Terre & Humanisme promotes agroecology as an approach in transitioning towards more sustainable farming practices while training people in its application. The association aims to change production models to achieve higher combined economic, social and environmental production based on the founding principles of Agroecology. The association operates on three fundamental pillars:

1. Raising Awareness: To share agroecology (and its practices) as an approach and promote its adoption as a fundamental contribution towards safer, more equitable and climate-positive food systems.
2. Transmit: Training modules and internships on various themes according to a pedagogy that reconciles theoretical requirements and humanist practice. Technical support on agroecological practices to specific projects for a wide range of clients.
   
3. Network and Community Support : The association has forged long-term partnerships with local organisations to support thousands of farmers and citizens in their projects to disseminate agroecology (with technical, methodological and financial support). Support of a network of ambassadors throughout France trained in the Agroecological approach and its dissemination.

Ongoing initiative

The current case intends to present an example of infrastructures within which agroecology can thrive. The term 'Agroecology' was first mentioned in October 2007 at the Grenelle Environment Forum, where the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss in agriculture were the main topics of debate. Previously, the agricultural discourse in France was driven by macro and micro institutions that had placed food availability and agricultural production at the centre of the problem and its remedies. As a result, authorities had overlooked environmental issues for quite a long time. Thanks to the Forum, farmers, unions, agrifood firm reps, NGOs, municipal authorities, and public service officials engaged for the first time in meaningful dialogue on the issue and were part of the policy consultation process. The Forum's main goal was to establish a concrete, measurable action plan with wide member consensus. 

The forum acknowledged Agroecology as a catalyst for prioritising environmental concerns. As a result of both the forum's development and the stated goals, a venue for civil society participants to communicate and converse has been established. The outcome was the formation of new bilateral links (such as between NGOs and unions or NGOs and local governments) and a 10-year action plan. Terre & Humanisme adopted and implemented these approaches and goals with the aim of managing how much feed/food/fuel and other materials the agricultural sector could and should produce to address climate change, health, biodiversity and natural resource protection, and the provision of a sustainable and healthy diet for citizens without compromising global food security.

In December 2012, the French Ministry of Agriculture developed the "Agroecological Project for France" approach (Ministère de l’Agriculture, de l’Agroalimentaire et de la Forêt, 2012). This tactic launched an agroecology policy. Thus, France was the first nation to pass an agroecology law in 2014, with ambitions to apply it on more than two hundred thousand farms by 2025. Approved in October 2014, the Loi d'Avenir (Law for the Future of Agriculture, Food, and the Forest) emphasises agroecology as a solution to agricultural difficulties.

The law stipulates that public policies should promote and safeguard agro-ecological production methods, such as organic farming, that combine economic and social performance primarily through robust social, environmental, and health protection. This incorporation of agroecology into law is noteworthy because agroecology has the potential to revolutionise agricultural production by relying on ecosystem functionality rather than environmental inputs.

In addition, many policies that attempt to assist the growth of agroecology in its various forms have emerged in recent years. The majority of them are not yet referred to as agroecology policies and instead use other labels (such as the present negotiations on the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period 2021 to 2027 in Europe, the "Farm to Fork" plan, and the New Green Deal).

The Agroecology initiative and its initiator Terre & Humanisme put a significant accent on the centrality that pedagogy, advocacy, and a solid network have in their innovation process. To that extent, agricultural training is one of the prominent approaches undertaken by the organisation and it is implemented in the gardens. These are pedagogic spaces in which groups of farmers together with organisational members of the institution and other relevant stakeholder (e.g., research centres, local authorities, and citizens) experiment with prototyping and co-creation to exchange knowledge, envision new paths and ideas and promote the initiative’s approach. Through this approach the organisation strives to translate and mediate the policy of reference and to engage local actors, to meet local needs. Moreover, when discussing the organisational team, their innovative decision to follow the principles of shared governance without managerial positions ensures that the staff experiments with horizontal governance. These approaches, together with the creation of networks of farmers and ambassadors/trainers enables and supports the promotion and replication of interventions and prepares the ground for scaling in different contexts.

In terms of the overall Agroecology movement in France, some innovative policy tools and approaches can be found in the following:

Agricultural training: more effective inclusion of agroecology-related knowledge and teaching in educational programmes for students and the setting up of a train-the-trainers training programme.

Involvement of research and R&D organisations: continuation and stepping up of research and experimentation to disseminate agronomic and organisational innovations to support the changes in systems and practices on the ground (with particular emphasis on the use of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP), a new CAP measure for 2014-2020).

Creation of an agroecology diagnostic tool: to encourage farmers to think about their methods and possible changes to their systems. This tool allows individual farmers to assess their methods and performance and compare them with other farmers.

An overhaul of public support programmes: public support for agriculture is gradually being reviewed with attention to providing greater incentives for agroecological transition. Investment subsidies are being geared toward projects to implement agroecology on farms.

Setting up economic and environmental interest groupings (EEIGs): this new tool, created by the Future of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry Act (October 2014), enables the government to give recognition to the commitment of groups of farmers, and potentially other subjects in the local region, to changes in their farming methods with a view to economic, environmental and social considerations.

Regular project monitoring and evaluation: the results and impact of the action plan are presented in annual reports posted on the website of the French ministry responsible for agriculture.

The Agroecology initiative was established by the Terre et Humanisme organisation in response to a policy decision made by the French Minister of Agriculture Stéphane Le Foll. The ultimate objective was to provide national agriculture with a vision and future orientation. In particular, the project's implementation is based on collaborative governance through a steering committee composed of the agricultural industry's key players who will share the vision and assist the transition through a series of practical measures. To facilitate commitment to agroecology and aid farmers in advocating and making the shift, the project's implementation entails adjustments to France's key agricultural policies (namely, a revamp of support programmes).

Terre et Humanisme consists of a Board of Directors elected by the General Assembly on an annual basis and an operational team. The General Assembly, which is composed of around one thousand members, elects the Board of Directors, approves the financial statements, and votes on the primary strategic orientations. On the other hand, the Board of Directors is composed of 12 administrators and 5 auditors. It is responsible for refining and ensuring the implementation of the association's strategic orientations. It holds discussion days and co-construction workshops with the operational team on a regular basis. Lastly, the operational team consists of twenty individuals who are responsible for implementing the association's missions and maintaining the organisation's efficient management. It functions as a team of ambassadors/trainers acting at the national level in France to promote the association's goal and establish train-the-trainer processes.

Since 2015, the operational team has decided to follow the principles of shared governance. In the absence of a managerial position, staff experiment as much as possible with a horizontal governance model in connection to the Board of Directors and the office. In recent years, the association has also been developing new teams in the Mediterranean region.

• Political: Engaged policymakers, the establishment of national and sectoral programmes and laws for agroecology, lobbying at the international level to support programmes’ implementation.
• Economic: Public and private funding to establish new research programmes, support the project in expanding its community assets and hold the training and promotion operations.
  
• Social: Advocacy and availability of farmers, ambassadors/trainers, and citizens to experiment with implementing the solutions and promote Agroecology.

• Political: Lack of solid ties to EU-wide policy regulations and inconsistency of national/international programmes and laws for agroecology restrict the project impact and might isolate single initiatives.
• Economic: Little availability of implementation funding for the enactment of planned changes. 
  
• Social: Poor perception of the project’s benefits, shortage of motivation, conflicts within the managing groups and between the association and other key actors.

Scalability of the association’s activities: The interventions, gardens, and train-the-trainers workshop are ideated in a way that can be potentially adapted to different contexts. The association’s efforts in establishing new teams in the Mediterranean area and in expanding the ambassadors/trainers network offer solid opportunities.

Scalability of the policy: To scale up agroecology and better incorporate it into the major farming and food systems, national and European institutions require stronger political support and a regulatory framework. France with its agroecology policy can be viewed as a predecessor, at least for the time being. France must carry its weight in the EU and ensure that Farm and Fork and the New Green Deal projects are completely aligned with its agroecology policy.

Main positive lessons/opportunities identified:

• Quick and robust implementation of education and training and increased research focusing on agroecology topics. 
• Initiation of a ‘movement’ in the agricultural sector, with consequent stimulation of innovation in agroecology.
• Implementation of innovative agroecological practices, more substantial recognition of the importance of biodiversity for agriculture, and more conversion to organic agriculture.

 Main failures/barriers identified:

• Need for stronger ties with EU policies, national programmes, policies or action plans for agroecology (currently only France, Denmark and Italy mention agroecology in their policies).
• Lack of a clear and shared EU strategy for Agroecology and sustainable agriculture.
  
• Incompatibility with other crucial challenges: producing enough for Europe and the world while developing bioeconomy sectors in Europe.

A set of 28 agri-environmental indicators (AEIs) have been set up in order to monitor the integration of environmental concerns into the Common agricultural policy (CAP). These indicators serve to:

• provide information on the farmed environment;
• track the impact of agriculture on the environment;
• assess the effects of agricultural and environmental policies on the environmental management of farms;
• inform agricultural and environmental policy decisions;
• illustrate agri-environmental relationships to the broader public.

The complete list and description of the indicators are available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/agriculture/agri-environmental-indicators