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A satellite session to IFSA Clermont Fd 2008 Symposium 

Education in Landscape and Territory Agronomy

Towards a Landscape and Territory Agronomy

Since about thirty years, agronomy widens its field of research to interactions between agricultural activities and landscapes and territory, and integrates the other rural activities (ENSSA-INRA[1], Prévost[2], Deffontaines[3]). It analyzes the way the farmers, by their practices and their technical systems of production, transform the landscape and adapt their management of the processes taking place on the territory. Thus, landscape and territory agronomy can be defined as the study of farming practices and technical systems which mobilize territorial ressources and organize territories supporting multiple stakes, by analyzing the two-way relationship between practices and landscapes (practices building landscape and practices determined by landscape) in its three facets: opportunities, modes and efficacies of these practices. In this context, we propose to consider the landscape/territory like an object of perpetual movement, built by the actors. Within the landscape and territory, the role of agronomists is to try to describe and formalize the laws and rules of these dynamics, in a management perspective.

This new prospective in agronomy asks from agronomists (i.e. who are interested in the production practices of goods, services, values) to approach in an original way landscape planning and management, both in their material and conceptual dimensions. Which are the contributions of farmers' through their practices, interacting with other actors, have an effect on the territory and support the transformations and dynamics of landscapes? In which way, by those practices, do they answer to environmental demands concerning these territories? Otherwise, how does landscape influence current farming practices and leave room for manoeuvre under various scenarios?

From these questions, landscape and territory agronomy clearly appears as a participatory action science where one does not only try to understand the processes (to produce scientific knowledge) but aims also to provide indications for action (development projects at the territory level) based on this knowledge and on interactions with the local actors, in a management perspective.

Education experiences in  landscape and territory agronomy

In this context, there is a need for a comparative analysis among several countries regarding education experiences dealing with questions on changes in agriculture, related to landscape and territory dynamics and environmental demands that could make it possible to specify more in depth the interests, difficulties and the limits of this approach. Such a European comparison may be a first step towards the construction of an evaluation framework of existing educational programs, it may initiate new ideas and may even stimulate the creation of working groups on education in this domain. 

Session organisation

The session will be organised in three steps of exchanges and discussions.

The first part will consist in two key-note opinion presentations on what they consider learning needs in landscape and territory agronomy, illustrating the possible links among the various scientific disciplines and approaches (e.g. technical sciences such as agronomy and livestock sciences, geographical sciences, ecology and life sciences, social and economical sciences, land/landscape planning, landscape architecture, …) interrelated with landscape and territory agronomy.

The second part of the session  will carry on with short presentations of education experiences from various countries.
In the presentations the focus will be on the following points:

Which are the target objects in these educational programmes? (e.g. farming system, land use system, natural resources, landscape, territory)

Which are the target activities in these educational programmes? (e.g. planning support systems, management support systems)

Which are the research disciplines and approaches involved in these educational programmes  (e.g. technical sciences such as agronomy and livestock sciences, geographical sciences, ecology and life sciences, social and economical sciences, land/landscape planning, landscape architecture)

What elements contribute to combine the different disciplines and approaches in the educational programme?

What elements contribute to the successes or difficulties of such educational programmes?

How to mobilize stakeholders in the building of such educational programs (e.g., to identify their needs for  both current and innovative knowledge)?

Which jobs openings for post-graduate students?

The third part will offer room for debate on the concepts emerging from these experiences and this may contribute to the maturation of ideas regarding aspects to be developed for our education programmes in landscape and territory agronomy. If there is willingness this may result in the establishment of a European education network in landscape and territory agronomy.

Organisers

This session is proposed by the organizers of the 1st Winter School in Landscape Agronomy, which was held from the 6 to February 9, 2007 in Scuola Superiore Santa' Anna di Pisa (http://www.land-lab.org/html/archivio/070205-09_Landscape-Agronomy_program.doc), for students of Italian's (coming from SSSA) and French's (coming from Abies doctoral School) MSc and PhD.

Italian's team:

Paolo Bàrberi, Land Lab Pisa (Italy)

Enrico Bonari, Land Lab Pisa (Italy)

Gisella Cortesi, DSUA Pisa (Italy)

Mariassunta Galli, Land Lab Pisa (Italy)

Camilla Moonen, Land Lab Pisa (Italy)

Nicola Silvestri, DAGA Pisa (Italy)

French's team:

Marc Benoît (INRA-SAD Mirecourt)

Patrick Caron (Cirad, Montpellier)

Sylvie Lardon (INRA/ENGREF, UMR Métafort Clermont-Ferrand,)

Hélène Rapey (Cemagref, UMR Métafort Clermont-Ferrand,)

Claudine Thenail (INRA-SAD Rennes)

Contact 

Camilla Moonen, Land Lab Pisa, Italy (moonen@sssup.it)

Sylvie Lardon, UMR Métafort, France (lardon@engref.fr )

  To download the abstract submission form, please click here

Education in Landscapes and Territories Agronomy

Call  for papers
The satellite session of the IFSA 2008 Symposium « What kind of scientific education in Landscapes/Territories Agronomy? » will be held on Thursday morning 10th of July. It will be a place for exchanging experiences about the scientific education courses in Europe that aim at combining farming practices and farming system approaches with landscapes and territories management and planning approaches.

The purpose of such courses would be to educate agronomist researchers and engineers able to account for agriculture into the sustainable development of local and regional territories.
The objectives of the session are
1) to collect results and needs of European education courses that aim at combining these approaches,
2) to identify innovative aspects in specific agronomic education that favour these linkages (e.g., education about: spatially explicit models of farming systems, mobilization of landscape resources in territories, farmers’ technical coordination for territorial projects), and which might be designated as an education in “landscapes/territories agronomy”. 

Important questions to be faced when preparing educational programmes regarding these topics are :

Which are the target objects in these educational programmes? (e.g. farming system, land use system, natural resources, landscape, territory)

Which are the target activities in these educational programmes? (e.g. planning support systems, management support systems)

Which are the research disciplines and approaches involved in these educational programmes? (e.g. technical sciences such as agronomy and livestock sciences, geographical sciences, ecology and life sciences, social and economical sciences, land/landscape planning, landscape architecture)

What elements contribute to combine the different disciplines and approaches in the educational programme?

What elements contribute to the successes or difficulties of such educational programmes?

How to mobilize stakeholders in the building of such educational programs? (e.g., to identify their needs for  both current and innovative knowledge)?

Which are the jobs openings for post-graduate students ?

This open list may be a first step towards the construction of an evaluation framework of existing educational programs, it may initiate new ideas and may even stimulate the creation of working groups on education in this domain.

The organizers of the satellite session invite researchers and educationists to propose communications about their experiences, requests, expectations, ideas for educational programmes in such domains and in particular the domain of landscapes/territories agronomy.

The extended abstracts will be available on the Symposium CdRom.

Submission of contributions deadlines

Submission of the abstract (1 page, in English) : 15 October 2007

Notification of acceptance : 10 november 2007

Submission of the paper (4 to 6 pages, Arial 10, in English) : 20 December 2007

Final version: 3 March 2008

To download  the abstract submission form, click here

Co-organisation :  Sylvie Lardon (UMR Métafort, France) & Camilla Moonen (Land Lab Pisa, Italy)