On 8–9 June 2022 the fourth annual meeting of the Research Network on Economic Experiments for the Common Agricultural Policy (REECAP) took place in Uppsala. SHOWCASE team members Dipl.-Ing. Verena Scherfranz from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) and Kati Häfner from the Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) participated in the meeting. They had the opportunity to share their findings of the surveys conducted among farmers as well as discuss ideas for future surveys and their potential for positively impacting agricultural policy-making.

REECAP is is an EU-wide network founded in 2017, which brings together researchers, experts, and policy-makers interested in the use of economic experimental approaches to evaluate and improve the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). REECAP’s objective is to advance the continuous improvement of European agricultural policies through the provision of robust results on their net impact and through the design of well-adjusted and effective policy interventions in the fields of income support, investment policies, risk management, and agri-environment including climate change.

Through a diverse audience, the fourth annual meeting aimed to strengthen and enlarge the REECAP community and disseminate research and policy advice in the field of agricultural policy. SHOWCASE researchers were invited to share their first socio-economic findings from last year’s survey on farmers’ perceptions towards stakeholders such as farm input suppliers, governmental bodies, and consumers. Identifying and involving stakeholders who are perceived positively can potentially help create more effective pro-biodiversity initiatives. Dipl.-Ing. Scherfranz and Ms Häfner explained the usefulness of perception matrices to assess farmers’ perceptions towards public, private and community stakeholders, which is helpful when designing and implementing pro-biodiversity initiatives. Furthermore, the SHOWCASE team presented and discussed ideas for their next survey among farmers to investigate best policy incentive design to promote biodiversity. 

Dipl.-Ing. Verena Scherfranz and Kati Häfner at a field trip during this year’s REECAP meeting in Uppsala. 

Photo: REECAP logo.