Sustainable Value Analysis of Policy and Performance in the Agricultural Sector

In the EU-funded research project SVAPPAS (Sustainable Value Analysis of Policy and Performance in the Agricultural Sector), the sustainable value approach was applied for the first time on a broad scale for sustainability assessment in agriculture in Europe. In the joint project coordinated by the University of Ghent in Belgium, the IZT took on the role of methodological expert together with the SDRC from Scotland. The nine partners from seven different European countries wanted to further develop the sustainable value approach for application in the agricultural sector and then carry out sustainability analyses at different levels (farm level, regional, sectoral and national level as well as policy analysis).

The SVAPPAS project was divided into three parts. The first part of the project focussed on the methodological development of the sustainable value approach for use in sustainability analyses in agriculture. The approach was adapted to the specifics of the agricultural sector and integrated with other approaches. This further developed approach was then empirically applied at different levels of analysis in the second part of the project. Sustainability analyses were carried out at individual farm level, at sectoral and regional level and with regard to political control instruments. The third part of the project focussed on the transfer of the results and the method.

The three-year project was funded by the European Commission as part of the Sixth Research Framework Programme.