AGRISOCIAL: Towards a socially sustainable green transition for agriculture and rural communities

How can the green transition also create social sustainability in Norwegian agriculture and rural areas? this is the question that this project seek to answer. The project has started exploring how education in rural areas can be a motor for the green transition and simultaneously create robust local communities. Work on mapping indicators for social sustainability fitted to the Norwegian context has also begun, and this has been tested and discussed in living labs with the project userpartners. Next living lab will be held in the fall of 2024. Further, the project is also about to start work on how farm succession might promote the green transition on farms and how this may be socially sustainable. Work on how social sustainability has been understood in agricultural policy has also started.

Ensuring a sustainable green transition in the agriculture and food sector in Norway requires that ALL aspects of sustainability – environmental, economic and social – are addressed. However, it is widely acknowledged that concept of social sustainability is relatively poorly understood. This is problematic. Authorities in Norway observe a sustainable green transition is reliant on the social processes that ensure sustainable and thriving rural communities and businesses. To address this gap, AGRISOCIAL focuses on three of the key aspects of social sustainability that recent events in Norway (The Rural Rebellion (2017-2019) and The Farmer’s Rebellion (2021-)) suggest may prove problematic for the green transition, namely: equity, resilience, and quality of life. Working closely with stakeholders AGRISOCIAL examines (1) the policy framework around equitable rural communities (2) the relationship between economic performance, social sustainability indicators, and the green transition (3) how the green transition might support social sustainability in farm families (4) how the green transition influences quality of life in rural communities (5) practical social sustainability indicators for the green transition and (6) possible policies for promoting a socially sustainable green transition. AGRISOCIAL will produce internationally relevant research that addresses the issue of how social sustainability in farms and rural communities supports and is supported by the green transition. At the same time, engagement with rural businesses and stakeholders via a transdisciplinary living lab ensures policy outcomes that are tailored for Norway – in particular, the co-development of social sustainability indicators for industry application. In this way, it will help ensure that the green transition addresses today’s sustainability challenges and creates rural communities that are equitable, resilient and offer a high quality of life.