Social Farming and Animal Assisted Interventions: content analysis of the Italian legal framework towards a One Welfare approach

Introduction: in the last decade, Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI) and Social Farming (SF) practices widely spread throughout Europe and at the same time, the scientific interest increased. In Italy, experiences are various and diversified among the 20 Italian Regions which have direct responsibility on these fields. In 2015 Italian authorities decided to regulate both AAI and SF topics at national level in different ways. The aim of this study was: analyse strengths and weaknesses of Italian legal framework about both fields, evaluate the possible impact on providers and the interaction of AAI in the SF frame. Such analysis can be useful to understand if and in which way the providers of AAI could play a relevant role in SF activities and to direct institutional decision-making process towards a One Welfare approach. Methodology: we analysed the Italian legislation on AAI and SF at national and regional level (national laws, all regional laws and local implementing regulations), their connections, strengths and weaknesses. We critically pointed out and systematised differences to highlight inconsistencies and possible improvements. Main Findings: our study suggested the need of practical guidelines for providers to overcome the misalignment that exists nowadays between AAI and SF in Italy. That is caused by the independent development of these fields until the regulation and the inconsistency between regional and national laws. Principle Conclusions and Implications for Field: Italian legal framework on AAI and SF will increasingly influence providers in their activities and the outcomes on possible final beneficiaries. Meanwhile there is a lack of modelling especially in AAI field, which could be coped offering practical guidelines for providers and public institutions. Guidelines should be based on One Welfare framework and include: specific educational programs for providers, directions on organizational models and on promotion strategies of the service in the area

Dairy cattle, livelihoods and resilience in Gaza Strip: a case study

As an effect of a protracted situation of conflict, the economy in Gaza Strip has largely developed through international humanitarian assistance. Over the time, the isolation of markets, widespread unemployment, and the economic crisis have caused a serious decline in the population living standards, with a high level of food insecurity. Today, the population in Gaza Strip has dramatically increased reaching an estimated 1.65 million in an area of only 360 km2 (PCBS). The rapid increase in urban population (3.2% of yearly growth rate), land scarcity and the challenge of food security have accelerated the phenomenon of urban agriculture. In Gaza Strip, despite many constraints, agriculture and related activities are still offering the opportunity of food, income and employment for the local population. By participating in activities related to projects of international cooperation promoting the dairy cattle sector we have investigated ways of breeding cattle and proposed a reflection on the sector, highlighting the main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and constraints. We have also explored the livelihoods of dairy cattle keepers and analysed related resilience and sustainability

Measuring the effects of transdisciplinary research: the case of a social farming project

Social farming (SF) is an innovative concept belonging to a grey zone occupied by agriculture, social, education and health sectors. It involves various private and public actors who work together to co-create and share new collective knowledge. SF initiatives also involve many policies and tools that need to be reframed in order to facilitate the evaluation of these practices. Research in SF includes the active role of researchers in medium-term initiatives, involving a large number of stakeholders.Thus an evaluation of SF practices is crucial in developing and planning future actions. The complex nature of SF has led to the use of a transdisciplinary approach for the evaluation of its initiatives.This paper explains the transdisciplinary process used in a SF project, describes the nature of the collaborative relationships between researchers and others stakeholders, and examines the factors that inhibit and facilitate this collaboration. The paper highlights the important effects the transdisciplinary approach could have on the future of SF, in terms of network building, the co-production of knowledge, and the development of innovative practices

Social Farming in the Promotion of Social-Ecological Sustainability in Rural and Periurban Areas

Abstract: Rural areas are facing a spectrum of landscape changes and vulnerability as a consequence of financial and environmental crises. Innovative approaches are required to maintain the provision of social services and manage ecosystem services in these areas. We explore the capacity of social farming to create viable and sustainable rural and periurban areas according to a social-ecological perspective. We use the key elements of social-ecological systems under social farming practices to analyse (1) the role of local communities and non-formal institutions; (2) the involvement of target stakeholders; and (3) the explicit connection between agroecosystems and human wellbeing. To do so, we selected and described four cases of local social farming initiatives in terms of the key elements of social-ecological systems and conducted a literature review to provide an overview of the explicit impact of social farming on the quality of life. We found that social farming illustrates hybrid governance solutions beyond market instruments that could be applied for the governance of agroecosystems. It can also provide a range of other wellbeing and cultural ecosystem services to rural and urban inhabitants. Greater cooperation between social farming and ecosystem service science could rebound in rural landscape sustainability

Social farming and policies in Tuscany, between social innovation and path dependency

Social farming (SF) emerged in the latest ten years in Italy and in the EU as an innovative practice able to link multifunctional agriculture and innovative social services for both urban and rural areas. SF mobilises unexpected resources from agriculture in order to meet local emerging social and economic needs and can be easily analysed under the perspective of social innovation (SI). Stakeholders with multiple competences and narratives are engaged by activating a political game that might have fragmented results at diverse levels. The paper starting from the analysis of the Tuscany case − one of the Italian regions where the discussion aroundSF started for the first time − focuses on the triangulation among narratives, articulation in policy making, and results in terms of innovation in rural areas

Role of Small farming in food security and sustainability: a case study for Tuscany (IT)

The debate on the size of farming, and its relevance for policy purposes, has come back to the fore in recent years. The “International Year of Family Farming and Smallholder Farming”, held by FAO in 2014, aimed to raise the profile of family and smallholder farming worldwide”. During EXPO 2015, a debate followed on structural developments in agriculture and the implications for the competitiveness and sustainability of the agri-food sector and rural areas. Despite a declining number of agricultural holdings and a gradual increase in average farm size, the agricultural sector is largely composed by farms with less than 5 ha of agricultural land and a standard output below 4 000 euro per year. Beyond economic size and value of production, other criteria (e.g. labour units and family involvement can be adopted), alone or in combination, to define size of farming. Academic literature provides a mixed picture on weather a declining number of farms, and a gradual increase in size should be welcomed or contrasted. Oppositional arguments contrasting smaller and larger farm structures with respect to sustainability and food and nutrition security, are nourished by the lack of sufficient or unambiguous scientific evidence. A first line of thought stresses the distinctiveness of smaller farms in delivering food security and sustainability (Rabinowicz, 2014) and the capacity of small farms to mobilize resources additional to those procured through market exchange (van der Ploeg, 2013). A second line of thought considers size as a nonrelevant criterion to assess the performance on food security and sustainability (OECD, 2005), supporting the view on steering behaviours oriented towards improved sustainability, regardless of size. Dualistic debates often focus on some aspects of sustainability and neglect others (Kirwan et al. 2017) or overlook the importance of complementarity between complex agro-food systems and territoriality, as local context largely affects what structural change is desirable at territorial level (Darnhofer et al. 2010). This contribution presents the conceptual and analytical framework adopted in a research project named SALSA, “Small farms, small food businesses and sustainable food and nutrition security (FNS)”, and provides an illustration on one of the 35 reference regions selected. The analysis considers Lucca province in Tuscany and aims at generating preliminary insights in relation to the role of small farms in food and nutrition security

Between Participatory Approaches and Politics, Promoting Social Innovation in Smart Cities: Building a Hum–Animal Smart City in Lucca

In recent decades, the interest in social innovation and nature-based solutions has spread in scientific articles, and they are increasingly deployed for cities’ strategic planning. In this scenario, participatory approaches become pivotal to engaging the population and stakeholders in the decision- making process. In this paper, we reflect on the first year’s results and the strengths and weaknesses— of the participatory activities realized in Lucca to co-design and co-deploy a smart city based on human–animal relationships in the framework of the European project Horizon 2020 (IN-HABIT). Human–animal bonds, as nature-based solutions, are scientifically and practically underestimated. Data were collected on the activities organized to implement a public–private–people partnership in co-designing infrastructural solutions (so-called Animal Lines) and soft nature-based solutions to be implemented in the city. Stakeholders actively engaged in mutual discussions with great enthusiasm, and the emergent ideas (the need to improve people’s knowledge of animals and develop a map showing pet-friendly services and places and the need for integration to create innovative pet services) were copious and different while showing many connections among the various points of view. At the same time, a deeper reflection on the relationships among the participatory activities and institutionally integrated arrangements also emerged

Histological discrimination of fresh and frozen/thawed fish meat: European hake (Merluccius merluccius) as a possible model for white meat fish species

The present study aimed at setting up a standard operating histological procedure to discriminate fresh from frozen-thawed fish products of the species Merluccius merluccius (European hake). A preliminary histological analysis of fresh M. merluccius muscle was performed to select the sampling site and highlight possible time-dependent tissue alterations during shelf-life. To set a suitable operational grid for discriminating the freezing process, morphological and morphometrical parameters were assessed on 90 muscle tissue samples collected from 30 fresh, 30 experimentally frozen at -20°31 C and 30 Individual Quick Frozen (IQF) specimens of M. merluccius. Structural score, presence of freezing vacuoles, a number of vacuoles per field higher than 1.12 and the presence of interstitial proteinaceous material, which had achieved statistical significance in group comparisons were chosen as freezing markers. Accuracy and repeatability, assessed on the analysis of two independent operators (on-training and expert), showed high analytical specificity and sensitivity and a concordant diagnostic performance regardless the operators expertise. The grid was finally validated by a single blind test on 30 additional M. merluccius commercial products and allowed the allocation of all the samples to fresh or frozen status without inconclusive results. The method could be profitably applied against fraudulent adulteration practices