The interdependence between collective practices and the green governance of an agroecology network

ABSTRACT

Green governance of common goods balances the collective actions of economic production and the preservation of natural resources. This study improves the governance of sustainable initiatives with the concept of practice, answering the following question: how do collective practices support green governance? We performed an instrumental case study of the ‘Rede Ecovida,’ an agroecology network of 4,500 families. We adopted a qualitative approach based on experiential knowledge, collected through participant and non-participant observations, interviews, and documents and submitted to thematic analysis. We found that collective practices affect and are affected by the green governance constructs. Based on our findings, we evidence the dynamic interdependence between elements of practice and the constructs of green governance and we propose guidelines for the collective decision-making in sustainable initiatives.

KEYWORDS:

• Green governance
• networks
• practices
• agroecology
• Ecovida

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by FAPERGS PQG 05/2019 - 19/2551-0001848-7; CAPES PROEX 417/2021 - 23038.007985/2021-13.