Social sciences and humanities research
Society assigns an increasing number of objectives to agriculture-related policies (supporting farm income, food security, generation renewal, green transition, rural vitality, etc.). Insights and evidence from research and innovation continuously inform decision-making processes and policy making in achieving these objectives.
Social sciences and the humanities (SSH) provide essential contributions to support evidence-based design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of policy instruments. Through behavioural and economic analyses, they capture the socio-economic dimension of societal challenges, which is crucial to integrate for a policy to be implemented effectively. SSH also develop and maintain appropriate analytical tools, such as economic models, taking advantage of new socio-economic approaches and data. They are key to improve our knowledge on the performance of diverse farm business models, the agri-food sector, and rural areas.
Overall, research and innovation from SSH contribute to strengthening socio-economic performance and modernising policies in the areas of agriculture, forestry, and rural areas, and create an enabling environment and conditions to support farmers and foresters in the sustainability transitions, and to reinforce competitiveness, resilience, and sustainability in the agricultural sector.
Research in action
Enabling transition to sustainable agriculture through behavioural and experimental research
Through systems analysis, behavioural and experimental studies, projects explore the lock-ins and levers that hinder or motivate behavioural change (individual, systemic and policy factors) to move to sustainable, climate-neutral and biodiversity friendly farming systems:
Behavioural insights are used to develop transformative pathways, via business strategies and policy recommendations, new business models and social innovation that engage farmers, consumers, and other actors in innovative ways to encourage a fair transition towards climate-smart agriculture, based on environmental, social and economic sustainability assessments.
- PRUDENT and ForestAgriGreenNudge investigate the effectiveness of green nudges -subtle, positive interventions that reshape decision-making- that can enable behavioural change to more sustainable practices and technologies in the agricultural and forestry sectors.
The projects will provide a set of social innovations and business models enabling a shift towards sustainable agriculture and forestry and will develop a series of policy recommendations and tools to foster behaviourally informed policies.
Supporting evidence-based agricultural policies through economic modelling
EU-funded projects are developing a toolbox of data and modelling tools to provide evidence, scenario analyses, and recommendations that support effective agricultural policies.
- ACT4CAP27 strengthens policy tools to assess the impact of EU food system policies and provides evidence for designing post-2027 agri-food policies.
- BrightSpace is defining a Safe and Just Operating Space for EU agriculture and will provide an analytical toolbox to project possible futures by 2050 and beyond, supporting effective and sustainable policy options to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal. It is modelling future-proof agriculture and forestry.
- LAMASUS is developing an integrated toolbox for modelling policies and their land use, land management, economic and environmental impacts at multiple scales, and will deliver recommendations on the design of policy options for EU climate neutrality. It is also modelling future-proof agriculture and forestry.
- AgEnRes is delivering better analytical tools to support improved decision making and capacity for the farming sector to reduce dependencies to fossil energy.
- Tools4CAP contributes to facilitating the use of the models by decision-makers. It supports the implementation of CAP National Strategic Plans 2023-2027 and boosts learning and develops methodological guidelines for the adoption by EU countries of innovative methods and tools to be used in the preparation of the CAP post-2027.
Promoting the sector for generational renewal, newcomers and farmer well-being
SafeHabitus will raise awareness about health and safety issues on the farm through novel methods and a collaborative approach.
