Gieseke - Shared governance for sustainable working landscapes

Shared Governance for Sustainable Working Landscapes

Shared Governance for Sustainable Working Landscapes

Timothy M. Gieseke

CRC Press

Taylor & Francis Group

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Version Date: 20160620

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Gieseke, Timothy M.

Title: Shared governance for sustainable working landscapes / Timothy M. Gieseke.

Description: Boca Raton : CRC Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016016909 | ISBN 9781498718004 (hardcover : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Sustainable agriculture. | Land use. | Land use--Economic aspects. | Agricultural education.

Classification: LCC S494.5.S86 G54 2017 | DDC 338.1--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016016909

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Contents

In 2004, after a decade of a consistent mix of policy, research, and practitioner experience in the emerging field of agriculture sustainability, I embraced the idea that an environmental market signal would be needed to resolve this complex issue. The basis for supporting such a signal is that farmers and others working directly with the land to produce food and fiber commodities are often delegated to the role of price-taker and policy-taker. It is the efficacy of a market signal that is able to speak to the countless variations of production systems within the dynamics of economic, climatic, and other uncontrollable forces that dominant the land practitioners livelihood.

From 2005 onward I was able to apply the components of this market signal concept to several projects at the local, regional, national, and international levels. This compelled me to write of its effects and consequences in a 2011 book, EcoCommerce 101: Adding an Ecological Dimension to the Economy. This eco-commerce model garnered interest from many sectors at all levels, but it failed to gain traction or offer a path toward enabling transactions associated with such an environmental market signal.

Shortly after EcoCommerce 101 was published, I was intrigued by a shared governance model I applied to a state-level environmental quality assurance program for livestock farms. A spreadsheet acting as a crude platform revealed how disparate sustainability stakeholders could symbiotically achieve their objectives at lower cost than if they independently pursued their goals.

As technology improved and people became more interconnected, multisided platforms became a business reality and supported the evolution of e-commerce ecosystems. The next step to take, as I began writing this manuscript, was to build a multisided shared governance platform that could incorporate an environmental market signal and support transactions. With this platform model, I was able to envision the potential and emergence of an eco-commerce ecosystem.

I would like to acknowledge the many insights provided by professionals, practitioners, and policy-makers seeking sustainable solutions from the landscape over the many decades. It is these countless efforts that shape technology, science, policies, and new ways of thinking. The wisdom in Elinor Ostroms statement, If it works in practice, it must work in theory provides the observer and conscientious practitioner with the confidence to continue forward and begin to understand societys natural solutions.

I would like thank my wife, Jenny, and our three boys, Max, Isaac, and Eli, for their support and patience. I would also like to thank friend and graphic designer Ron Schrader for the artwork.

I would also like to acknowledge the interdisciplinary contributions of several colleagues and the moral support they provided as I continued on this path: Melinda Kimble, United Nations Foundation; A.G. Kawamura, Southern California farmer, former California Secretary of Agriculture; Louis Meuleman, European Commission; Dr. Cornelia Flora, Iowa State University; Gabriel Thoumi, University of Maryland; Jerry Hatfield, USDA ARS; Dan Abelow, Expandiverse; and Ira Feldman, University of Pennsylvania.

Exploring new territory is of course challenging, and the first solutions applied are seemingly fragile. Their thoughtful, inquiring, and sincere words were most appreciated.

Timothy M. Giesekes interdisciplinary career is reflected in the research and insights of his writings. A masters degree in environmental sciences is a cornerstone for his perspective on agriculture sustainability. He also brings experience in agriculture production, governmental experience in conservation planning, policy analysis at state and federal levels, political endeavors, and agribusiness management.

With this near panoramic view of landscape sustainability, Tim recognized the need for a transdisciplinary approach to enable practitioners and policy-makers to transcend and blur the lines between their traditional organizational boundaries. He has carried this vision through several of his local to global efforts.

The world would be a different place without the benefits received from agriculture and food systems (Mller et al., 2015). These agroecosystems, which are a biological and natural resource system managed by humans for the primary purpose of producing food, could also be considered the largest ecological experiment on Earth (Sandhu et al., 2015). For millennia, agriculture has been the most visible example of human interaction with the landscape (Wood et al., 2000).