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ABSTRACTIn recent years, Social Network Analysis (SNA) has increasingly been applied to the study of complex human-plant relations. This quantitative approach has enabled a better understanding of (1) how social networks help explain agrobiodiversity management, and (2) how social relations influence the transmission of local ecological knowledge (LEK) related to plants. In this paper, we critically review the most recent works pertaining to these two lines of research. First, our results show that this fast-developing literature proposes new insights on local agrobiodiversity management mechanisms, as well as on the ways seed exchange systems are articulated around other social relationships, such as kinship. Second, current works show that inter-individual connections affect LEK transmission, the position of individuals in networks being related to the LEK they hold. We conclude by stressing the importance of combining this method with comprehensive approaches and longitudinal data collection to develop deeper insights into human-plant relations.

Part of topic : Ambiance, atmosphere, climate: theory, politics and criticism ; International audience ; In this paper we explore how can urban gardens foster the otherwise lost relationship with our sensual bodies and connect us back with our senses. Hence enabling us to re-visit the spaces of our everyday life and bringing a new flair to our ways of thinking and inhabiting place. Our case study focuses on urban gardens in Barcelona. Our fieldwork included a combination of qualitative methods, comprising participant observation (e.g. participation to garden events and assemblies), informal conversations with gardeners, and an ethnographic approach called shadowing. The ambiances that are produced in urban gardens enable us to better understand our own making of place in the city and of our ways of inhabiting it.

The restructuring of biodiversity governance in Europe during the last two decades has been, inter alia, based on the argument that effective conservation hinges on consensual decision-making involving all relevant stakeholders. This has given rise to various network-based forms of governance and participatory arrangements in protected areas reinforcing the involvement of business and non-state actors, particularly through the creation of profitable public–private partnerships. Even though this shift has been framed as promoting stakeholder and public participation, in practice it has often hampered democratic decision-making and community empowerment. In this paper, we investigate the restructuring of biodiversity governance through the establishment of participatory arrangements in the governance of the natural park of Sant Llorenç del Munt i l'Obac, a place whose history has been linked with the emergence of one of the first environmental movements in Catalonia (Spain). We pay particular attention to the role of participatory arrangements in transforming power relationships and in promoting a neoliberal mode of biodiversity governance. We find that governance restructuring under the rhetoric of promoting stakeholder participation has in practice led to the exclusion of key social actors from the management of the natural park and favoured the inclusion of actors with mainly economic motivations further embedding a neoliberal agenda in the governance of the park and ultimately disempowering local community.

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552 ; The global environmental and social-economic crises of industrialized agriculture have led to the emergence of agroecology as an alternative approach aiming to increase the ecological, social and economic sustainability of agri-food systems. The 'multi-level perspective' is now a widely used framework to understand and promote the upscaling of local innovation niches, such as agroecology, to broader scales (e.g., regional, national, international), thus reconfiguring the dominant socio-technical regimes. Additionally, emergent 'hybrid forums' can provide a space between niche and regime where niche innovators can become important actors in scaling up and out emergent innovations. In this paper, we examine a university training program (Postgraduate Diploma in Local Agroecological Dynamization at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), to better understand its role as a 'hybrid forum'. Our analysis focuses especially on how the program, as an example of a hybrid forum, worked to reconfigure practices, concepts, and tools of local development practitioners. We also assess to what extent the program contributed to transitioning local development institutions toward agroecology. An online survey (n = 46) and in-depth interviews (n = 16) were carried out to determine how the training program has impacted the student's opinions and their respective institutions. The results show that most of the students consider that they have acquired new theoretical frameworks and useful methods to re-framing their local development projects, that new alliances with multi-actor networks have been perceived, and that some internal changes of the local development practices have taken place. We conclude that the training program, as a hybrid forum, is capable of outscaling niche innovations through linkages with different kind of actors both from the niche and the regime. Political changes in the socio-technical landscape level offer an opportunity to amplify the impact of the innovations which are being generated by those multi-actor networks, but with a limited multi-level impact as far as institutional regime-actors not aligned with agroecological transition keep the most of the competencies on agri-food systems.

Altres ajuts: this research was funded by the FP7-OpenNESS (308428) and Biodiversa-ENABLE (PCIN-2016-002) and through individual grants from the EU-COST Action TU1201 and the Catalan government (FI DGR, 2012FI_B 00578) to JL. ; Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552 ; The notion and assessment of ecosystem services (ES) values is becoming an established part of the discourse regarding urban green space performance. Yet, underlying factors enabling ES values are still poorly understood. We assume the production of ES value crucial for environmental stewardship in cities, and aimed in this study to uncover their key enabling factors. This study has been developed on a broad data base including a survey (n = 201), interviews (n = 46), field observation and remote sensing from 27 urban gardens in Barcelona, Spain, including municipal 'allotment gardens' and 'civic gardens' emerging from bottom-up initiatives. In a first step, we distinguished different urban gardens types regarding the ES values they provide. In a second step, we tested specific garden characteristics including (a) user profiles, (b) biophysical garden properties, and (c) institutional settings for their specific importance to trigger ES values. Results showed ES values to significantly differ with the types of gardens. For example, classical allotment gardens are more likely to provide recreational values, while emerging civic gardens are more likely to produce place-making and social cohesion. A main finding from our study is the importance of social and institutional garden characteristic as enabling factors of ES values. Results indicate, for example, a correlation between childhood experiences and a higher appreciation of ES. Our results further indicate that civic gardens with broader property rights and decision-capacities are more likely to enhance stewardship action. In providing a differentiated understanding of the ES value(s) of urban gardens, this study highlights the potential for green space planning in cities to steer the stewardship of urban gardens by providing institutional and physical space for civic gardening initiatives.

The notion and assessment of ecosystem services(ES)valuesis becoming anestablished part of the discourse regarding urban green space performance. Yet, underlying factors enabling ES values are stillpoorly understood. We assume the production of ES value crucial for environmental stewardship in cities, and aimed in this study to uncover their key enabling factors. This study has beendeveloped on a broad data baseincludinga survey(n=201), interviews(n=46), field observation and remote sensing from 27 urban gardens in Barcelona, Spain, including municipal 'allotment gardens' and 'civic gardens' emerging from bottom-up initiatives.In a first step, we distinguished different urban gardenstypes regarding the ESvalues they provide. In a second step, we testedspecific garden characteristics including (a) user profiles,(b) biophysicalgardenproperties, and (c) institutional settings fortheirspecific importanceto triggerES values. Results showedES values to significantly differ with the typesof gardens. For example, classical allotment gardens are more likely to provide recreational values, while emerging civic gardens are more likely to produce place-makingand social cohesion.A main finding from our study is the importance of social and institutional garden characteristic as enabling factors of ES values. Results indicate,for example, a correlation between childhood experiences and a higher appreciation of ES.Our results further indicate thatcivic gardens with broader property rights and decision-capacities are more likely to enhancestewardship action.In providing a differentiated understanding of the ES value(s) of urban gardens, this study highlights the potential for green space planning in citiesto steer the stewardship of urban gardens by providing institutional and physicalspace for civic gardening initiatives. ; This research was funded by the FP7-OpenNESS (308428) and Biodiversa-ENABLE (PCIN-2016-002) and through individual grants from the EU-COST Action TU1201 and the Catalan government (FI DGR, 2012FI_B 00578) to JL.

La etnoecología estudia las relaciones entre los humanos y el medioambiente en el que viven, contribuyendo a entender algunos de los problemas socio-ecológicos actuales, como la degradación ecológica o la pérdida de diversidad cultural, desde un punto de vista eminentemente local. Desde el 2006, el Laboratorio de Etnoecología de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona desarrolla proyectos de investigación dirigidos a estudiar factores y dinámicas sociales, culturales, políticas, y ecológicas que ayudan a explicar la relación de sociedades indígenas y rurales de África, Asia, Latinoamérica y Europa, con su entorno ambiental. Huyendo de la dinámica de extracción de información sin retorno a las comunidades, los proyectos del Laboratorio combinan investigación académica con acciones orientadas a la devolución de los resultados de investigación a las poblaciones con las que trabajamos, a la vez que promueven mejoras en el bienestar local y en el uso sostenible de sus recursos naturales. ; Ethnoecology studies the relations of human beings with their environment aiming at understanding several current socio-ecological problems such as ecological degradation and loss of cultural diversity, mainly from a local point of view. Since 2006, the research team of the Ethnoecology Laboratory (Autonomous University of Barcelona) is conducting research projects focused on the study of social, cultural, political, and ecological factors and dynamics influencing the relation of rural and indigenous communities in Africa, Asia, Latin- America, and Europe, with their environment. Contrary to the common practice of simply extracting information from rural communities, projects at the Ethnoecology Laboratory blend academic research and actions oriented to return findings to the populations where we work and to improve their well-being and sustainable use of natural resources.

14 p., tablas, mapas -- versión online previa sin paginación -- post-print del artículo publicado en Economic Botany. Versión revisada y corregida. ; [EN] Previous research has documented different trends in the consumption of wild food plants but has rarely analyzed the motivations behind their continued (or lack of) consumption. In this article, we use empirical data to explore the factors driving the consumption of a selected set of wild food plants. We start by analyzing the different trends (i.e., abandonment, maintenance, and valorization) across 21 selected species with different food uses. We then explore the reported motivations that drive such trends using data collected among 354 respondents in three Catalan-speaking rural areas. The consumption of wild food plants is decreasing in the three study areas and across the categories of food use analyzed. Respondents listed sociocultural factors, rather than environmental or economic factors, as more prominent determinants of consumption trends; taste preferences seem to be the most relevant motivation for those who continue to consume wild food plants, whereas a myriad of motivations related to changes in lifestyle were provided by those who explain the abandonment of their consumption. ; [ES] Se han documentado diferentes tendencias en el consumo de plantas silvestres comestibles, pero raramente se han analizado las razones que explican por qué algunas plantas se siguen consumiendo y otras no. En base a una selección de plantas silvestres comestibles, en este artículo exploramos los factores que explican las tendencias en el consumo de plantas silvestres. En la primera parte analizamos las tendencias de consumo (abandono, mantenimiento y valorización) de un grupo de 21 especies con diferentes usos alimentarios y en la segunda exploramos las motivaciones esgrimidas por 354 habitantes de tres áreas rurales catalanoparlantes en relación a estas tendencias. El consumo de plantas silvestres parece haber sufrido una reducción generalizada en las áreas prospectadas. Para todas las especies, los encuestados mencionaron factores socioculturales, más que ambientales o económicos, como importantes a la hora de explicar sus patrones de consumo. Específicamente, el sabor parece ser el principal argumento para aquellos que continúan consumiendo plantas silvestres mientras que una combinación de motivos relacionados con cambios en estilos de vida predomina entre las explicaciones de aquellos que han abandonado su consumo. ; The present work was conducted under the framework of the project "Sociocultural factors that explain the gathering and consumption of food wild plants and minor crops. Case studies in the Iberian peninsula and the Balearic Islands," funded by the Economy and Competitiveness Ministry (CSO2011-27565) of the Spanish government. The contribution of Generalitat de Catalunya is also acknowledged (project 2014SGR514). E.C. benefited from a predoctoral contract from the Spanish Ministry for Education. ; Peer reviewed