A heuristic framework to portray agroecological transition initiatives in reflexive arrangements, illustrated with a conservation agriculture network in Denmark

Agroecology has been proposed as an answer to the current global agri-food system crises. Transformation to agroecological agri-food systems can be enhanced through collaboration between societal agroecological initiatives and scientists in reflexive arrangements. Effective collaboration is fostered by a shared understanding of the history and current state of the societal initiative among all participants of the reflexive arrangement. To achieve this, we developed a heuristic framework to outline agroecological initiatives at the start of a reflexive arrangement based on three pillars: (1) context; (2) actors; and (3) barriers and levers. In this study, we present the framework and illustrate its application to an initiative, specifically an established Danish conservation agriculture (CA) network identified as a driver in agroecological transformation with its collaborative and knowledge-sharing approach for biodiversity enhancement, soil health, and input reductions. Drawing on a literature review, context information was categorized into six dimensions: (1) biophysical environment; (2) knowledge; (3) society; (4) policy and governance; (5) economy; and (6) farming system. Key actors within the network and key barriers and levers were identified from interviews with a limited number of diverse actors, applying network metrics as part of cognitive mapping and social network analysis. Applying the framework to the case study shed light on the main themes of the Danish CA network and its position in the agroecological transformation. Interpreting the results in terms of the multi-level perspective, we found a new advisory role to be emerging, where advisors facilitate horizontal knowledge structures and construct networks, and thereby enhance niche development with technological and network anchoring processes. However, institutional anchoring was found to be limited by contested knowledge. Our heuristic framework provides insights into salient aspects of agroecological initiatives, points out strengths and major issues to take on as part of reflexive arrangements, and by its systematic nature, enables comparison and learning across initiatives. Its usefulness as a relatively rapid instrument for reflecting on the history and current state of an initiative as part of a reflexive arrangement was confirmed by the case-study actors.