Led by Manaaki Whenua, the 5-year Endeavour research programme Moving the Middle (2021–2026) aims to give rural land managers greater confidence to improve their environmental performance voluntarily. While many farmers are willing to make the changes needed to protect the environment and sustain their businesses, others are overwhelmed by information overload and the complexity of the multiple systems and pressures they face.
Providing more information, tools or technologies will not bring about the scale of change required. To empower real change, our research looks at the often-ignored human dimension of the systems affecting farmers and growers (e.g. financial, market, policy, societal/ community) to identify places in these systems to intervene (leverage points) that will reduce pressures coming from these interacting systems.
Moving the Middle includes five research areas looking at different ways to influence the willingness and ability of those on the land to take voluntary pro-environmental action.
- Systems and agency. Describes the complex mix of systems that influence farmer/grower decision making and investigates the source of conflicting pressures.
- Policy interventions. Tests effective, low-cost voluntary interventions to influence environmental decision making.
- Investment practices. Explores potential alternative financial lending models, and maps how to better facilitate successful transitions for Māori agribusiness from establishment to commercial sustainability.
- Agents of change. Examines approaches used by ‘non-traditional’ change agents to improve their efficacy.
- Narratives. Understands social/ community narratives so as to positively reframe them to encourage greater environmental action.
The following stories highlight some of the most recent progress in Moving the Middle.
