PEGASUS case studies: first results now available

PEGASUS (Public Ecosystem Goods And Services from agriculture and forestry: Unlocking the Synergies) aims to transform approaches to rural land management by unlocking the synergies between economic, social and environmental benefits provided by agriculture and forestry. This EC-funded Horizon 2020 project is investigating new ways of thinking about how farms and forests are managed.

The first phase of the PEGASUS case study work is now complete! Between March and July 2016, our ten PEGASUS teams carried out 34 case studies in ten countries across the EU. They provide a rich source of information on the different ways in which farm and forest land is managed to deliver environmental and social outcomes in a range of diverse. The preliminary results of this work were subject to many lively discussions at a 3-day meeting in Estonia at the end of June.

PEGASUS partners explored the issues faced in ensuring the effective provision of environmental and social benefits in different contexts (different ‘social-ecological systems’), by local stakeholders. We compared the nature and characteristics of the solutions that have enabled local actors to overcome blocking factors and develop successful projects – which either enhance the provision of environmental and social benefits from farming and forestry or reduce the occurrence of damaging practices.

A selection of these case studies will be pursued in more depth in the coming months as September marks the kick-off of the second phase of the work. To this end, the PEGASUS teams have all selected one case study to be examined into more depth during the autumn. Meanwhile, a series of factsheets has been published on the PEGASUS website to present the main findings of the work undertaken so far. You will also find the synthesis report of the first phase of the case studies on the website.

The case studies dealing more particularly with mountainous areas are:

• Austrian case studies:
  • AT-1 “Organic farming label in the mountain Murau region”,
  • AT-2 “Social-Ecological Systems in the Biosphere Reserve Lungau (Salzburg region)”
  • AT-3 “Mountain forestry and environmental and social benefits provision in Austrian mountain areas”
• A Czech case study: CZ-1 “Biodiversity rich meadows payment”
• French case studies:
  • FR-1 “Agriculture and forestry in Pays de Langres”
  • FR-2 “Volvic”
  • FR-3 “Agriculture and forestry in Parc National des Cévennes”
• Italian case studies:
  • IT-1 “Processed tomato supply chain in the Tomato District of northern Italy”
  • IT-4 “Niche products and tourism in Tuscany”
• Slovenian case studies:
  • Sl-1 “Agri-forestry in sub-alpine Slovenia”
  • Sl-3 “Agricultural based development strategies for areas hits by economic crisis”
• A UK case study: UK-3 “North Pennines multi-stakeholder partnership for sustainable uplands”