Sustainable land use from a farmers' perspective; report on the contribution by the Sociological Team (NL2) to an international research project 'Regional guidelines to support sustainable land use (regulation 2078/92)' focussing on Waterland, a peat meadow district North of Amsterdam, as an exemplary case for 'Wider farm development'

This is a report about a Peat Meadow District called Waterland, as an exemplary case of Wider Farm Development. The case study is about farmers who develop New Countryside Activities, and how this is influenced by their basic occupational attitudes and by emerging local institutions for exchange between farmers reproducing Rural Amenities (Nature, Landscape) and non-farmers who enjoy these Amenities. It is analysed how Wider Farm Development can reconcile economic and environmental interests in a region that is economically and environmentally vulnerable. As a second function of Wider Farm Development (WFD) it is analysed how WFD can reinforce linkages between Rural Systems and nearby Urban Systems. As a part of an international and interdisciplinary research supporting European Agri-Environmental Programmes Regulation 2078/92, the study focuses on socio-cultural and endogenous growth factors in the development of friendly farming practices