Project Partners

The FarmPath Consortium

FarmPath is led by The James Hutton Institute, Scotland in partnership with the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria; the University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria; the Agricultural University of Athens, Greece; the Institute for Rural Development, Frankfurt, Germany; the Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague; University of Plymouth, UK; University of Evora, Portugal, and Agrocampus Ouest, Rennes, France.

FarmPath Consortium and International Advisory Group members (Image by David Riley, James Hutton Institute)

The James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen and Dundee, Scotland, was created in 2011 by uniting the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute  (MLURI) and the Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI).  It is funded by the Scottish Government and other competitive funding sources.  The James Hutton Institute undertakes research on land use and sustainable resource management and has expertise in socioeconomics, land use systems, rural sustainability and biodiversity conservation.  In its former guise as MLURI, The James Hutton Institute has a long history of coordinating multidisciplinary research projects, including projects funded in previous EU Research Framework Programmes and has the infrastructure for this role.  The FarmPath team at the James Hutton Institute are Dr Lee-Ann Sutherland (project co-ordinator), Prof. Bill Slee, Kirsty Holstead, Annie McKee and Dr Sharon Flanigan.

The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna, Austria, was founded in 1872 and has currently more than 10,000 students. The focus of the activities in its 15 departments is on education and research on renewable resources. With a connection between natural sciences, engineering and economics, BOKU is contributing to deepening knowledge of an ecologically and economically sustainable use of natural resources in a cultural landscape. Researchers at the Department of Economic and Social Sciences of the BOKU have participated in a wide range of research projects under various European Framework Programmes, e.g. Agri-Food projections for EU member States (AG-MEMOD), Building trust for quality assurance in emerging ecommerce markets for food chain (e-trust), Sustainability impact assessment of the forestry-wood chain (EFORWOOD), Climate Change – Terrestrial Adaptation & Mitigation in Europe (CC-TAME).  The project's Science Leader, Dr Ika Darnhofer, is based at BOKU.

The University of National and World Economy (UNWE) in Sofia, Bulgaria, is a leading educational and research institution in the field of economics, management, agriculture, politics and law going back more than 80 years. The research activities of the University are directed towards the demands of the public practice during the transformation of the national economy and the accession of the country to the European socio-economic area. The Department of Natural Resource Economics (DNRE) has been a leading educational and research centre in the field of Agricultural Economics since 1921. Currently, the research team of DNRE works with several networks and carries out scientific research projects in EC FP6 and FP7 concerning rural areas and innovative development, ecology and sustainability,providing technical and scientific support to organisations at the national and international level. Examples are: Prototypical Policy Impacts on Multifunctional Activities in rural municipalities (PRIMA, 2008-2011), Structural Change in Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods (SCRALED, 2007-2009), and Rural Areas, People & Innovative Development (RAPIDO, 2007-2009). The members of DNRE are consulting different national and international organisations such as the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, DG Agri, OECD, and FAO. The FarmPath team at UNWE are Prof Plamen Mishev, Dr Nedka Ivanova, and Dr Mariya Peneva.

The Laboratory of Agricultural Extension, Rural Systems, Rural Sociology of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development at the Agricultural  University of Athens (AUA), Greece, has a long experience in research projects in the area of agricultural, rural, environmental and agrienvironmental policies, either national or EU-wide. The Laboratory has participated in various research projects including “Implementation and effectiveness of EU agrienvironmental schemes established under regulation 2078/92” (FAIR-CT95-0274), ELPEN: Developing a livestock policy decision support system (1997-2003), Cross Compliance Network (SSPE-CT-2005-022727), and “The Agri-environmental Footprint: Development of a common generic methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of European Agri-environmental Schemes” (AE-FOOTPRINT, SSPCT-2005-006491).  The FarmPath team at AUA are Prof. Leonidas Louloudis, Dr George Vlahos and

The Institute for Rural Development Research (IfLS) at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, was established in 1956 as an independent research institute linked to the University via a Scientific Board. Research and consultancy carried out at the IfLS cover Social and Political Sciences, Earth Sciences and Geography, Environmental Sciences, Economics and Business Administration. Research and consulting projects constitute the principle funding of the Institute. The main clients are the European Commission, Ministries of the Federal State and nongovernmental organisations. Relevant project experience includes “Development of a training programme for young farmers on multifunctional agriculture (AgriMF II, 2009–2012); “Assessing the impacts of rural development policies” (RuDI, 2008–2010); “Defining EU priorities: Review of rural development instruments (2007–2008); “Strengthening innovation processes for growth and development (IN-SIGHT, 2007–2008); and “Towards a policy model of multifunctional agriculture and rural development (TOP-MARD, 2004–2006).  The FarmPath team at IfLS are Simone Schiller, Jorg Schramek, and Sarah Peter.

The Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU) in Prague consists of five faculties. The Faculty of Economics and Management (FEM), employing 250 teachers and researchers, is the largest of these. The Faculty is ranked by the Czech Government as among the top five economic faculties in the Czech Republic. Its research and education focus is on agricultural economics, management and rural development, whereas the Department of Humanities is active in social research on sustainability, organic farming and food supply chains, both at national and international level. CZU were consortium members in the EU FP7 project “Economic analysis of certification systems for organic food and farming” (CERTCOST, KBBE-2007-1-4-07) and the FP6 projects “Encouraging Collective Farmers Marketing Initiatives” (COFAMI, SSPE-CT-2005-006541), “A Cognitive Approach to Rural Sustainable Development” (CORASON, CIT2-CT-2004-506049), subcontract in the project “Capitalisation of Research Results on the Multifunctionality of Agriculture and Rural Areas” (MULTAGRI, GOCE-CT-2003-505297). FEM is currently involved in a large Czech research project “Economics of resources of the Czech agriculture and their efficient use in the frame of multifunctional agri-food systems”. The FarmPath team at CZU are Dr Lukas Zagata and Michal Lostak.

With a tradition of educational and research excellence dating back to 1862, the University of Plymouth (UOP) has a reputation as a rising star in the UK university sector. The University of Plymouth has longstanding involvement in national and international research projects and consortia, with many ESRC and EU funded projects resulting in substantial research contribution and innovation in various fields including policy (e.g. effectiveness of EU policies; policy implementation and stakeholder involvement) and social research (especially in the fields of human geography, politics and sociology). The University of Plymouth is one of the UK's most prominent and dynamic universities consistently ranked as one of the top three modern universities in England.  The project's Senior Academic Advisor Prof Geoff Wilson, is based at UOP.

Established in 1559, the University of Évora (UEVOR) is the second oldest Portuguese University and one of Portugal's 14 public universities. The Institute for Mediterranean Agrarian and Environmental Sciences (ICAAM, www.icaam.uevora.pt) is the major research unit in the University, with an interdisciplinary and multilevel approach to the issues of agriculture and rural territories. The Group for Mediterranean Ecosystems and Landscapes (EPM): this group deals with rural landscapes and rural areas in a holistic sense, aiming to improve knowledge and understanding for decision-making at all levels. EPM has participated in numerous EU projects including “Vulnerability of Ecosystems Services to Land Use Change in Traditional Agriculture (VISTA, 2003-2005); “Strengthening the multifunctional use of European land: coping with marginalization” (EUROLAN, 2003-2005). Experience has also been gathered in the coordination of national research projects including ABANDONO (Analysis of the Dynamics of the Land Cover, the Agricultural Sector and the Rural Community, in Portugal 2004-2006); and MURAL (Multifunctionality at farm and landscape level facing rural and agricultural marginalization: sustainability and policy evaluation at case-study level, 2006-2009). The FarmPath team at UEVOR are Dr Teresa Pinto-Correia, Dr Isabel Joaquina Ramos, Helena Guimarães and Dr Carla Gonzalez (cgonzalez@uevora.pt).

Agrocampus Ouest (ISSA) is a French higher education and research institution specialised in agricultural sciences, food science and technology, sea sciences, horticulture and landscaping. This institution was created on July 1st, 2008 from 2 former higher education centres : Agrocampus Rennes and National Institute of Horticulture. The research carried about by the Laboratory of Rural Development relates to evaluation of sustainability of agriculture and food supply chains, transformations and sustainability of the contemporary peasant-like farming systems, and territorial governance of the sustainable development. The laboratory is particularly interested in processes of co-building of systems of production by local actors, by the analysis of the forms of governance of local development, by proximity, identities analysis, technical or institutional innovations.  The FarmPath team in ISSA are Dr Catherine Darrot, Prof Guy Durand, Prof Jean-Eudes Beuret, Brigitte Le Houerou, Celine Warnery, Jean-Francois Leclanche, Cyril Bigot and Marion Diaz.