Local quality and certification schemes as new forms of governance in sustainability transitions - Transition Pathways towards Sustainability in Agriculture: Case Studies from Europe - page 160

ham, perennial plants). This in turn resulted in the establishment of a public-private
structure (Municipal Expert Commission) for the categorization of accommodation
facilities, communal labelling and direct marketing of organic honey, and support for the
process to protect and brand local ham. This scheme is embedded in a new governance
structure; the development of a close partnership between the actors involved, and a public
forum to develop the strategies for local tourism and municipal development through the
Local Action Group in a LEADER-style approach (LEADER is a bottom-up approach to
rural development in Europe, see European Commission, 2000). The scheme is expanding
the involvement of consumers in the validation of new products and services. The actors
anticipate that it will help to popularize local amenities and promote the municipality as a
rural tourism location. The initiative cannot be said to have already completed its goal
because the tangible evidence of success is still fairly limited: the long term commitment of
all actors is still unclear; communication between them is sometimes insufficient and
unprofessional; and the initiative is not yet attracting the desired numbers of actors and
tourists. National regulations related to direct sales from farms also block some of the
strategies. Therefore, participants have expressed hope that the local certification scheme, if
well developed and supported will be more successful in helping them to achieve their
goals.
The Czech niche (established in the early 1990s), situated in the region of the White
Carpathians Mountains (south-east border of the Czech Republic), also aims to capitalize
on the region's specific natural and cultural heritage to support local sustainable
development. The initiative introduced a regional label in late 1990s which certifies high
quality products that uniquely represent local traditions. The label was introduced about 10
years before similar activities were developed at the national level. The first steps of the
initiative can be traced back to the early 1990s when older owners of fruit orchards met
younger members of a local environmental protection organization. Together, they
recognized that existing farming and forestry practices, supported by centralized and
productivist governance structures, were leading to the ongoing loss of old fruit trees,
which had traditionally characterized the local landscape. They decided to map out those
'heritage' varieties and protect them for the future. In the mid-1990s, organic farmers
joined the initiative. This cooperation worked on an informal basis until the late 1990s
when the participants established a formal NGO - the civic association 'Tradice Bílých
Karpat' (Tradition of White Carpathians) - which enabled more intensive participation by
activists from the city of Brno, whose focus was the theory and practice of sustainability.
There were two main reasons for the shift into formal cooperation. One was linked to
strategic vision: to go beyond mapping the old trees and to use the heritage of the region for
tangible evidence of development (such as through processing apples into cider, or drying
fruits using heritage technologies). The second reason was pragmatic: to achieve the first
goal they needed to apply for a grant from Luxembourg which was only accessible to legal
entities. The change into a legal entity also resulted in the formation of a local certification
scheme and regional label, which is awarded to selected local products from the region. The
money generated through activities and the certification scheme (for example through the
sale of organic apple cider) is intended to support new projects (such as micro-financing)
which will increase the sustainability of the region and will also generate funds for similar
activities. At the time of the study in 2012, the label listed about 20 such producers and
their products ranged from apple cider to honey, decorated gingerbread, lamb, liquors,
ceramics and lace. However, although the work of the initiative has gained a considerable