challenges for the advisory system in order to contribute to a sustainable farm development
Höckert, Jenny
(2017).
Sharing lifeworlds and creating collaborative cultures.
Diss. (sammanfattning/summary)
Uppsala :
Sveriges lantbruksuniv.,
Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae, 1652-6880
; 2017:106
ISBN 978-91-7760-102-9
eISBN 978-91-7760-103-6
[Doctoral thesis]
![]() |
PDF
2MB |
Abstract
Today’s agricultural advisory system in Sweden is poorly adapted both to supporting farmers in issues concerning long-term strategies and to contributing to sustainable farm development. This thesis claims that two interrelated reasons for this are the reductionist knowledge possessed by the advisors and the structural arrangements of the advisory system. While the challenges facing agriculture are systemic, the contemporary advisory services are built on compartmentalised knowledge and non-systemic models. Though different measures to change perceived shortcomings have been attempted, the desired changes have not materialised. The thesis reports a multi-method study of projects and change processes that have occurred in the advisory system over the past two decades. Data has been gathered through case studies, semi-structured interviews, literature reviews and discourse analysis. Based on eight cases analysed through the theoretical lenses of systems thinking, systems boundaries, loops of learning, orders of change, organisational culture and epistemology, this thesis has sought to explain why the desired changes have not materialised. To understand the context in which the cases have occurred, the thesis provides a historic narrative of the evolution of the system. The analysis examines the advisory system at three different levels–the advisory system at large, the advisory organisations, and the advisory services as they are delivered–and then discusses these in relation to sustainability challenges faced by agriculture. One reason shown here for the change processes not having the desired effect is the failure to make thorough problem descriptions and system boundaries around the problematiques. Moreover, the system is shown to have suffered from an unreflected idea of what is needed to change a culture from individual to collaborative. The thesis highlights the lack of spaces for reflection corresponding to higher loops of learning at all system levels as an obstruction to development within the system. To address issues of a long-term character such as sustainability in advisory services, this thesis advocates the need for broadening of the epistemology underpinning today’s advisory system from one based on explicit knowledge possessed by individuals to one that also includes the knower and the knowing. Such development would both demand and create the collaborative cultures needed to address the systemic issues faced by agriculture.
Authors/Creators: | Höckert, Jenny | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Title: | Sharing lifeworlds and creating collaborative cultures | ||||||||||
Subtitle: | challenges for the advisory system in order to contribute to a sustainable farm development | ||||||||||
Alternative abstract: |
| ||||||||||
Series Name/Journal: | Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae | ||||||||||
Year of publishing : | 2017 | ||||||||||
Depositing date: | 24 November 2017 | ||||||||||
Number: | 2017:106 | ||||||||||
Number of Pages: | 199 | ||||||||||
Papers/manuscripts: |
| ||||||||||
Place of Publication: | Uppsala | ||||||||||
Publisher: | Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences | ||||||||||
ISBN for printed version: | 978-91-7760-102-9 | ||||||||||
ISBN for electronic version: | 978-91-7760-103-6 | ||||||||||
ISSN: | 1652-6880 | ||||||||||
Language: | English | ||||||||||
Publication Type: | Doctoral thesis | ||||||||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||||||||
Agris subject categories.: | C Education, extension, and advisory work > C20 Extension N Machinery and buildings > N01 Agricultural engineering | ||||||||||
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 4 Agricultural Sciences > 405 Other Agricultural Sciences > Other Agricultural Sciences not elsewhere specified (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 5 Social Sciences > 508 Media and Communications > Communication Studies | ||||||||||
Agrovoc terms: | agricultural extension, advisory services, organizational change, development plans, analysis, systems analysis, learning, knowledge based systems, Sweden | ||||||||||
Keywords: | agricultural extension, advisory service, organisational culture, learning, systems thinking, epistemology, lifeworld, Sweden | ||||||||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-4505 | ||||||||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-4505 | ||||||||||
ID Code: | 14755 | ||||||||||
Faculty: | NJ - Fakulteten för naturresurser och jordbruksvetenskap | ||||||||||
Department: | (NL, NJ) > Dept. of Urban and Rural Development (LTJ, LTV) > Dept. of Urban and Rural Development | ||||||||||
Deposited By: | Jenny Höckert | ||||||||||
Deposited On: | 24 Nov 2017 15:40 | ||||||||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 09 Sep 2020 14:17 |
Repository Staff Only: item control page