IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v11y2022i7p1046-d859606.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Territory Matters: A Methodology for Understanding the Role of Territorial Factors in Transforming Local Food Systems

Author

Listed:
  • Francesca Benedetta Felici

    (Department of Biosciences and Territory, University of Molise, 86100 Campobasso, Italy)

  • Giampiero Mazzocchi

    (Department of Agricultural Policies and Bio-Economics, Council for Agricultural Research and the Analysis of Agricultural Economics, 00187 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

The unsustainability of the globalized food system is a relevant debate. Despite the vast amount of literature on sustainable food systems, there is little research explaining how food system innovations can scale impact and influence systemic change. Moreover, not much literature considers the territorial context in which innovations take place, as a key factor in fostering transition. In this paper, we attempt to understand how territorial factors, such as actors and networks, influence sustainable food system transition. To achieve this goal, we built and applied an original methodology that was able to map the specific territorial context and dynamics. Considering a case study of 12 urban food system innovations in Montpellier (France), we reconstructed the relational context, in order to demonstrate the key role of embedded territorial dynamics in fostering sustainable transition. The application of our methodology produced about seven territorial conditions, which are defined by the differences between innovations, power relations and dynamics, the role of politics and the so-called “spaces of governance”. Each of these conditions plays a critical role in the transition to a sustainable food system.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesca Benedetta Felici & Giampiero Mazzocchi, 2022. "Territory Matters: A Methodology for Understanding the Role of Territorial Factors in Transforming Local Food Systems," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-17, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:7:p:1046-:d:859606
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/7/1046/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/7/1046/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Smith, Adrian & Raven, Rob, 2012. "What is protective space? Reconsidering niches in transitions to sustainability," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1025-1036.
    2. Rositsa T. Ilieva & Andreas Hernandez, 2018. "Scaling-Up Sustainable Development Initiatives: A Comparative Case Study of Agri-Food System Innovations in Brazil, New York, and Senegal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-17, November.
    3. Claire Lamine & Danièle Magda & Marie-Josèphe Amiot, 2019. "Crossing Sociological, Ecological, and Nutritional Perspectives on Agrifood Systems Transitions: Towards a Transdisciplinary Territorial Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-18, March.
    4. Geels, Frank W., 2002. "Technological transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processes: a multi-level perspective and a case-study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8-9), pages 1257-1274, December.
    5. Dominique Paturel & Patrice Ndiaye, 2020. "Le droit à l'alimentation durable en démocratie," Post-Print hal-03058526, HAL.
    6. Stephen P. Borgatti & Daniel S. Halgin, 2011. "On Network Theory," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1168-1181, October.
    7. Nadine Richez-Battesti & Francesca Petrella & Delphine Vallade, 2012. "L'innovation sociale, une notion aux usages pluriels : Quels enjeux et défis pour l'analyse ?," Innovations, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(2), pages 15-36.
    8. Walther, Olivier J. & Tenikue, Michel & Trémolières, Marie, 2019. "Economic performance, gender and social networks in West African food systems," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 1-1.
    9. Hannah Pitt & Mat Jones, 2016. "Scaling up and out as a Pathway for Food System Transitions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-16, October.
    10. Kameshwari Pothukuchi & Jerome Kaufman, 1999. "Placing the food system on the urban agenda: The role of municipal institutions in food systems planning," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 16(2), pages 213-224, June.
    11. Hamid El Bilali, 2019. "The Multi-Level Perspective in Research on Sustainability Transitions in Agriculture and Food Systems: A Systematic Review," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-24, April.
    12. Ranjay Gulati & Phanish Puranam & Michael Tushman, 2012. "Meta‐organization design: Rethinking design in interorganizational and community contexts," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(6), pages 571-586, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Camille Robert-Boeuf, 2023. "Promoting Rural Regeneration and Sustainable Farming near Cities Thanks to Facilitating Operators in France? The Case of the Versailles Plain’s Association Governance Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-16, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jennifer E. Gaddis & June Jeon, 2020. "Sustainability transitions in agri-food systems: insights from South Korea’s universal free, eco-friendly school lunch program," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(4), pages 1055-1071, December.
    2. Fabíola Sostmeyer Polita & Lívia Madureira, 2021. "Transition Pathways of Agroecological Innovation in Portugal’s Douro Wine Region. A Multi-Level Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-20, March.
    3. Nafiisa Sobratee & Rashieda Davids & Chuma B. Chinzila & Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi & Pauline Scheelbeek & Albert T. Modi & Alan D. Dangour & Rob Slotow, 2022. "Visioning a Food System for an Equitable Transition towards Sustainable Diets—A South African Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-23, March.
    4. Hamid El Bilali, 2019. "The Multi-Level Perspective in Research on Sustainability Transitions in Agriculture and Food Systems: A Systematic Review," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-24, April.
    5. Cees Leeuwis & Birgit K. Boogaard & Kwesi Atta-Krah, 2021. "How food systems change (or not): governance implications for system transformation processes," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(4), pages 761-780, August.
    6. Christina Gugerell & Marianne Penker, 2020. "Change Agents’ Perspectives on Spatial–Relational Proximities and Urban Food Niches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-18, March.
    7. Sobratee, N. & Davids, R. & Chinzila, C. B. & Mabhaudhi, Tafadzwanashe & Scheelbeek, P. & Modi, A. T. & Dangour, A. D. & Slotow, R., 2022. "Visioning a food system for an equitable transition towards sustainable diets—a South African perspective," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 1-14(6):328.
    8. Goulet, Frédéric, 2021. "Characterizing alignments in socio-technical transitions. Lessons from agricultural bio-inputs in Brazil," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    9. Aditi Khodke & Atsushi Watabe & Nigel Mehdi, 2021. "Implementation of Accelerated Policy-Driven Sustainability Transitions: Case of Bharat Stage 4 to 6 Leapfrogs in India," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-25, April.
    10. Filippo Celata & Venere Stefania sanna, "undated". "Community activism and sustainability: a multi-dimensional assessment," Working Papers 137/14, Sapienza University of Rome, Metodi e Modelli per l'Economia, il Territorio e la Finanza MEMOTEF.
    11. Cheng Wang & Tao Lv & Rongjiang Cai & Jianfeng Xu & Liya Wang, 2022. "Bibliometric Analysis of Multi-Level Perspective on Sustainability Transition Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-31, March.
    12. Eleftheria Vasileiadou & Boukje Huijben & Rob Raven, 2014. "Crowdfunding niches? Exploring the potential of crowdfunding for financing renewable energy niches in the Netherlands," Working Papers 14-11, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies, revised Nov 2014.
    13. David Gibbs & Kirstie O'Neill, 2014. "Rethinking Sociotechnical Transitions and Green Entrepreneurship: The Potential for Transformative Change in the Green Building Sector," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(5), pages 1088-1107, May.
    14. Brem, Alexander & Radziwon, Agnieszka, 2017. "Efficient Triple Helix collaboration fostering local niche innovation projects – A case from Denmark," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 130-141.
    15. Vincent-Paul Sanon & Raymond Ouedraogo & Patrice Toé & Hamid El Bilali & Erwin Lautsch & Stefan Vogel & Andreas H. Melcher, 2021. "Socio-Economic Perspectives of Transition in Inland Fisheries and Fish Farming in a Least Developed Country," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-34, March.
    16. Rachel Greer & Timo Wirth & Derk Loorbach, 2023. "The Circular Decision-Making Tree: an Operational Framework," Circular Economy and Sustainability,, Springer.
    17. André Sorensen & Anna-Katharina Brenner, 2021. "Cities, Urban Property Systems, and Sustainability Transitions: Contested Processes of Institutional Change and the Regulation of Urban Property Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-19, July.
    18. Jain, Sanjay, 2020. "Fumbling to the future? Socio-technical regime change in the recorded music industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    19. Mock, Mirijam & Omann, Ines & Polzin, Christine & Spekkink, Wouter & Schuler, Julia & Pandur, Vlad & Brizi, Ambra & Panno, Angelo, 2019. "“Something inside me has been set in motion”: Exploring the psychological wellbeing of people engaged in sustainability initiatives," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 1-11.
    20. Hellsmark, Hans & Frishammar, Johan & Söderholm, Patrik & Ylinenpää, Håkan, 2016. "The role of pilot and demonstration plants in technology development and innovation policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(9), pages 1743-1761.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:7:p:1046-:d:859606. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.