Modelling Farm Level Economic Potential for Conversion to Organic Farming

A farm model is developed for simulating the potential income change resulting from conversion to organic farming. The model uses conventional farm data, taken from the Belgian FADN. Given the normative character of the model, and the impossibility of calibration to historical conversion behaviour, two model variants, a rigid and a flexible, are created to broaden the analysis scope. Moreover, extra attention is paid to the verification process and sensitivity analysis. Results reveal that the economic potential for conversion is rather high, if farmers are willing to change their farm management sufficiently. Furthermore, conversion potential depends on the farm type and conventional farm characteristics. The model finally proves to be an interesting tool to analyse policy impact.organic farming, conversion period, farm model, linear programming, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, C61, Q12,

Governance of planning processes in peri-urban landscapes : a comparison of three 'good examples'

In metropolitan areas are experiencing an increasing competition for land. Besides urbanisation, this competition is due to new societal expectations of the countryside such as space for housing, commercial activities, nature and recreational areas. As a consequence, rural spatial planning processes must attempt to balance the expectations and goals of a variety of stakeholders. Developing a well-balanced, fair and participatory rural planning process appears to be difficult. Previous research has shown that spatial planning processes often lead to resentment among the involved actors and the implementation of the planning goals often lags behind. The objective of our research is to get a better grasp of these decentralised, participatory planning processes. By getting insight into the success and failure-factors of past planning processes we hope to formulate policy guidelines for the governance of rural planning processes. Within this research, we focus on cases in which the stakeholders were satisfied with the course of the planning process. Furthermore we focus on cases in which agricultural land is lost at the expense of other functions. In the highly urbanized region of Flanders, agricultural land is vulnerable and under a continuous pressure. Within our cases we therefore focus on planning processes in which agricultural land is taken over by other functions (e.g. nature or industrial developments). Insight in the governance of such planning processes should provide guidance to policymakers and practitioners in Flanders and other countries with similar planning challenges. With this contribution we want to present the results of a first case in which agricultural land is lost in order to build a new motor-way. The majority of the involved actors indicated that they had a positive perception on the process and its outcomes. By making a qualitative analysis of a series of in-depth interviews we were able to define success factors for rural planning that exceed the particularities of the case-study

Point, polygon, or marker? In search of the best geographic entity for mapping cultural ecosystem services using the online public participation geographic information systems tool, “My Green Place”

The mapping of cultural ecosystem services through online public participation GIS (PPGIS) has predominantly relied on geographic entities, such as points and polygons, to collect spatial data, regardless of their limitations. As the potential of online PPGIS to support planning and design keeps growing, so does the need for more knowledge about data quality and suitable geographic entities to collect data. Using the online PPGIS tool, “My Green Place,” 449 respondents mapped cultural ecosystem services in Ghent by using all three geographic entities: point, polygon, and the novel “marker.” The three geographic entities’ accuracy was analyzed through a quadrat analysis, regressions against the collective truth, the Akaike information criterion, and a preference test based on the survey’s outcomes. The results show that the point reflects the weakest the collective truth, especially for mapping dynamic cultural practices, and the marker reflects it the strongest. The polygon’s performance compares to that of the marker’s, albeit slightly weaker. The marker delivers a more nuanced image of the respondents’ input, is simpler to use, and has less risk of spatial errors. Therefore, we suggest using the marker instead of the point and the polygon when collecting spatial data in future cultural ecosystem services research

Participatory development of a land value assessment tool for agriculture to support rural planning in Flanders

In dicht bevolkte regio’s zoals Vlaanderen wordt het platteland met nieuwe uitdagingen geconfronteerd, zoals verstedelijking en nieuwe maatschappelijke verwachtingen ten opzichte van de landbouwsector en de open ruimte. Eén zeer concreet gevolg is dat landbouwgrond wordt ingenomen door andere landgebruiken, zoals bebouwing, industrie, natuur of bos. Wanneer de doelstellingen van verschillende actoren op het platteland met elkaar in conflict komen, leidt dit tot spanningen. Landbouwers staan liever geen grond af; voor andere actoren is landbouwgrond vaak de enige optie om hun eigen doelstellingen te realiseren. Het voorgestelde doctoraatsonderzoek wil een bijdrage leveren om constructief met dit spanningsveld om te gaan. Een eerste doelstelling daarbij is om een bestaande tool, ontwikkeld om rurale planningsprocessen in Vlaanderen te ondersteunen, wetenschappelijk te onderbouwen. Deze tool, gekend als de landbouwimpactstudie bij ADLO en de landbouwgevoeligheidsanalyse bij VLM, maakt het mogelijk om de waarde van landbouwgrond in Vlaanderen te differentiëren en om van daaruit prioriteiten te stellen omtrent het behoud van landbouwgrond. Een tweede deel van het onderzoek plaatst de ontwikkelde tool, het landbouwwaarderingsinstrument of LWI, in de realiteit van de huidige rurale planningsprocessen. Inzicht in de positie van landbouw in deze planningsprocessen helpt om te bepalen op welke manier het ontwikkelde LWI best kan ingezet worden. Bovendien maakt het ook expliciet welke knelpunten niet door LWI kunnen opgelost worden en waar dus andere stappen ondernomen moeten worden. In de ontwikkeling van het LWI werden verschillende stakeholders betrokken. Deze participatieve aanpak bleek een belangrijke meerwaarde voor de ontwikkeling van het instrument. Bovendien konden vanuit dit participatieve proces ook wetenschappelijke lessen getrokken worden over de inzet van participatie in de ontwikkeling van beslissingsondersteunende instrumenten