International Workshop

Date

Time

4:30am - 8:30pm ACDT

Venue

via Zoom

Description

International Workshop

How Have Agri-environmental Policies been Established? Sharing policy concepts among major actors and the role of epistemic communities 

Background and Objective:

In many OECD countries, agri-environmental measures, which aim at improving the linkages between agricultural production and the environment, have been regarded as one of the most important policy tools in the agricultural sector. However, the introduction of these measures did not evolve overnight and we observe a substantial difference among countries in the way in which these measures have been developed. This difference may have resulted from the differences in historical, natural, and social  environments. This workshop will shed light on the possibility that the difference may be related to the difference in how key policy concepts have been shared by major policy actors as well as how professionals who shared common values and knowledge have played a role in developing innovative policy ideas.  
The workshop will start with an opening speech by Professor Hiroyuki Suematsu of Tokyo University of Agriculture, former Vice Minister for Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 

The workshop will invite distinguished speakers to share their knowledge on the following aspects. First, Dr. Stefan Tangermann will speak about the role of the OECD and epistemic communities in reforming agricultural policies. Dr. Tangermann has been leading policy discussions and analyses for a number of decades as a professor and as the Director of Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries and later Director for Trade and Agriculture at the OECD. It is well recognized by academics and policymakers interested in agricultural policy reforms in developed countries that the OECD has played a critical role in developing new ideas and concepts. Dr. Tangermann will illustrate the OECD's contribution to reforming agricultural policies by discussing a number of selected cases where OECD work has arguably provided new insights into the fundamental issues of agricultural policy making. His speech will also cover the interplay between the OECD and epistemic communities in developing new policy concepts. Dr. Hodge will speak about how agri-environmental policy has been “invented” with a special focus on the case of the UK. The UK is a leading country in Europe, and among OECD member countries, that has created a wide range of innovative agri-environmental policy measures. Dr. Hodge’s speech will shed light on how innovation has taken place in the UK through various reforms and on current progress as the UK develops its own agricultural policy outside the EU.  Dr. Janet Dwyer, Professor of the University of Gloucestershire and the President of the UK Agricultural Economics Society, has been making important contributions to enhanced rural development policies both in UK and EU, for 30 years. Her work has looked in particular at policy design and delivery, and how best to integrate environmental sustainability into farm business decision making, considering farmers’ own perceptions and interest in environmental issues as well as the practical and attitudinal barriers to lasting and resilient integration. Dr. Dwyer will reflect on this work through an evolutionary study undertaken with Dr Allan Butler and Bethany Leake, which analysed the development of agri-environmental policies and their epistemic networks in England, in recent decades. The analysis combined bibliometric data with qualitative ethnographic and action-oriented methods to build an understanding of the connections between, and contributions of, different agents (institutions and individuals) to the development of policy in this field.  

Dr. Bethany Cooper’s presentation, in which she will outline how the policy of water markets in Australia has been shaped, will follow the keynote addresses. The presentation will enrich the discussion at the workshop on how good policies can be developed. 
 
In the panel discussion, Dr. Tangermann and Dr. Hodge will be joined by the following three professionals. Mr. Okajima is a former Director-General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), and has been involved in almost all the policy areas for which MAFF are responsible. Ms. Kyoko Asakawa of MAFF’s Policy Research Institute (PRIMAFF) has been working for MAFF for more than 30 years and has been involved in a wide range of agricultural policy areas. She is now leading initiatives to support policy making in collaboration with academic communities. Professor Janet Dwyer will also join the panel discussion with her profound knowledge and experience associated with rural development policy. Special emphasis will be placed on the role of epistemic communities and the conditions that may be required to encourage the creation of such communities, as well as the other factors that could trigger policy innovation. The role of international organizations will also be discussed.  

This workshop is organized by the Research Team on Greening Agricultural Policy and is funded through the support of the JSPS KAKENHI (grant number 17H03882). 

Program (tentative):

Introduction by the facilitator: 
Prof. Atsushi Oguchi (Associate Professor, National Graduate Institute of Policy Studies (GRIPS)) Introductory remarks:  
Dr. Mikitaro Shobayashi (Professor, Gakushuin Women’s College, Japan) 
Opening speech: Dr. Hiroyuki Suematsu (Professor, Tokyo University of Agriculture, former Vice-Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) 

Keynote addresses and research presentations:

The role of OECD and epistemic communities in reforming agricultural policies - Dr. Stefan Tangermann (Professor Emeritus, University of Göttingen, Germany)
The gradual introduction of environmental goals into agricultural policy in the UK: three episodes and a speculation - Dr. Ian Hodge (Professor Emeritus, University of Cambridge, UK)
Innovation in agri-environment schemes: insights from networks and processes in England and the EU - Dr. Janet Dwyer (Professor, University of Gloucestershire, UK) 
Shaping the policy of water markets to manage water use in Australia - Dr. Bethany Cooper (Senior Research Fellow, University of South Australia, Australia), Dr. Martin Shanahan (Professor, University of South Australia, Australia),  Dr. Yukio Kinoshita (A/Professor, Iwate University, Japan) 

Panel Discussion:

- Professor Stefan Tangermann 
- Professor Ian Hodge 
- Mr. Masaaki Okajima (Adjunct Lecturer, GRIPS, Former Director-General MAFF) Ms. Kyoko Asakawa (Director-General for MAFF’s Policy Research Institute) Professor. Janet Dwyer  
- Moderator: Professor Mikitaro Shobayash  

Closing Remarks: Dr. Yukio Kinoshita, Iwate University 

Application:

If you are interested in participating in the workshop, kindly fill in this form. We will then send you the URL for the Zoom Webinar.  
If you have any question about the workshop, please contact Mikitaro Shobayashi, Gakushuin Women’s College, Tokyo, Japan

Date: Friday 11 March 2022
Time: 6:00am - 10:00am UK; 7:00am - 11:00am Germany; 3:00pm - 7:00pm Japan; 4:30am - 8:30pm Adelaide (ACDT)
Venue: online via Zoom webinar; simultaneous interpretation system will be available (English and Japanese)