From Productivism to Multifunctionality? Agri-environmental Governance in Australia and the United Kingdom
This project is concerned with the policy debate surrounding the governance of farming and natural resource management. Australia is grappling with the problem of how to combine a liberalised economy with the need to move towards more sustainable land management and viable rural communities. The project will explore the extent to which agricultural governance in Australia is shifting from a 'productivist' regime (with intensive, specialised agriculture) to a new kind of 'post-productivism' (involving, for example, less intensive, niche production and multifunctional land management), and how Australian farmers are reacting to such policies. The research will contribute to an understanding of the concept of 'multi-functionality', which has policy implications for agriculture, trade and international relations. The project will thus provide policy-relevant, as well as theoretical insights into the nature and trajectory of Australian agricultural, environmental and trade policy.
The project has been funded for three years by the Australian Research Council under the Discovery grants program. It will commence in early 2005.
Chief
Investigator: Professor Chris Cocklin, School of Geography
and Environmental Science, Monash University
Partner
Investigator: Professor Geoff Wilson, School of Geography,
University of Plymouth, UK
.
Research Fellow: Dr Jacqui
Dibden, Monash Regional Australia Project, Monash University
For further information, contact: Dr Jacqui Dibden Phone:(03) 9905 2162 Fax: (03) 9905 2948 Email: Jacqui.Dibden@arts.monash.edu.au