Full case study report: Biovallée - France

The Drôme valley is the most developed area in France with respect to organic agriculture. In this small region (2200 km², 54000 inhabitants), organic production represents 30% of agricultural land, high above the national average of 3%. A public project was launched in 2009 by the 102 municipalities of the valley: the Biovallée project (www.biovallee.fr). The Biovallée project aims at making the Drôme valley a pilot territory in terms of sustainable development. Therefore it includes operational objectives for 2020 in a diversity of sectors, among which energy (coverage of 100% of household consumption with renewable energies), waste (a 50% reduction), land use (no more destruction of arable land), housing (building 5 eco-neighbourhoods), education and training (developing high-level training programs on sustainable development). Agriculture is one of the three main components of this program, along with energy and training. In this sector, the aim is to reach 50% of farmers and farming surfaces, 80% of public food procurement in organic, and 50% of pesticide use. Despite the Biovallée project is not only focussed on organic food chains, it provides a large panel of production and marketing actors, who try to add value dimensions to the organic products, with financial support as well as with coordination. Biovallée is one of the three territorial case studies of HealthyGrowth, along with the Biodistretto Cilento (It) and the Bioregion Mühlviertel (Au). Territorial case studies are not focused on a single chain but on a whole territorial agrifood system (Lamine et al., 2012). This allows to analyse more deeply the modes of coordination between various actors and institutions (public and private), the management and governance models and the ways these contribute to maintain the ’added value’. As they differ from the value-chain focus of the other case studies of the HealthyGrowth project, some other dimensions are irrelevant in our case and will not be explored in detail

HealthyGrowth - France - Biovallée case study Fact sheet

This document is a 2 pages synthesis of the overall report of the Healthygrowth project Biovallée’s case study - France (https://orgprints.org/29254/

Organisation de la journée d'études sur les dynamiques territoriales de transition vers l'AB et l'écologisation des systèmes agri-alimentaires, sur le thème des biorégions, à Eurre (Biovallée)

This seminar brought together French, Italian, Autrian researchers, European bioregions leaders and local actors from the Drome department to discuss about bioregions and territorial transition of agrifood systems. It took place in Eurre, in the Biovallée bioregion (Drôme, France)

Maintien des valeurs dans la croissance de la bio. Enseignements du projet HealthyGrowth

How do organic initiatives and food chains succeed in maintaining their foundational values along and despite their growth process? This question which appears central in the “conventionnalisation debate” has been tackled by the European project HealthyGrowth (2013-2016, Eranet Core Organic program). In this project, 11 teams from different countries developed and applied to 22 case studies, 5 different perspectives dealing with organization modes and governance, management strategies, communication of values, mediation of values, and resilience in a context of crises and changes. The cross analysis of these case studies, carried out through a multi-perspective approach, made it possible to identify 3 important aspects which allow maintaining values along the growth process: a continuous process of re-affirmation and sometimes redefinition of core values over time, a synchronization of time horizons that stabilizes the different actors’ expectations and commitments, and a process of professionalization which takes different forms and meanings

Territorial transitions dynamics towards organic farming Confrontation of Italian, Austrian and French case studies

This communication, based on Healthygrowth territorial case studies, offers investigates the transition mechanisms in the case of the Biovallée (Drôme Valley) case study and compares it to 2 other organic regions in Italy and Austria to draw out shared research questions

Prunus - Réalités et perspectives de l'écologisation en arboriculture fruitière: Pour une approche intégrée à partir des cas des vergers de pêchers et d'abricotiers en Rhône-Alpes 2013-2015

Le projet « PRUNUS- Réalités et perspectives de l’écologisation en arboriculture fruitière » a été financé par le programme Pesticides* du ministère de l’environnement sur la période 2013-2015 avec pour objectif d’identifier les effets de verrouillage et les leviers de transition vers une écologisation des pratiques agricoles (réduction des pesticides) dans les vergers de pêchers et d’abricotiers de la basse Vallée du Rhône

Pour une approche territoriale des transitions écologiques. Analyse de la transition vers l’agroécologie dans la Biovallée (1970-2015)

Agriculture’s transition towards agrocology requires a radical transformation of production practices based on ecological principles, but it also requires radical changes within transformation, distribution and consumption practices and within advisory systems, public policies and research. In other words, it requires a profound reconfiguration of the whole agrifood system. In the Drome Valley (France), the high proportion of actors who consider organic agriculture as central in their development strategy and their involvement within the “Biovallée” project, suggest that an agroecological transition is in process and that the territorial scale might facilitate it. This thesis analyses the agricultural dynamics at the scale of this territory since the 1970s, in order to understand the transition mechanisms and to conceptualize them. Based on a framework inspired from the sustainable transition theories and on an ethnographic and pragmatic approach, it shows that a reconfiguration of the whole local agrifood system is indeed in process, and that it results from the interactions between a dominant sociotechnical configuration and two alternative ones which local actors have set up over time around two alternative paradigms. We analyze how actors succeed in changing the balance of power within the local agri-food system and how the territorial scale offers them some levers which do not exist on a larger scale. In this case, certain traditional actors and a diversity of initiatives allowed actors to progressively set up new forms of coordination, that is social or organizational innovations (rather than technological ones). Therefore the main issue shifts from thinking transitions based on the development of atechnological innovation, towards creating conditions in order to favour the coexistence of a diversity of initiatives that develop social innovations and to favour their interactions with the dominant system.Les transitions agroécologiques impliquent une transformation radicale des modes de production, mais également des modes de transformation, de distribution et de consommation, du conseil agricole, des politiques publiques et de la recherche - en d’autres termes : une reconfiguration du système agri-alimentaire. Dans la vallée de la Drôme, la forte proportion d’acteurs plaçant l’agriculture biologique au coeur de leur stratégie de développement et leur collaboration dans le projet Biovallée semblent indiquer qu’une transition agroécologique est en cours et que l’échelle territoriale offre des leviers permettant de la déclencher. Cette thèse propose une analyse historique des dynamiques à l’oeuvre sur ce territoire, afin de contribuer à la compréhension des mécanismes de transition et à leur conceptualisation. En mobilisant la théorie des transitions sociotechniques et à travers une approche pragmatique et ethnographique, nous montrons qu’une reconfiguration du système agri-alimentaire territorial est en cours, et qu’elle résulte des interactions entre une configuration sociotechnique dominante et deux configurations alternatives qu’ont construites les acteurs au fil du temps, autour de deux paradigmes alternatifs à la modernisation agricole. Nous montrons comment, à travers ces interactions, les acteurs parviennent à modifier les rapports de force régissant le système agri-alimentaire, et que l’échelle territoriale leur offre des marges de manoeuvre inexistantes à une échelle plus large. Nous mettons en évidence le rôle essentiel d’une diversité d’initiatives, au sein desquelles les acteurs ont progressivement construit de nouvelles formes de coordination. Dès lors, la question est non plus de penser les transitions à partir du développement d’une innovation technique, mais de créer les conditions pour favoriser la coexistence d’une diversité d’initiatives, porteuses d’innovations sociales, et leurs interactions avec le système dominant

For a territorial approach of ecological transitions. Analysis of an on-going transition towards agroecology in Biovallée (1970-2015)

Les transitions agroécologiques impliquent une transformation radicale des modes de production, mais également des modes de transformation, de distribution et de consommation, du conseil agricole, des politiques publiques et de la recherche - en d’autres termes : une reconfiguration du système agri-alimentaire. Dans la vallée de la Drôme, la forte proportion d’acteurs plaçant l’agriculture biologique au coeur de leur stratégie de développement et leur collaboration dans le projet Biovallée semblent indiquer qu’une transition agroécologique est en cours et que l’échelle territoriale offre des leviers permettant de la déclencher. Cette thèse propose une analyse historique des dynamiques à l’oeuvre sur ce territoire, afin de contribuer à la compréhension des mécanismes de transition et à leur conceptualisation. En mobilisant la théorie des transitions sociotechniques et à travers une approche pragmatique et ethnographique, nous montrons qu’une reconfiguration du système agri-alimentaire territorial est en cours, et qu’elle résulte des interactions entre une configuration sociotechnique dominante et deux configurations alternatives qu’ont construites les acteurs au fil du temps, autour de deux paradigmes alternatifs à la modernisation agricole. Nous montrons comment, à travers ces interactions, les acteurs parviennent à modifier les rapports de force régissant le système agri-alimentaire, et que l’échelle territoriale leur offre des marges de manoeuvre inexistantes à une échelle plus large. Nous mettons en évidence le rôle essentiel d’une diversité d’initiatives, au sein desquelles les acteurs ont progressivement construit de nouvelles formes de coordination. Dès lors, la question est non plus de penser les transitions à partir du développement d’une innovation technique, mais de créer les conditions pour favoriser la coexistence d’une diversité d’initiatives, porteuses d’innovations sociales, et leurs interactions avec le système dominant.Agriculture’s transition towards agrocology requires a radical transformation of production practices based on ecological principles, but it also requires radical changes within transformation, distribution and consumption practices and within advisory systems, public policies and research. In other words, it requires a profound reconfiguration of the whole agrifood system. In the Drome Valley (France), the high proportion of actors who consider organic agriculture as central in their development strategy and their involvement within the “Biovallée” project, suggest that an agroecological transition is in process and that the territorial scale might facilitate it. This thesis analyses the agricultural dynamics at the scale of this territory since the 1970s, in order to understand the transition mechanisms and to conceptualize them. Based on a framework inspired from the sustainable transition theories and on an ethnographic and pragmatic approach, it shows that a reconfiguration of the whole local agrifood system is indeed in process, and that it results from the interactions between a dominant sociotechnical configuration and two alternative ones which local actors have set up over time around two alternative paradigms. We analyze how actors succeed in changing the balance of power within the local agri-food system and how the territorial scale offers them some levers which do not exist on a larger scale. In this case, certain traditional actors and a diversity of initiatives allowed actors to progressively set up new forms of coordination, that is social or organizational innovations (rather than technological ones). Therefore the main issue shifts from thinking transitions based on the development of atechnological innovation, towards creating conditions in order to favour the coexistence of a diversity of initiatives that develop social innovations and to favour their interactions with the dominant system

Enacting Transitions—The Combined Effect of Multiple Niches in Whole System Reconfiguration

The environmental and social issues caused by agricultural and food distribution practices call for a profound reconfiguration of the agri-food system. This paper is aimed at contributing to a better understanding of the way such a reconfiguration may be fostered. Building on recent developments of transition studies that analyze whole system reconfigurations, it proposes a pragmatist, whole system approach to examine the socio-political dimension of sustainability transitions. Based on the ethnographic and longitudinal study of a unique case of (territorial) agroecological transition in France, it identifies the mechanisms involved in a transition and the way actors enacted them. It characterizes required prior, incremental system changes, and stresses the role of multiple niches that influence simultaneously the various components of the agri-food system. From an action-oriented perspective, these results suggest that transitions may be fostered by: (1) supporting the diffusion of an alternative technological paradigm within the regime that niches may be congruent with; (2) stimulating the development of a diversity of radical innovations related to the various dimensions of the agri-food system and fostering their interactions with the regime; and (3) moving from a technology-driven approach of innovation towards an emphasis on organizational innovations that foster the rebalancing of power relations

Healthy Growth : Biovallée Case Study Report

Biovallée is one of the three territorial case studies of HealthyGrowth, along with the Biodistretto Cilento (It) and the Bioregion Mühlviertel (Au). Territorial case studies are not focused on a single chain but on a whole territorial agrifood system. This allows to analyse more deeply the modes of coordination between various actors and institutions (public and private), the management and governance models and the ways these contribute to maintain the ’added value’. As they differ from the value-chain focus of the other case studies of the HealthyGrowth project, territorial case studies imply some changes and adaptations in the template, some dimensions being irrelevant in our case