Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
successful, and an important first step into a new way of thinking and
engaging in community-based pollution-prevention initiatives. USEPA
staff perceive the agroecological partnership approach has many limita-
tions, but all the other “tools in their toolbox” are even less effective.
Both regulators and growers observed that the “listening tour” may have
been the most significant strategy because it laid the foundation for
collaboration. To replicate some of the success of CPAI will require com-
mitted staff members, growers, and community members dedicated to
local leadership, and adequate long-term funding.
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Conclusion
Partnerships emerge to address unmet needs and to progress toward
goals that cannot be achieved by individuals. An agroecosystem is a
functional system of complimentary relations between living organisms
and their environment. Agroecological partnerships organize partici-
pants to create synergistic benefits from social learning interactions.
To progress toward partnership goals, actors develop new roles and rec-
ognize the potential benefits of shifting existing relationships.
Latour's circulatory system of science brings order to the many differ-
ent kinds of participants, and helps explain their institutional location
and motivations for making contributions. All four external loops repre-
sent major categories of partnership actors, and they circulate knowledge
to achieve their own needs, as well as contributing to the good of the col-
lective. Growers learn to perceive the benefits of bringing additional
perspectives on their farming system, and to incorporate new insights
into their farm management. Extensionists learn to recognize the bene-
fits of serving growers' needs as growers respond to social pressure for
improved stewardship. Even as science institutions evolve away from
meeting practical needs in agriculture, some researchers welcome the
opportunity to contribute their expertise for social benefit. Grower
organizations have developed new roles in representing their grower
clients as they respond to increased regulatory pressure. Public agencies
are learning the value of collaboration with agriculture, even as
staff members struggle with ambivalent feelings. The next chapter
describes the kind of knowledge these partnership participants generate
and circulate.
