Methods and Procedures for Building Sustainable Farming Systems

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxiii

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2. The Needs for Building Sustainable Farming Systems: Issues and Scope

   • Emiliana Silva, Ana Alexandra Marta-Costa

   Pages 1-5

3. European context for sustainability assessment of farming systems

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 7-7

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   2. Agricultural and Environmental Policies in the European Union

      • Emiliana Silva, Ana Alexandra Marta-Costa

      Pages 9-19

   3. Approaches for Sustainable Farming Systems Assessment

      • Ana Alexandra Marta-Costa, Emiliana Silva

      Pages 21-29

4. Multiple aspects to develop methodologies for sustainability assessment of farming systems

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 31-31

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   2. Normative, Systemic and Procedural Aspects: A Review of Indicator-Based Sustainability Assessments in Agriculture

      • Claudia R. Binder, Giuseppe Feola

      Pages 33-46

   3. Assessing the Sustainability of Activity Systems to Support Households’ Farming Projects

      • Médulline Terrier, Pierre Gasselin, Joseph Le Blanc

      Pages 47-61

   4. Multilevel and Multi-user Sustainability Assessment of Farming Systems

      • Steven Van Passel, Marijke Meul

      Pages 63-88

5. Application of methodologies for sustainability assessment of farming systems in real contexts

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 89-89

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   2. Learning and Experimentation Strategy: Outline of a Method to Develop Sustainable Livestock Production Systems

      • Boelie Elzen, Sierk F. Spoelstra

      Pages 91-105

   3. Factors Affecting the Implementation of Measures for Improving Sustainability on Farms Following the RISE Sustainability Evaluation

      • Christian Thalmann, Jan Grenz

      Pages 107-121

   4. A Multi-attribute Decision Method for Assessing the Overall Sustainability of Crop Protection Strategies: A Case Study Based on Apple Production in Europe

      • Patrik Mouron, Ursula Aubert, Bart Heijne, Andreas Naef, Jörn Strassemeyer, Frank Hayer et al.

      Pages 123-137

6. Sustainability assessment in organic and multifunctional systems

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 139-139

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   2. Converting Suckler Cattle Farming Systems to Organic Farming: A Method to Assess the Productive, Environmental and Economic Impacts

      • Patrick Veysset, Michel Lherm, Didier Bébin

      Pages 141-159

   3. Assessing Multifunctionality in Relation to Resource Use: A Holistic Approach to Measure Efficiency, Developed by Participatory Research

      • Johanna Björklund, Börje Johansson

      Pages 161-173

   4. Indicator-Based Method for Assessing Organic Farming Sustainability

      • Mohamed Gafsi, Jean Luc Favreau

      Pages 175-187

7. Decision support methods for sustainable farming systems

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 189-189

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   2. X-farm: Modelling Sustainable Farming Systems

      • Alvaro Rocca, Francesco Danuso, Franco Rosa, Elena Bulfoni

      Pages 191-205

   3. Ecological-Economic Modelling for Farming Systems of Montemuro Mountain (Portugal)

      • Ana Alexandra Marta-Costa, Filipa Manso, Luís Tibério, Carlos Fonseca

      Pages 207-217

Showing how the method of sustainability assessment plays a key role in choosing the best agricultural productive mode, this book guides the reader through the process of selecting, from among the various approaches for building farming systems, the method of decision-making that will result in the most appropriate outcome, given the context. Case studies hail from polities as diverse as Portugal and Canada, Argentina and Lebanon. The work thus offers a valuable critical survey of the assessment methods that account for sustainability and economics, and which have developed considerably in the last two decades. The heterogeneous approaches covered here make this volume appropriate for consultation in a wide variety of social, political and geographical contexts.

• Agriculture environment
• Decision support methods
• Sustainability assessment methodologies
• Sustainability farming assessment
• Sustainable farming systems

• , Economy, Sociology and Management, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Do, Vila Real, Portugal

  Ana Alexandra Marta-Costa

• , Agricultural Sciences Department, University of Azores, Angra do Heroísmo, Portugal

  Emiliana L. D. G. Soares da Silva

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