Alliances for sustainable farmland management : a case study of the farmland preservation movement and a CSA Initiative in Norway

The global community fails to manage farmland the way it demands for and consequently faces major challenges loss of farmland as a result of urban expansion. This is also the case in Norway. While the topic of farmland preservation has received attention in the political debate, several politicians and multiple grassroots organizations are dissatisfied with the current state of farmland preservation. Politicians in opposition to the government are accompanied by farmer unions, environmental organizations, and farmland preservation alliances in the demand for better farmland preservation. In parallel to this, there is a growing trend of alternative food networks throughout Norway. This study investigates four organizations, three political associations active in the farmland preservation movement, and a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiative, with the aim to generate more knowledge about how grassroots actors can function as knowledge bearers and agents of change in the political sphere affecting farmland preservation and farmland management. The main research question is: How can farmland preservation movements and alternative food networks contribute to build alliances between actors involved in farmland management? The results provide contextual knowledge about the situation of farmland preservation and management in a municipality in the central part of Eastern Norway. Through the perspectives of four actors who engage in preserving farmland in the case area, this study presents valuable information about how grassroots actors can function as knowledge bearers and agents of change in the political sphere affecting farmland preservation and farmland management.M-A