This edited collection is an exercise in transdisciplinary reflection on sustainable farmland management. It includes contributions from leading academics and emerging researchers from a range of disciplinary backgrounds including economics, agricultural sciences, geography and environmental sciences, as well as practitioners and researchers from NGOs, government agencies and consultancies, who are involved in informing policy and practice on sustainable agricultural landscapes. The first part (chapters 2-6) maps out the territory of sustainable farmland management in differing spatial, temporal and production contexts. The second part (chapters 7-10) examines the disputed arena of knowledge claims for sustainable farmland management and considers different styles of knowledge deployed in a range of contexts. The third part (chapters 11-13) focuses more explicitly on the ethics of farmland production and protection, on their connections with debates over sustainability and calls for new ethical frameworks. The fourth part (chapters 14-18) examines a range of key issues surrounding systems and systemic thinking for sustainable farmland management, including the scales of application and measurement of systems approaches and the benefits and drawbacks of different farmland management systems. The final part (chapters 19-22) reflects directly upon some of the emerging political and policy frameworks now governing the idea of sustainable farmland management. The book has a subject index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Agendas for sustainable farmland management / R. Fish, S. Seymour, C. Watkins and M. Steven -- The elusive quest for sustainable agriculture / T. O'Riordan -- The contested concept of sustainability in agriculture : an examination of the views of policymakers, scientists and farmers / K.N. Baginetas -- Historical dimensions of sustainable farming / J.V. Beckett -- Soils and sustainability : the future of the South Downs / J. Boardman -- The role of organics within sustainable farmland management / M. Reed -- Just knowledge? Governing research on food and farming / T. MacMillan -- Agricultural advisers and the transition to sustainable soil management in England : a focus on agronomists' understanding of soil / J. Ingram -- Combining scientific and lay knowledges : participatory approaches to research in organic farming / F. Lyon and F. Harris -- Sustainable foodscapes? Examining consumer attitudes and practices towards food and farming in Washington State, USA / T. Selfa and R.A. Jussaume, Jr -- A notional ethical contract with farm animals in a sustainable global food system / B. Mepham -- Beasts of a different burden : agricultural sustainability and farm animals / H. Buller and C. Morris -- Agricultural biotechnology and ethics : for or against nature? / B.R. Johnson -- Multifunctionality in practice : research and application within a farm business / C. Stoate -- Linking environment and farming : integrated systems for sustainable farmland management / C. Drummond and C. Harris -- Environmental and profitable sustainability in agricultural production / A. Williams -- The use of indicators to assess the sustainability of farms converting to organic production / C. Firth, I. Milla and P. Harris -- Agri-environment schemes and sustainable farmland management : a farm level assessment of the economic costs and benefits / J. Jones -- International perspectives on sustainable farmland management / C. Potter -- The national policy dimension for environmentally sustainable agriculture : a UK perspective / G. Morgan and C. Reid -- Multifunctional agriculture and integrated rural development in Germany : the case of the Regional Action programme / K. Knickel and S. Peter -- Agendas for transdisciplinarity / R. Fish, S. Seymour, C. Watkins and M. Steven.

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Title from PDF title page (viewed August 13, 2013).