The role of territorial conditions in influencing the sustainability of farming systems and strategies across Europe: a comparative analysis

Innovativeness of farming strategies can enhance the sustainability of European farming systems. However, this is constrained by the many requirements faced by producers to secure their financial sustainability in the shorter-term. In such context, territorial conditions, materializing mainly at the local to regional levels, influence the efficiency of such strategies. This paper examines the diversity of situations across Europe. Our conceptual framework draws from the concepts of space, place and landscape. Space is a dimension of farming that is reflective of its scale, extension and location. The concept of place allows considering social attachment to the land, whilst landscape relates to the connections between nature, culture and economics that shape rural territories. In this paper, we address six regional case studies comprising various agricultural commodities. For each of these, we evaluate the influence of place, space and landscape in driving the sustainability of different farming systems and strategies. To bring up the territorial and governance dimensions of sustainability, our approach to also considered communities and institutions. Case study data and information were co-constructed in close collaboration with multiple stakeholders, using a mixed range of quantitative and qualitative methods of social enquiry. Our findings indicate how the territorial conditions that are contingent to European regions and localities directly impact on the sustainability of farming strategies and systems, with space, place and landscape each playing a key role this process