The project will explore the current role and overall potential of farm assurance schemes to act as knowledge hubs in the coproduction of solutions promoting the sustainable development of the agricultural sector. To achieve this, UK-based assurance schemes and relevant stakeholders will be involved in a series of workshops.
Department: Sustainable Land Management
Supervised by: Georgios Pexas
Farm assurance schemes play a critical role in setting the standards and promoting sustainable practices for a sustainable agricultural production. There are several types of assurance schemes that address a range of issues, from environmental to socio-economic. They operate through broad networks of stakeholders that include policy and strategic decision makers from the private and public sector, certification bodies, researchers/scientists and developers, farmers, and consumers. Despite their central role in the sustainability of the agri-food sector, the role and potential of farm assurance schemes in the coproduction of solutions that aim to improve its sustainability has not been fully explored and understood. The project aims to extend existing knowledge on the potential for farm assurance schemes to act as knowledge hubs in the agricultural sector and facilitate the development and uptake of novel solutions for sustainable agriculture. This aim will be achieved through the following specific objectives: i) Mapping stakeholder networks associated with different types of farm assurance schemes, ii) Evaluating relationship dynamics (i.e., power relations and politics) iii) Identifying motivation factors for stakeholder engagement iv) Identifying coproduction hotspots (i.e., potential barriers and areas for improvement) To realise the aim and objectives of the project, the student will research scientific and grey literature to understand the role of farm assurance schemes in recent and on-going coproduction efforts. They will further develop and conduct in-person or virtual interviews / workshops with UK-based farm assurance schemes, and an online relevant survey to explore the wider networks of potential stakeholders.
Collect scientific and grey literature on the role of assurance schemes in coproduction for sustainable agriculture Support the development and facilitate virtual or in-person workshops with assurance scheme stakeholders Support the development and distribution of an online survey for assurance scheme stakeholders Support the thematic and statistical analysis, and synthesis of the workshop and survey responses Support the synthesis of information from literature on the role of assurance schemes in coproduction for sustainable agriculture
Critical thinking Ability to work independently Interest in sustainability, in issues regarding stakeholder engagement, and in issues regarding the adoption innovative solutions for sustainability Ability to review and synthesise evidence Good communication skills
The student will be able to develop their research and analytical skills, and scientific writing. They will get the opportunity to work with colleagues on two large, EU-funded research projects (ENVISION and eSHAPE). They will have the opportunity to broaden their network and build connections with UK-based farm assurance schemes and policy makers in the agri-environmental sector. Through this research and the specific outputs, the student will get an insight into state-of-the-art and scan towards the future directions of coproduction frameworks.
SAPD
Flexible (between 9-5 Monday-Friday)
Monday 20 June 2022 - Friday 29 July 2022
This project is open to applications until 5pm on Friday 22nd April. Students should submit their CV and Cover Letter directly to the Project Supervisor (click on supervisor name at the top of the page for email). Successful candidates will be invited for an interview.