Who should deliver agri-environmental public goods in the UK? New land managers and their future role as public good providers

Agri-environmental policies in the UK stand on the threshold of significant change, with wide acceptance that radical changes are needed to ensure a better delivery of public goods in future. The UK’s departure from the EU presents an opportunity to fully realise the “Public Money for Public Goods” principle in the new suite of Environmental Land Management schemes. A likely priority will be the delivery of conservation goals at a landscape scale, which will require the recruitment of a broader range of actors and institutions than at present, including an emerging group of what we call in this paper ‘new land managers’. Understanding the changing dynamics of rural land occupancy, and the characteristics and motivations of these new land managers, will be essential in the future for the effective delivery of these public schemes. Data on land market trends is nevertheless patchy and poorly researched. For this paper, we drew on a survey of land agents in England, all of whom were members of the Central Association for Agricultural Valuers (CAAV), in order to gather information and reflections on contemporary land markets. A key finding is that agricultural policy reform and retrenchment is seen by many of these experts as a significant driver of future change. Taken together with other interacting factors such as the overall tax burden on businesses and the economic and personal situation of farmers and their succession status, many of our respondents predicted significant structural change, with more land coming on to the market for resale. At the same time, increasing demand for land from “lifestyle/non-farming landholders” and the growing presence of people entering the market interested in enroling land for carbon sequestration and natural capital improvements, will mean a shift in the types of individuals and organisations holding land. Those holding and managing land in coming years are likely to comprise an ever more diverse and fragmented community of land owners and occupiers The task for policymakers then, is to deliver a suite of interventions specifically tailored to the various types of landholders in order to engage them effectively into public goods delivery under ELMs

Analysis of socio-economic aspects of local and national organic farming markets; final report for Defra

The purpose of this study was to take a fresh look at the nature of organic production, consumption and marketing in England and Wales in order to better assess its current and likely contribution to rural development and its ability to meet consumer expectations. Based on a mixed methodological approach the study consulted with 2,300 individuals to reveal a complex and multi-dimensional sector with a highly committed consumer base. The research aimed to describe and account for: (1)The socio-economic impacts of the organic farm supply chains on rural development; (2)The extent to which organic food delivers consumer expectations; and (3) The barriers affecting conversion to organic farming and expansion of existing organic farms. The research reported here is arguably one of the most integrated studies of organic consumption, production and marketing conducted to date. It throws new light on the nature of organic consumption, underlining both the on-going commitment of the majority of committed organic consumers and the gap in perceptions, degrees of ‘brand trust’ and price sensitivity between this group and the majority of consumers who rarely or never buy organic. While this degree of commitment suggests that recent declines in organic consumption may not be sustained and will soon hit a floor, this finding also points to difficulties, particularly in a time of recession, in enrolling new consumers into organic networks, particularly via the direct marketing channels that smaller producers are more likely to depend on. This group of producers, locally embedded and linked to consumers via short supply chains, fulfil the expectations of many organic consumers and exemplify the idea of alternative food producers. Managed by self selecting, entrepreneurial farmers, these organic producers make a valuable contribution towards employment and income generation within the local rural economy. As our broader analysis of food chains and multiplier effects across the regional and national rural economy shows, however, it is the large scale producers, concerned with the production of bulk commodities and integrated into long supply chains, that inevitably account for the main rural employment and income benefits of the organic sector, if measured in aggregate terms. While there is a good case to be made for the rural development benefits of organic farming, it is important to recognise these scale effects and their geographically uneven distribution in any policy assessment.Organic markets, Organic farming, Organic consumers, Rural Economy, Multiplier Analysis, Simple Value Chains, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing,

Ash dieback and other tree pests and pathogens:dispersed risk events and the Social Amplification of Risk Framework

It is widely acknowledged within the risk literature that the mass media play a pivotal role in shaping information about risk events for audiences. Whilst some risk events reflect occurrences specific to particular times and locations, other risk events are more difficult to temporally and spatially situate as they are dispersed across years or months and are not constrained to particular geographic locations. Studies examining the relationship between the social amplification or attenuation of risks and their framing in the media have tended to focus on the former type of event. In this paper we explore the social amplification of risk in relation to ash dieback disease (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus), a tree health issue that attracted intense media attention in the UK in 2012, and characterise what we designate as a dispersed risk event. Drawing on the influential Social Amplification of Risk Framework (SARF), we present a frame analysis of UK national newspaper articles to assess the connection between media coverage of dieback and risk amplification, and the extent to which dieback coverage drew on other tree health issues and objects of media attention. Focusing particularly on the blame frame around dieback, the paper considers the implications of conceptualising dispersed risk events for the SARF and its amplification metaphor. Moreover, given that risk events such as dieback are often associated with policy shifts, we suggest that there is value for risk communicators and policy makers in broadening their focus to incorporate more of the ‘history’ of risk events in order to anticipate likely anchors of public and media attention

The wider social impacts of changes in the structure of agricultural businesses

Defr

The social amplification of risk on Twitter:the case of ash dieback disease in the United Kingdom

It has long been recognised that the traditional media play a key role in representing risk and are a significant source of information which can shape how people perceive and respond to hazard events. Early work utilising the social amplification of risk framework (SARF) sought to understand the discrepancy between expert and lay perceptions of risk and patterns of risk intensification and attenuation with reference to the media. However, the advent of Web 2.0 challenges traditional models of communication. To date there has been limited consideration of social media within the SARF and its role in mediating processes of risk perception and communication. Against this backdrop, we focus on the social media platform Twitter to consider the social amplification of risk in relation to ash dieback disease (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus); a tree health issue that attracted intense media attention when it was first identified in the UK in 2012. We present an empirical analysis of 25,600 tweets in order to explore what people were saying about ash dieback on Twitter, who was talking about it and how they talked about it. Our discussion outlines the themes around which talk about ash dieback was orientated, the significance of users’ environmental ‘affiliations’ and the role of including links (URLs) to traditional media coverage. We utilise the notion of ‘piggybacking’ to demonstrate how information is customised in line with group/individual identities and interests and introduce the concept of the ‘frame fragment’ to illustrate how information is selected and moved around Twitter emphasising certain features of the messages. The paper affords a detailed consideration of the way in which people and organisations simultaneously appropriate, construct and pass on risk-relevant information. A conclusion is that social media has the potential to transform the media landscape within which the SARF was originally conceived, presenting renewed challenges for risk communication

Making Socio-Ecological Art and Science Collaboration Work: A Guide

With global environmental challenges we are facing, such as the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, together with the role of ecosystems for human wellbeing, we can no longer rely on a singular disciplinary approach to address these challenges and the associated potential landscape change conflicts. In order to develop environmental strategies that encompass the social, economic and cultural, multi/ inter/trans-disciplinary approaches are required that seek inclusivity in sociocultural and intellectual terms. ‘The Arts’ is well placed to contribute to research and action that is inclusive and opens space for new imaginings and change. Artists and arts-based researchers have important knowledge and experiential contributions to make alongside those of natural and social scientists and the humanities. Research projects that include artists working alongside and in partnership with their natural and social science colleagues can build new perspectives and achieve a more holistic understanding of many socioecological issues. However, there is still a sense within the wider research community that bringing an arts perspective into applied research can be challenging, not least precisely because understanding what art is – and what art can contribute – is limited. This in turn leads to challenges when it comes to finding and commissioning artists. This guide to making socio-ecological art and science collaboration work sets out practical steps for finding and commissioning artists who have the appropriate skill sets and expertise. It has been written in response to the challenges and barriers faced by those not fully acquainted with art - its history, canons and current contemporary position - in commissioning artists to be a part of a research team. Arising through multiple conversations between researchers, artists and academics, the Guide aims to assist non-arts’ researchers incorporate arts based research and arts practice into multi and interdisciplinary research projects

Expert risk perceptions and the social amplification of risk: A case study in invasive tree pests and diseases

The Social Amplification of Risk Framework (SARF) is often used as a conceptual tool for studying diverse risk perceptions associated with environmental hazards. While widely applied, it has been criticised for implying that it is possible to define a benchmark ‘real’ risk that is determined by experts and around which public risk perceptions can subsequently become amplified. It has been argued that this objectification of risk is particularly problematic when there are high levels of scientific uncertainty and a lack of expert consensus about the nature of a risk and its impacts. In order to explore this further, this paper examines how ‘experts’ – defined in this case as scientists, policy makers, outbreak managers and key stakeholders – construct and assemble their understanding of the risks associated with two invasive tree pest and disease outbreaks in the UK, ash dieback and oak processionary moth. Through semi-structured interviews with experts in each of the case study outbreaks, the paper aims to better understand the nature of information sources drawn on to construct perceptions of tree health risks, especially when uncertainty is prevalent. A key conclusion is that risk assessment is a socially-mediated, relational and incremental process with experts drawing on a range of official, anecdotal and experiential sources of information, as well as reference to past events in order to assemble the risk case. Aligned with this, experts make attributions about public concern, especially when the evidence base is incomplete and there is a need to justify policy and management actions and safeguard reputation

“Real without being concrete”: the ontology of public concern and its significance for the Social Amplification of Risk Framework (SARF)

Public concern is a pivotal notion in the risk perception, communication and management literature. It is, for example, a central concept with regard to the social amplification of risk, and as a justification for policy attention. Despite its ubiquity, the notion of public concern remains a ‘black box’ presenting a poorly understood state of affairs as a reified matter-of-fact. Paying attention to the deployment and metrics of public concern, and the work it is required to do, will enhance the power of approaches to understanding risk, and policymaking. Thus, the broad purpose of this paper is to unpack the notion of public concern by adopting an ontological yet critical perspective; drawing on a range of literature, that considers ontology. We reflect on how publics and public concern have been conceptualised with regard to the dichotomies of individual/social and private/public, given that they imply different levels and dimensions of concern. We draw on empirical work that illuminates the assessment and measurement of public concern and how the public have responded to risk events. Considering public concern through an ontological lens affords a means of drawing renewed critical attention to objects that might otherwise appear finished or ready-made

Using Q Methodology to explore risk perception and public concern about tree pests and diseases: the case of ash dieback

This paper seeks to address the need for a more nuanced understanding of public perceptions of risk-related events by investigating the nature of and drivers for a ‘concerned public’ to an environmental issue, using the case study of the ash dieback outbreak in the UK. Q Methodology, an approach that combines both quantitative and qualitative data through factor analysis to identify different ways of thinking about a particular issue, was used to investigate the subjective response of local publics to ash dieback in East Kent, England, one of the early outbreak locations. Five narratives are identified distinguishing perceptions of risk and management preferences: (1) call for better biosecurity; (2) resilient nature and techno-scientific solutions; (3) fatalistic; (4) disinterested; and (5) pro-active citizens. Four narratives demonstrated concern about the impacts of ash dieback on woodland ecosystems, but beliefs about whether the disease arrived in the UK on infected imported nursery stock or on windblown spores varied. The results of this study contribute to improving understanding of the drivers of differing public perceptions of tree health risks, an important consideration for designing socially acceptable strategies for managing tree pests and diseases, and other environmental risks, in the future