Multicriteria Assessment and Communication of Effects of Organic Food Systems

Organic agriculture is an alternative food system based on consumer trust and credibility. Consumers buy organic goods and citizens and politician support organics, to some degree, because they believe it is a better alternative. And they believe this because the organic form of production seeks to meet many considerations for society, nature and environment. The possibilities for growth in organic agriculture therefore depends on whether it, overall, makes a credible and attractive alternative, and whether the development of organics is positive with regard to organic principles and the key societal goals for environment, health and welfare. It is, however, extremely difficult to determine whether a specific technological, management or organizational development is positive or negative, overall. In other words, if we want to assess and evaluate organic food systems (or aspects thereof) it becomes evident that it is indeed not possible to base such an assessment solely on one criterion. We need multiple criteria; there are however, no established methods with which to conduct overall, multicriteria assessments or organic food systems

Multikriteriel vurdering og kommunikation af effekterne af økologiske fødevaresystemer

Økologi er et alternativt fødevaresystem, der er baseret på forbrugertillid og troværdighed. Forbrugere køber økologiske varer og borgere og politikere understøtter økologien, i et vist omfang, fordi de mener det er et bedre alternativ. Og det gør de fordi den økologiske driftsform søger at tilgodese mange hensyn til samfund, natur og miljø. Mulighederne for vækst i økologien afhænger således af at den, samlet set, udgør et troværdigt og attraktivt alternativ, og at den udvikler sig positivt i forhold til de økologiske principper og i overensstemmelse med centrale samfundsmæssige målsætninger for miljø, sundhed og velfærd. Det er imidlertid særdeles vanskeligt at afgøre om en bestemt teknologisk, driftsmæssig eller organisatorisk udvikling er positiv eller negativ, samlet set. Med andre ord: Hvis vi ønsker at vurdere og evaluere økologiske fødevaresystemer (eller aspekter af samme), så er det ikke tilstrækkeligt at basere en sådan vurdering alene på et kriterium. Vi har brug for multiple kriterier; men der findes ingen etablerede metoder til at lave helhedsvurderinger af økologiske fødevaresystemer

På vej mod en øko-label version 2.0?

Selvom de fleste forbrugere kender til Ø-mærket, er det nok de færreste, der ved, hvad denne label egentlig dækker over. Og det er klart i den økologiske fødevaresektors interesse at sørge for, at forbrugeren får de informationer, han eller hun skal bruge for at vælge fx den økologiske kylling – frem for den langt billigere konventionelt producerede kylling. Denne tanke er basis for projektet ”Multikriteriel vurdering og kommunikation af effekterne af økologiske fødevaresystemer”, MultiTrust. Et mere nuanceret mærkningssystem findes ikke endnu; men kimen er lagt i MultiTrust, der har udviklet en tilgang til øko-lables, der er grundlæggende anderledes, end den vi kender fra fx de statslige øko-mærker

Animating Multicriteria Decision-making Processes in the Organic Value Chain

When thinking about animations, an intuitive reaction could be to dismiss them as mere children’s pastime, but that is by no means the whole picture. Animated films featuring highly specialized knowledge from, say, the domains of science, technology and engineering are to be found all over the current media landscape. There is a tendency that they are predominantly used in one specific communicative constellation, i.e., when domain-specific knowledge is communicated from an expert or authority to a lay person. That, too, is the case when it comes to the animated film “MultiTrust” (to be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmoXYJAS8LY ). This animation stems from the research project “Multicriteria assessment and communication of effects of organic food systems” (http://multitrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Description-of-MultiTrust-from-Status-report-2011-to-Organic-RDD.pdf), which was conducted under the auspices of ICROFS (i.e., the International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems, for more information please visit: http://www.icrofs.org/index.html). The color animation film was produced in 2013 by the award-wining Danish production company and animation studio Tumblehead Aps (for more information please visit: http://www.tumblehead.com/). A primary intention of this multifaceted research project was to “make it easier for consumers […] to observe and evaluate the different contributions that organic food systems offer”, with a special emphasis “to promote communication, participation and learning” about organic foods. One tangible result of this endeavor was the animated film aiming at presenting a novel way of communicating about multicriteria buyer decision-making with regards to organic food purchases. Whereas the film as such does not present a tool ready to be employed in the service of consumer communication, it does present a prototype for how we might design future communications about organic food products in a novel way

Three Perspectives on Motivation and Multi-Criteria Assessment of Organic Food Systems

The complexity of values related to organic food systems is normally difficult to ascertain, understand and act upon for both producers and consumers, as well as for other agents. In this paper we have suggested MCA as a method that may help in coping with this complexity. Furthermore, we have pointed to the importance of addressing the challenge of motivation when designing such an MCA tool. In doing so, we have applied three very different concepts of motivation – an economic, a psycho-social and a relational concept. While they represent fundamentally different perspectives, by incorporating all three within a multi-perspective approach, we have been able to explore ’a broader array of relevant aspects of motivation when designing a MCA tool to be used by consumers when dealing with organic food issues. From an economic perspective, motivation is closely related to the buying situation and consumers’ need to choose between products. This stresses the importance of gaining a quick overview and of support in assessing the options. From a psycho-social perspective, the key point is to design the tool in a way that makes it possible for the consumer to include his or her experiences and specific lifeworld strategies in the assessment process. This highlights the importance of an MCA tool which enables users to influence and change criteria and values in decision-making and reflexive processes. Finally, from a relational perspective, motivation is a matter of social interaction and the tool should therefore be designed so as to allow dialogue between the agents involved in the value chain of the organic food system. Applying the three perspectives on motivation to the issue has proven the value of a multi-perspective approach and provided input qualifying the development of a prototype MCA tool for agents participating in the organic food system

EDITORIAL

Editorial to the very first issue of CLAW

The Many Faces of Communication Quality

When it comes to quantity, you can easily measure and quantify, the length of an instructional text, the number of words and images used in an ad, or the duration of a sales presentation etc.There is nothing, however, in such a purely quantitative measurement that will tell you whether or not the text, the ad and the talk were “good”. A “good” instructional text is not necessarily a short one, the text to image ratio of an ad says nothing about how effective the ad may be, and a compressed talk will often leave the inquisitive listener unsatisfied

Organizational Knowledge Communication – a Nascent 3rd Order Disciplinarity

There is an emerging tendency that the organizational communication functions of larger companies enter into a symbiotic relationship with the companies’ Knowledge Management function. A tendency this journal has labelled Organizational Knowledge Communication. This should come as no surprise to neither the researcher nor the practitioner; after all who can say where a corporation’s knowledge work ends and where its organizational communication begins – and vice versa? In this paper I will present a theoretical account of the three disciplinary trajectories that, in my view, have given rise to Organizational Knowledge Communication, i.e., organization studies, communication theory and Knowledge Management, respectively. In their synthesis the three trajectories form a disciplinary triple helix, a triple helix which, in turn, gives rise to Organizational Knowledge Communication as a novel, 3rd order disciplinarity. Whereas each discipline is a strand in its own right in the helix, these strands, nevertheless, also allow for disciplinary integration, albeit punctually and dynamically. And it is exactly in such trilateral punctual and dynamic integrations that Organizational Knowledge Communication becomes visible, becomes a disciplinarity. I theoretically present an example of such a punctual integration and point to some of the immediate research promises that it holds. This theoretical account ends by describing Organizational Knowledge Communication as a nascent 3rd order disciplinarity