Municipalities as new actors of the agroecological transition in the urban territories: the case of municipal initiatives around Montpellier and Nîmes, France - HAL-SHS - Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société Accéder directement au contenu
Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2019

Municipalities as new actors of the agroecological transition in the urban territories: the case of municipal initiatives around Montpellier and Nîmes, France

Résumé

The agroecological transition concept encourages a reflection upon more sustainable agricultural and food systems. How do local public actors grasp this concept at the scale of their territories ? In this communication, we examine agroecological initiatives implemented by local elected officials. We define agroecological initiatives as actions promoting an agriculture and food based on environmentally friendly practices. In France, while a number of studies focus on large cities (Soulard and Michel, 2017), agroecological initiatives implemented by small municipalities are poorly known. Although they transferred some of their prerogatives to intermunicipalities in which they are integrated, these small municipalities are still characterised by the actions of their elected representatives. What are they objectives for agriculture? What type of actions do they implement? We identified and analysed agroecological initiatives carried out by small municipalities located around two Mediterranean cities (Montpellier et Nîmes). Indepth interviews were held with elected officials. Their analysis enabled us to i) identify the representations they make of the agroecological political project, their motivations to act and the obstacles they encounter, ii) classify municipalities regarding agricultural and/or food projects that they set up, iii) have a better understanding of conditions of implementation of agroecological initiatives in these municipalities. Our results show that these elected representatives are key players in the development of a territorialized agroecology allowing to think more sustainable agricultural and food systems (Wezel et al., 2016). But the commitment of elected representatives is very heterogeneous and depends on the context. Their initiatives face a number of obstacles, in particular access to agricultural land, highlighting regulatory and financial issues. Their political will and ability to involve other actors also appear as key factors of success.
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Dates et versions

hal-02785990 , version 1 (04-06-2020)

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  • HAL Id : hal-02785990 , version 1
  • PRODINRA : 487844

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Pascale Scheromm. Municipalities as new actors of the agroecological transition in the urban territories: the case of municipal initiatives around Montpellier and Nîmes, France. 3. International conference of the IGU Commission on Agricultural Geography and Land Engineering (AGLE), International Geographical Union (IGU). INT., Oct 2019, Bogor, Indonesia. ⟨hal-02785990⟩
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