The challenge of designing farming systems experiments with a diversity of stakeholders [Practice Abstract]
Today, research and development organisations are urged to collaborate with stakeholders to design and test ‘solutions’ that are considered virtuous and desirable to all involved. This changes the missions and work of those conducting research and development activities.
The Coccinelle project took on the challenge of designing a sustainable mountain dairy cattle farming system and pilot its experimentation with a diversity of stakeholders (livestock farmers, farm advisors, citizens and researchers).
From this experience, different lessons can be retained on facilitating co-design processes of farming systems experiments.
First, the formats used to interact with participants influenced participation rates in general and who was involved. Participation rates were higher during in-person meetings than on the on-line exchange platform. However, online exchanges can allow for more frequent interactions and a more prominent participation or role of certain individuals in the collaborative design process.
Second, it is important to discuss and clarify the role of the participants, in particular concerning their role in the decision-making process. Expectations can differ between participants and experiment leaders on this point and can be a source of frustrations.
Third, it is important to trace and cultivate a collective memory of decisions made and link them explicitly to the experimented system. Otherwise, participants get the feeling of being lost in the process.
Fourth, participants can have a broader contribution than what experiment leaders expect from them. Experiment leaders, for example, rapidly focused on the design of farming practices but participants targeted the farming systems objectives and strategy or participated in defining the way to work and experiment together.
Therefore, leading a co-design process requires the ability to identify, process, and leverage unexpected contributions, as well as skills and expertise in facilitating the process.
Geographical location: Herbipôle, Marcenat, Cantal, France
More on the co-designed ‘ecocitizen’ dairy cattle farming system (in French): L'expérimentation Marcinelle
(https://projet-coccinelle.hub.inrae.fr/l-experimentation-marcinelle)
Keywords: Biodiversity, Climate change, Livestock, Socio economic resilience
Country: France
