A new study sheds light on how farmer-led collaboration can help create the conditions to address biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes. The research looks at "farmer clusters" – groups of farmers working together across landscapes to support biodiversity-sensitive farming – and explores how these collaborative initiatives evolve over time, what shapes their success, and why some mature more effectively than others.
The authors set out to understand how farmer clusters emerge, grow, and function in very different social, institutional, and ecological contexts across Europe. Rather than assuming a single pathway to success, the researchers analyzed clusters as dynamic, evolving collaborations, shaped by governance arrangements, leadership, facilitation, group composition, and wider contextual conditions. By following clusters with diverse starting points – some favorable and others less so – the research shows how different combinations of factors lead to distinct developmental trajectories and outcomes for biodiversity-sensitive farming.
"Our findings show that collaboration is not a static concept: it develops over time and looks very different depending on where farmers start and how they are supported," said co-lead author Gerid Hager , a senior research scholar in the Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability Research Group of the IIASA Advancing Systems Analysis Program. "There is no single ideal farmer cluster, but there are key conditions that help farmers build trust and coordinate action in support of biodiversity goals at landscape scale."
The findings indicate that farmer clusters do not follow a uniform model. Instead, they display varying levels of maturity and collaboration, influenced by interdependent and constantly changing formative dimensions such as leadership quality, facilitation support, trust among members, and institutional embedding. Importantly, the study introduces a new maturity assessment matrix, designed not only as an analytical framework but also as a practical tool that farmer clusters themselves can use to reflect collectively on their progress, strengths, and capacity to coordinate and sustain collective action in support of biodiversity goals at landscape scale.
The implications for policy and practice are significant. The study shows that such approaches can be established and sustained across a range of European contexts, offering a complementary approach to conventional agri-environment schemes, particularly where landscape-scale coordination is required. However, these approaches are highly sensitive to how they are supported.
The maturity framework developed by the authors suggests a way policymakers and practitioners could tailor support to the specific needs of different clusters, helping them design more responsive and effective policy instruments. Targeted public incentives, such as funding for skilled facilitation, can play an important role in strengthening collaboration, enabling farmers to coordinate biodiversity measures more effectively across farms and landscapes.
This research matters because biodiversity in agricultural areas continues to decline, and conventional policy approaches often struggle to achieve meaningful, landscape-level impact or to fully integrate farmers' local goals, knowledge and experience. The results show that when farmers are supported to collaborate, and when scientific and institutional facilitation is aligned with local realities, biodiversity-sensitive farming becomes not only possible, but scalable.
"The key lesson is that empowering farmers to work together is essential," Hager notes. "When farmers have the space, support, and shared tools to collaborate, they are better placed to design solutions that work for both biodiversity and farming livelihoods."
The central message of the research is clear: lasting biodiversity restoration in agricultural landscapes depends on empowering farmers to work together, share knowledge, and co-create solutions that fit their specific environmental and social contexts, rather than relying solely on one-size-fits-all policy prescriptions.
The research was undertaken as part of the EU-funded FRAMEwork project. IIASA leads a work package in the project, which aims to unite the farmer clusters in a Europe-wide self-sustaining network and is linked with the Citizen Observatory and Information Hub that facilitate farmer and citizen-based collection and the sharing of harmonized, high-quality information on biodiversity and farming.
Reference
Bohnet, I.C., Hager, G., Rellensmann, T., Hardy, C., McHugh, N.M., Ablinger, D., Bagnoni, V., Banks, G., et al. (2026). Dynamic trajectories and maturity of farmer collaboration for biodiversity sensitive farming – Insights from the FRAMEwork Farmer Clusters. Agricultural Systems DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2026.104644
About IIASA:
The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policymakers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by prestigious research funding agencies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. www.iiasa.ac.at
