Exploring policy scenarios for sustainable farming transitions
Agricultural systems are complex. Policies, markets, farmer motivation, knowledge, consumer behaviour, and economic conditions all influence each other. This means that one intervention can create different effects across the system over time.
To better understand these dynamics, the ENFASYS project has developed an interactive Web Tool that helps users explore possible future scenarios for sustainable farming transitions.
Developed by the University of Bologna team, the tool is based on ENFASYS System Dynamic Models. It allows users to see how different policy and intervention bundles may
What can you explore?
The Web Tool is built around three
ENFASYS transition pathways:
Low Input Agriculture
Exploring transitions that reduce dependency on external inputs and support more sustainable farming practices.
Extensification of Livestock Systems
Exploring pathways that support less intensive livestock systems, with attention to sustainability, resilience, and long-term systemic effects.
Sustainable Consumption and Direct Selling
Exploring how sustainable consumption, direct selling, and value-chain dynamics can support the transition towards more sustainable farming systems.
Across these pathways, the tool looks at key system components such as:
Economic viability for farmers
Knowledge and expertise access
Farmers’
motivation
Policy and governance support
Sustainable agriculture adoption rate
From interventions to scenarios
The Web Tool is based on ENFASYS work that identified and analysed recommended interventions for supporting the transition towards Sustainable Farming Systems.
Starting from more than 100 intervention excerpts from project deliverables, the team grouped and refined these into broader intervention mechanisms. These were then organised into seven intervention archetypes, or policy bundles, that can be explored through the tool:
- Affordable Purchasing – reducing affordability barriers and stimulating demand for sustainable products through price reduction, labelling, and awareness.
- Value-chain Alignment – strengthening regional sustainable value chains and improving coordination between actors.
- Farmer Transition Protection and Implementation – reducing transition risks and increasing farmers’ capacity through financial support, knowledge, and practical implementation measures.
- Results-oriented Transition Architecture – linking support to measurable outcomes and promoting transparent, flexible governance.
- Participation–Credibility Loop – connecting stakeholder participation with visible outcomes and policy relevance.
- Collective Capability Building – supporting peer learning, co-creation, collaboration, and shared ownership.
- Policy Alignment and Orchestration – improving coordination across governance levels and aligning policies with value-chain dynamics.
Why use the tool?
The Web Tool makes complex modelling results easier to understand and use. It helps policy-makers, researchers, and stakeholders compare scenarios, reflect on possible intervention effects, and support more informed decisions for sustainable farming transitions.
Explore the tool
Use the tool to navigate different scenarios, compare intervention bundles, and reflect on how systemic and behavioural approaches can support the transition towards more sustainable farming systems.