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The structure of mental models of sustainable agriculture

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  • Michael A. Levy

    (University of California, Davis, Department of Environmental Science and Policy)

  • Mark N. Lubell

    (University of California, Davis, Department of Environmental Science and Policy)

  • Neil McRoberts

    (University of California, Davis, Plant Pathology)

Abstract

Progress towards sustainability is hampered by differing perceptions of how to advance goals in systems characterized by massive interdependency. Systems thinking has been advocated as a model for improving understanding and management of complex systems, but theory and methods to analyse systems thinking are not well developed. We propose and apply a new way of assessing systems thinking using social network tools to analyse mental models. We examine the cognitive maps of 148 thought leaders in sustainable agriculture in California and measure the extent to which each map captures six fundamental causal patterns. We find that the more complex forms of causal structure that are associated with systems thinking are relatively under-represented in the experts’ maps. Our findings have important implications for individual and collective decision making about sustainable agriculture and other science and policy debates involving complex systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael A. Levy & Mark N. Lubell & Neil McRoberts, 2018. "The structure of mental models of sustainable agriculture," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 1(8), pages 413-420, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:1:y:2018:i:8:d:10.1038_s41893-018-0116-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-018-0116-y
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Domenico Dentoni & Carlo Cucchi & Marija Roglić & Rob Lubberink & Rahmin Bender & Timothy Manyise, 2023. "Systems Thinking, Mapping and Change in Food and Agriculture," Post-Print hal-04002011, HAL.
    2. Sumaiya Haque & Hesam Mahmoudi & Navid Ghaffarzadegan & Konstantinos Triantis, 2023. "Mental models, cognitive maps, and the challenge of quantitative analysis of their network representations," System Dynamics Review, System Dynamics Society, vol. 39(2), pages 152-170, April.
    3. Evgenia Micha & Owen Fenton & Karen Daly & Gabriella Kakonyi & Golnaz Ezzati & Thomas Moloney & Steven Thornton, 2020. "The Complex Pathway towards Farm-Level Sustainable Intensification: An Exploratory Network Analysis of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and Perception," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, March.
    4. Crabolu, Gloria & Font, Xavier & Eker, Sibel, 2023. "Evaluating policy complexity with Causal Loop Diagrams," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    5. Micha, Evgenia & Fenton, Owen & Daly, Karen & Kakonyi, Gabriella & Ezzati, Golnaz & Moloney, Thomas & Thornton, Steven F, 2019. "Mapping the pathways towards farm-level sustainable intensification of agriculture: an exploratory network 3 analysis of stakeholders’ views," SocArXiv 2rqjd, Center for Open Science.
    6. Castilla-Rho, Juan & Kenny, Daniel, 2022. "What prevents the adoption of regenerative agriculture and what can we do about it? Lessons from a behaviorally-attuned Participatory Modelling exercise in Australia," OSF Preprints asxr2, Center for Open Science.
    7. Payam Aminpour & Heike Schwermer & Steven Gray, 2021. "Do social identity and cognitive diversity correlate in environmental stakeholders? A novel approach to measuring cognitive distance within and between groups," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(11), pages 1-18, November.
    8. Jessica Rudnick & Mark Lubell & Sat Darshan S. Khalsa & Stephanie Tatge & Liza Wood & Molly Sears & Patrick H. Brown, 2021. "A farm systems approach to the adoption of sustainable nitrogen management practices in California," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(3), pages 783-801, September.
    9. Michael Carolan, 2022. "Presences and absences in food systems depictions: a systematic visual content analysis," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(5), pages 1347-1358, October.
    10. Lalani, Baqir & Aminpour, Payam & Gray, Steven & Williams, Meredith & Büchi, Lucie & Haggar, Jeremy & Grabowski, Philip & Dambiro, José, 2021. "Mapping farmer perceptions, Conservation Agriculture practices and on-farm measurements: The role of systems thinking in the process of adoption," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    11. Church, Sarah P. & Lu, Junyu & Ranjan, Pranay & Reimer, Adam P. & Prokopy, Linda S., 2020. "The role of systems thinking in cover crop adoption: Implications for conservation communication," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).

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