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The Influence Of Framing In The National Debates On Sustainable Agriculture: A Comparison Between Switzerland And New Zealand. Philipp Aerni ETH Zurich, World Trade Institute University of Berne, Switzerland. IAREP/SABE conference at LUISS, Rome, 6. Sept. 2008.
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The Influence Of Framing In The National Debates On Sustainable Agriculture: A Comparison Between Switzerland And New Zealand Philipp Aerni ETH Zurich, World Trade Institute University of Berne, Switzerland IAREP/SABE conference at LUISS, Rome, 6. Sept. 2008
What is Sustainable Agriculture? • The limits of the legal definition of sustainable agriculture (based on a social planning model) • Most countries agree about the economic, social and environmental goals but disagree on how to achieve them • New Zealand tries to reconcile competitiveness and sustainability (facilitating sustainable change) • Switzerland tries to preserve sustainable agriculture in the face of a trend towards agricultural liberalisation (preventing unsustainable change) • Research Question: To what extent is the perception of sustainable agriculture in a country influenced by the domestic political interests that frame the public debate?
Basic motivation to conduct surveys on stakeholder attitudes toward sustainable agriculture • Public perception of sustainable agriculture shapes agricultural policy (taxpayers, consumers) • Stakeholders involved in the public debate on sustainable agriculture shape public perception A national strategy of sustainable agriculture is shaped by public concerns…which are framed by political interests …which tend to make effective use of affect heuristics in postmaterial society. Goal of the surveys: To identify the primary forces that shape the beliefs and policies of sustainable agriculture in countries with different positions in international agricultural trade (NZ/CH)
Surveys • Stakeholder survey in New Zealand from April to July 2006. 39 questionnaires completed (81% return rate) • Stakeholder survey in Switzerland from November 2006 to January 2007. 41 questionnaires completed (86% return rate) Semi-structured Questionnaire: - problems of sustainable agriculture/solutions - statements (mitigation/adaption-related) - policy network analysis Workshops: Feeback from participants
The assessed impact of five different practices on sustainable agriculture
Perception Pattern Analysis (Part 1, 2) • Formation of variables with a high degree of similarity (e.g. category of statements, category of problems) using Principal Component Analysis • Cluster Analysis (Ward Clustering Method) for each country • Biplot Analysis for CH, NZ (allows to identify each single stakeholder perception and his/her position within the respective cluster)
Conclusions • Two countries with a similar political committment to sustainable agriculture but different approaches how to achieve these goals • New Zealand believes that change is necessary to ensure sustainable agriculture (government as facilitator) • Switzerland believes its agriculture is already sustainable and that change might harm it (government as regulator) • Stakeholders in CH tend to cater to the nostalgic views cherished by a society that does not (want to) see agriculture as a business anymore • Stakeholders in NZ know that the environment as well as agriculture are strongly linked to the long time economic survival of the country. the instrumental use of affect heuristics in politics is less effective.