Exploring relationships among different sustainability aspects in innovative livestock systems in Europe
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: European livestock farming reflects a range of systems characterized by diverse innovations to increase sustainability. This study aimed to highlight the relationships among different aspects of sustainability in various types of systems. Data were retrieved from 106 farms containing different animal species (dairy cattle, beef cattle, pigs and poultry), using a modified version of the Excel-based questionnaire public goods tool. Each farm was assigned scores for 12 spurs (indicators) of sustainability. Based on these results, the farms were allocated into five clusters. Correlations among the spurs were evaluated, both across all farms and cluster-wise, with contrasting results. When analysed across all farms, several spurs from the environmental dimension were positively correlated with each other. Further, many of the environmental spurs were negatively correlated with spur profitability, which was positively correlated with spur social wellbeing and farm business resilience. A comparison of cluster-wise correlations showed a positive correlation between environmental spurs and spur profitability for large farms but a negative correlation for small farms. The diverging, yet complementary, correlation results from this study open the field to sustainable pathways that are capable of connecting realities with differing production systems and geographical areas while also incorporating their unique features.
Authors: Elena Diaz Vicuna, Nina Adams, Laurence Smith, Magdalena. Durand, Coen van Wagenberg, Enora Caron, Agnes van den Pol-van Dasselaar, Lukas Baumgart, Soline Schetelat, Mignon Sandor, Adrian Gliga, Sandrine Espagnol, Heidi Mai-Lis Andersen, Robert Borek, Piotr Jurga, Noa van Leuffen, Jasper L.T. Heerkens, Jenny Yngvesson, Annabel Oosterwijk, Jessica Stokes, Claudio Forte, Anna Hessle
Institutions: University of Turin, University of Reading, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, Institut Technique de l'Aviculture, Aeres University of Applied Sciences, Forschungsinstitut für Biologischen Landbau, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Institut du Porc, Innovationscenter for Økologisk Landbrug, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation, Royal Agricultural University
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Chemistry
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: diamond
Funder: Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
Award: G5546599882
OpenAlex ID: W4417303868