Integrated farming in Greece: a transition-to-sustainability perspective

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore the linking process between a niche and the regime in the context of an emergent transition, using the concepts of 'anchoring' and 'translation' embedded in the broader multi-level perspective. The case study concerns the transition of an intensive farming system, from subsidy oriented productivism, towards an integrated farming (IF) system focusing on the market, in the canned peach sector in Imathia, Northern Greece. The study revealed an anchored regime-triggered innovation, which resulted in the creation of a market niche within the incumbent regime. In this transition, all forms of anchoring are involved, and various forms of translation were encountered while a hybrid forum was identified, serving as the 'fertile ground' upon which all subsequent networking and translation activities took place. Research findings question a clear-cut analytical separation between the three levels of the multi-level perspective, as well as the relevance of a bottom-up procedure as a prerequisite for niche emergence vis-à-vis policy induced change.