Conceptual insights derived from case studies on ‘emerging transitions’ in farming - Transition Pathways towards Sustainability in Agriculture: Case Studies from Europe - page 195

farming there is always the issue of land, which is a stable factor but which by its territorial
expression, is dependent on a multiple set of regimes such as agriculture, natural resources
management and real-estate. If the topic of analysis reveals the involvement of several
regimes, including them will allow identification of tensions both within each regime and
between regimes. It also highlights that a niche may build ties with one regime and use
these ties to reinforce the pressure on another regime (Diaz et al. , 2013).
Including several regimes was useful in a number of case studies, thus highlighting the
role of multi-regime interaction. The clear distinction between regimes was often difficult,
not least due to actors linked to multiple regimes and the difficulty in defining the
boundaries of a specific regime. One of the central issues is access to land and control over
its management: land is a basic requirement for agricultural activities but at the same time,
it is also used as property, or for recreation and nature conservation. The related regimes
are, thus, necessarily intertwined in any process related with land. For example, the
mainstreaming of renewable energy production on farms (Sutherland et al. b, this volume)
was primarily the result of subsidies introduced through the energy regime, which aimed to
promote energy production from renewable resources. Given that much rural land is owned
by farmers, these areas provided sites for wind turbines, or to establish biogas plants and
provide the necessary feedstock. This resulted in a novel interaction between the energy
and agricultural regimes. Similarly, the cases related to countryside consumption (Pinto-
Correia et al. a, this volume) show that shifts in the housing regime, and broader social
trends regarding quality of life, can push an increasing number of home owners to purchase
(small) farms and become 'lifestyle' or 'hobby farmers'; thus, competing for land with
'active' or 'commercial' farmers. Another important interaction is with the environmental
protection regime: the Nitrate Directive, the need to increase biodiversity or protect
sensitive ecosystems, creates pressures on the agricultural regime (Diaz et al. , 2013). The
tension between the two regimes creates opportunities for many niches within which
alternative - environmentally friendly - practices are promoted, both at farm level and
along the food chain.
The central role of multi-regime interactions in the niches studied within the FarmPath
project are linked to the multifunctionality of agriculture, and so may be expected to
become a distinguishing feature of transitions in farming. This is especially the case if a
territorial approach is selected (that is one that looks at the different activities and roles of a
farm in its natural and social context), rather than taking a sectoral approach where the farm
is seen primarily as an element along the food chain. As a result, a farmer may be engaged
in food production, energy production, amenity production and environmental protection.
Farmers could, thus, be considered as actors engaged in multiple regimes, making the farm
a locus of tension between different demands linked to different regimes. Simultaneously,
these links with different regimes offer various options on how, and how much, individual
farmers engage with each regime, again reinforcing the diversity of farming and of the
niches linked to farming.
Niche-regime interactions
The fact that within farming several regimes are likely to be involved in an emerging
transition highlights new mechanisms for niches to influence a regime. Indeed, a niche may
be able to build links with one regime, not least because their values and aims are