| dc.description.abstract | Using Q-Methodology, the objective of this study was to describe drivers of change processes in Norwegian mountain farming for the region of Valdres, as perceived by farmers themselves. This mixed-methods approach intended to capture the latent subjectivity among farmers for multiple issues. Two distinct factors – or social perspectives – were described based on 20 participants’ Q-Sorts, revealing areas of relative agreement and disagreement towards these drivers. These in turn were linked to different behaviour-based indicators of agroecological resilience, put forth by Cabell and Oelofse (2012). Corresponding indicators described various changes and phases within farmers’ adaptive cycles. Farmers within perspective 1 were found to be more vulnerable to exogenous drivers, particularly to the negative impacts of landscape fragmentation and development in outfields. Farmers within perspective 2 also identified with such vulnerabilities, but their resilience was upheld by their perceived greater life quality. Multiple conflicting development trajectories suggest potential spatial and temporal idiosyncrasies in resilience capacities within the regional panarchy. Most notably, many participants spoke of the paradoxes in national agricultural policies seeking to promote multifunctional agriculture and efficiency goals. A relational approach to studying resilience uncovered the extent to which farmers perceived these multifunctional goals as achievable in the face of multiple wicked problems, whose impacts are described by participants. | |
