exist, each with specific purposes and ambitions to change farming and food systems. While most selected initiatives do not explicitly refer to agroecology, all follow certain agroecological principles and aim at contributing to accelerate the agroecological transition. Conclusions: Clarifying the concept of agroecology, overcoming economic and political barriers as well as fostering participation of a multitude of stakeholders in the transition is essential for the future development of agroecology in Austria and Germany.

Facilitating transformative innovations in sustainability education.

Educational strategies globally are changing from an authoritative, top-down model to one focused on greater student and stakeholder participation in planning and implementation of research and educational activities. In addition to emphasis on student-centered education, strategies currently evolve to encompass learning organizations and multistakeholder learning networks. These are essential to address the complexity and scope of tomorrow's challenges, involving issues that could be called 'wicked problems' not easily addressed by single disciplines nor resulting in solutions that please all the players. In this study we describe how a transformative innovation - the NEXTFOOD educational approach - may contribute substantially to a transition of agricultural and food education and how it can be developed and diffused within and between teaching institutions. The method was action research informed by several workshops organized at annual consortium conferences during the first three years of the project. The findings show that a successful transformation involves learning both within and across innovation projects repeated at various organisations in a network. The action research model presented in this paper may be useful as an instrument to support the facilitation of transformative innovations. The transition process resulted in substantial changes in mindset, educational practices and organisational structures at the teaching institutions. However, scaling-up promising educational initiatives may encounter several barriers that need to be overcome at individual, group and institutional levels, and we provide insight on how this can be accomplished in a multi-national consortium of universities.

Contribution of LCA to decision making: A scenario analysis in territorial agricultural production systems.

Territorial Life Cycle Assessment (TLCA) appears a promising method to support informed decision making of local actors in territorial agricultural production systems (TAPS), by assessing environmental impacts of agricultural activities and potential strategies. The objectives of this study were to i) adapt TLCA methodology to integrated environmental assessment of TAPS and ii) evaluate TLCA's contribution to supporting informed decision making by assessing scenarios of change in TAPS. A TLCA of the agricultural sector was performed for a territory in the Aube department in France, including main crops and animal production types from raw material extraction to the first stage of processing. Exchanges of agricultural products and by-products among agricultural subsectors were considered by allocating impacts, which prevented double-counting them. Two contrasting scenarios were assessed with TLCA - development of on-farm biogas production and reintroduction of sheep grazing - and compared to the current situation. Results were expressed per unit area (ha), per unit biomass produced (kg) and per percentage contribution to total impacts of the territory before and after processing (at and beyond the farm gate, respectively). The main contributors (cereal and oilseed crops) did not have the highest impact at the farm scale (per ha and per kg), which highlights that contribution to total impacts of the territory is a relevant addition to the impacts per functional unit. Consideration of exchanges showed that TLCA can be used to assess effects of material interactions (biomass flows) between sectors. Scenario results showed no significant differences in impacts, except for higher water resource depletion for the biogas scenario, because most differences between scenarios were smaller than uncertainties in the input data. Other challenges were identified, such as the need to evaluate consequences of changes beyond the territory gate when performing TLCA of scenarios or the utility of characterizing the network of biomass flows in more detail. In conclusion, the methodological framework that was developed successfully identified environmental hotspots and reflected environmental impacts of material interactions between actors. Finally, it can estimate environmental impacts of future strategies, as long as uncertainty is reduced; thus, it shows potential as a decision-support tool.

Effects of Organic and Waste-Derived Fertilizers on Yield, Nitrogen and Glucosinolate Contents, and Sensory Quality of Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica).

Organic vegetable production attempts to pursue multiple goals concerning influence on environment, production resources, and human health. In areas with limited availability of animal manure, there is a need for considering various off-farm nutrient resources for such production. Different organic and waste-derived fertilizer materials were used for broccoli production at two latitudes (58° and 67°) in Norway during two years. The fertilizer materials were applied at two rates of total N (80 and 170 kg ha(-1)) and compared with mineral fertilizer (170 kg ha(-1)) and no fertilizer. Broccoli yield was strongly influenced by fertilizer materials (algae meal < unfertilized control < sheep manure < extruded shrimp shell < anaerobically digested food waste < mineral fertilizer). Yield, but not glucosinolate content, was linearly correlated with estimated potentially plant-available N. However, extruded shrimp shell and mineral NPK fertilizer gave higher glucosinolate contents than sheep manure and no fertilizer. Sensory attributes were less affected by fertilizer material and plant-available N.

Longevity of white clover (Trifolium repens) leaves, stolons and roots, and consequences for nitrogen dynamics under northern temperate climatic conditions.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: White clover (Trifolium repens) is, due to nitrogen (N) fixation, important to the N dynamics of several northern temperate agroecosystems. This study aimed at monitoring growth and death of major white clover plant organs to assess their potential contribution to within-season N input and risk of off-season N losses. METHODS: White clover ('Snowy') was studied in a plot and root window experiment in southeast Norway (60 degrees 42'N, 10 degrees 51'E). Leaves, stolons and roots were tagged for lifespan measurement in harvested and unharvested stands during two experimental years. The availability of soil inorganic N was measured by plant root simulator (PRS) probes. KEY RESULTS: The longevity of leaves and petioles ranged from 21 to 86 d (mean = 59 d), of main stolon sections from 111 to over 677 d (mean = 411 d) and of roots from 27 to 621 d (mean = 290 d). About 60 % of the leaves produced had turned over by the end of the growing season and another 30 % had died or disappeared by the subsequent spring. Harvesting reduced the longevity of stolons and increased plant fragmentation, but did not decrease leaf or root lifespan or increase soil N availability. From the plant organ turnover data, it was estimated that the gross N input to the soil-plant system from white clover in pure stand during two growing seasons corresponded to a 2.5-fold increase over the total N in harvestable shoots. CONCLUSIONS: The short lifespan and poor over-wintering of leaves showed their potential importance as a nitrogen source in the soil-plant ecosystem but also their potential contribution to the risk of off-season N losses.