Institut für Sozialwissenschaften des Agrarbereichs

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hohpublica.uni-hohenheim.de/handle/123456789/18

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Connecting resonance theory with social-ecological thinking: Conceptualizing self-world relationships in the context of sustainability transformations
(2025) Brossette, Florian; Bieling, Claudia
Relationships and interactions between humans and their environment play an important role in sustainability transformations. However, their conceptualization remains a big challenge in current social-ecological research. We propose resonance theory by the German sociologist Hartmut Rosa as a fruitful framework to advance social-ecological thinking. Resonance theory investigates the quality of the relationships between self and world and scrutinizes their relevance for transformations. To illustrate the potentials of resonance theory, we use a vignette approach to cases of landscape stewardship initiatives in the Black Forest Biosphere Reserve in Germany. In distinguishing between self and world and highlighting the role of relationships, resonance theory brings ontological and epistemological clarity, while overcoming a strict dichotomy between social and ecological. We find that resonance theory provides a much needed framework to describe how system-wide transformations emerge from interactions and out of relationships at the individual level. We argue that resonance theory contributes to social-ecological systems thinking by adding the notion of uncontrollability in transformations and shifting the debate on agency towards relationships. Synthesis and applications: This paper demonstrates the meaningfulness of relational paradigms for real-world transformations in theory and practice.
Coping and social cohesion mechanisms in addressing climate change and land degradation in Ghana
(2025) Amankwah, Harry Quaye; Ndah, Hycenth Tim; Schuler, Johannes; Abdulai, Alhassan Lansah; Knierim, Andrea
The West Africa sub-region is faced with major interlinked challenges in ensuring sustainable livelihoods in the context of climate change and land degradation. To ensure sustainable food production and resource use, agriculture needs to be resilient through the application of responsive adaptation and coping strategies. While many studies have explored coping and adaptation strategies employed by farmers, little attention has been paid to the farmers’ indigenous practices and the role of social cohesion mechanisms. Using the sustainable livelihood framework, this study addressed this gap by exploring coping strategies and social cohesion mechanisms used by smallholder farmers in northern Ghana. It made use of a mixed-method approach, including a household survey, focus group discussions, expert interviews, field observations, and key informant interviews. Data was collected from 60 households in 6 communities across 3 districts in the study region. The results showed that social assets such as membership of self-help groups were the most important source of coping, particularly for the most vulnerable households. Such membership enabled farmers to secure micro-loans and receive aid from fellow members during extreme climate events such as floods. Farmers’ tacit knowledge emerged as pivotal in coping with climate change and enhancing soil fertility, encompassing traditional weather forecasting, the making of bio-pesticides, and sustainable land management (SLM) practices such as ridge and bund creation as well as intercropping. Key coping practices reported by the study participants included reduction of food consumption, off-farm jobs, selling livestock, charcoal making and reliance on remittances. The results further revealed that social cohesion mechanisms or collective action play a key role in helping farmers cope and adapt to climate change while improving soil fertility. Social cohesion is mainly reflected in two different structures depending on gender. While diverse challenges of innovation adoption exist, socio-cultural barriers differ by gender. The study recommends the integration of farmers throughout the innovation development process and proposes the need for a concerted effort to strengthen land tenure security policies, ensuring equitable access to farmlands for all genders.
A decade of change and future prospects of organic farming in Iran using the multi‐round Delphi method
(2025) Babajani, Arezou; Rahmati, Faezeh; Rafizadeh, Neda; Zikeli, Sabine; Wieck, Christine; Babajani, Arezou; Department of Agricultural & Food Policy, Institute of Agricultural Policy and Markets, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany; Rahmati, Faezeh; Center for Organic Farming, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany; Rafizadeh, Neda; Center for Organic Farming, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany; Zikeli, Sabine; Center for Organic Farming, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany; Wieck, Christine; Department of Agricultural & Food Policy, Institute of Agricultural Policy and Markets, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
In recent years, the concept of organic farming has gained increasing attention due to its reduced use of agrochemicals, ecological preservation, and contribution to sustainability. However, the analysis of data from 2013 to 2021 shows that organic agriculture in Iran remained almost unchanged until 2016, with approximately 18,871 hectares under cultivation. After 2016, a period of stagnation ensued, followed by a decline, suggesting a regression rather than a progression in the sector. The present study aims to identify and evaluate the primary indicators influencing the development of organic agriculture in Iran by leveraging the expertise of subject‐matter experts. To this end, a four‐round, two‐phase Delphi method was employed to identify, refine, and validate the indicators. This method entailed conducting interviews with Iranian organic farming experts representing diverse organizations and sectors within organic agriculture. The identified factors were then grouped using the 7S model (Strategy, Structure, System, Skills, Staff, Style, and Shared Values). A nonparametric test was used to determine changes in these indicators over the past decade. The study's findings suggest that structural enhancements, increased knowledge, and growing societal awareness of sustainability have exerted a favorable influence. Nevertheless, systemic and policy constraints have curtailed the comprehensive advancement of organic farming. This research offers significant insights to the dynamics of organic agriculture in Iran and provides concrete recommendations for promoting its development in the future.
Towards more nuanced narratives in bioeconomy strategies and policy documents to support knowledge-driven sustainability transitions
(2025) Stoye, Juliane; Schlaile, Michael P.; von Cossel, Moritz; Bertacchi, Stefano; Escórcio, Rita; Winkler, Bastian; Curran, Thomas P.; Ní Chléirigh, Laoise; Nic an Bhaird, Máire; Klakla, Jan Bazyli; Nachtergaele, Pieter; Ciantar, Hailey; Scheurich, Philipp; Lewandowski, Iris; Reinmuth, Evelyn; Hopmans, Jan
The bioeconomy has been discussed as a key strategy for addressing sustainability challenges, particularly regarding the transition from fossil-based to bio-based systems, in numerous national and supranational strategies and policy documents related to the bioeconomy. However, public understanding of and engagement with the bioeconomy remains limited. This is partly due to the bias of many bioeconomy strategies and policy documents towards technological solutions that tend to overlook the social, normative, and transformative dimensions of systemic change as well as the necessary knowledge. This opinion paper explores the potential of narratives as a means of communicating bioeconomy research in public policy, with the aim of addressing the communication gap between science, policy, and society. When applied in responsible and nuanced ways that acknowledge their embeddedness and context, bioeconomy (policy) narratives can support sensemaking for science communication, improve public understanding, facilitate stakeholder engagement and behavioural change. We argue that such narrative approaches can help to create narrative ‘boundary objects’ that can support more inclusive and participatory processes, enabling the co-creation of transformative knowledge for bioeconomy transitions with stakeholders as active participants. In summary, we highlight several opportunities, as well as limitations and implications, that could inform future work on bioeconomy narratives.
Understanding small‐scale private forest owners is a basis for transformative change towards integrative conservation
(2024) Tiebel, Malin; Mölder, Andreas; Bieling, Claudia; Hansen, Peter; Plieninger, Tobias
1. Balancing societal demands on forests is a major challenge in current forest management. Small-scale private forest owners are an important ownership group that is rarely addressed directly in this discussion. Our study aims to identify and differentiate between private forest owner groups. Based on this, we take a systemic approach and determine leverage points that can be used to foster transformative change towards integrative conservation-oriented forest management. 2. We conducted a survey of 1656 small-scale private forest owners in northwest Germany within a typical European multi-ownership landscape and formed three clusters based on their activities. 3. While all groups generally perceived nature conservation as important, they differed with regard to their forest management activities. Multiple-use-oriented forest owners (45%) were most active, including in terms of conservation measures. Conservation-oriented owners (25%) mainly focused on passive measures, and conventional owners (30%) showed only a little engagement with conservation-related activities. Despite the differences, common instruments promoting conservation activities were identified. They included, for example on-site consultation, information about legal regulations and financial incentives. 4. Based on four system characteristics (parameters, feedback, design and intent), we identified leverage points towards transformative change. The deep and thus effective leverage points are changing the discourse, accounting for the heterogeneity of private forest owners as well as for uncertainty related to climate change and adapting measures to local contexts. Furthermore, working towards increasing awareness, knowledge and interest as well as accounting for the desire for autonomy and control are promising pathways for change. 5. A holistic transformation of forest policy and management towards integrative conservation is urgently needed to meet the current challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and timber demand. This transformation has to go beyond the adaptation of existing policy instruments and instead focus on systematic and cross-sectoral changes in the underlying policy orientation, its design and its implementation.

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