High nature value farming: environmental practices for rural sustainability - Transition Pathways towards Sustainability in Agriculture: Case Studies from Europe - page 106

practices. In the latter case the involvement of strong personalities was essential for
activities such as cooperation or exchange of information. Collaboration and interaction
also resulted in devolving decision-making processes to the local level (France); meetings,
exchange visits, training and cooperation under the guidance of an environmental NGO
(Bulgaria); and multi-level communication and power imbalances between institutions
(Portugal).
Institutional anchoring - new rules, values and beliefs
Institutions as 'rules of the game' structure human interaction and activity (North, 2005).
Transitions to sustainability in agriculture may not be primarily technology-driven but are
likely to involve elements such as social innovation and require changes in beliefs and
values by all societal actors (Darnhofer, this volume). The innovations related to changes in
institutions concern changes in actors' values, beliefs and interpretation of rules (Smith,
2007), and changes in normative institutions' (regulations, policies) formal and informal
rules. Common features in social innovation across the three cases include raised awareness
and new understanding between farmers, locals, NGOs and representatives of the regime
regarding the value of nature conservation. These values subsequently led to the
development of new environmental attitudes and behaviour.
Empirical evidence from the research shows that increased awareness and new values
emerged from the bottom up in the French case, where new entrants encouraged others
wishing to enter farming by re-working abandoned land. This was also the case in Portugal
where producers became aware of the value of traditional products and of the benefits of
protected areas. Conversely, in the Bulgarian case new values came from the top down
through the process of collaboration with BSPB; farmers adopted attitudes which valued
indigenous biodiversity. New knowledge and skills about HNVF practices increased the
awareness and responsibility of farmers involved in the initiative.
In respect of the changes in normative institutions (policies and governance), in all
three cases changes in agri-environmental policy at the national level (through different
programmes and measures) directly affected the development of initiatives. For example, in
the Bulgarian case, the implementation of agri-environmental measures at regional or local
levels may have been influenced by changes in institutional arrangements, depending on the
specific characteristics of the protected areas, and such changes may have modified the
concept of these measures.
In the anchoring process between the niche and regime, 'hybrid actors' can appear who
are engaged at both regime and niche levels. Hybrid actors were identified only in the
French case study and included the association, technical networks and the Chamber of
Agriculture. As in the French case, hybrid centres can bring together local representatives,
civil society actors and farmers.
Learning, knowledge, skills and capacity building
In the MLP, learning should focus on how networks are built and maintained, and on the
complex interactions between technical and institutional aspects linked to innovation
(Darnhofer, this volume). Learning and improved skills and knowledge are notable
outcomes from the case study initiatives. Training was the most popular form of learning
found in the three cases. In France, training in landscape management brought together