National | PANORAMA

East Europe

Una tourism cluster - Raising awareness on the importance of preserving natural resources, by linking them to people’s livelihood

Kasandra-Zorica

Ivanić

Building an inclusive policy

Logo of Organic Denmark

Organic Denmark

Rooted in the Danish political ambition to design policies that enable the private and public sector to become more innovative and competitive, the Minister of Agriculture put in place clear procedures for involving relevant stakeholders in order to ensure that the plan could meet the needs of the sector. Involvement was secured at the beginning of the plan development process based on a year-long consultation process and collaboration with the organic sector.

Preparation was based on a comprehensive process involving more than 200 stakeholders, who participated in three large workshops.
The Organic Food Council, a government-led forum of relevant interest groups, was involved in prioritizing the initiatives recommended, as a result of three workshops and 35 interviews held with key actors in the organic sector.

Stakeholder involvement was key to the Danish Organic Action Plan and ultimately led to its great success.

Planning phase

Inception phase

National

Focus on market development

Girls in organic field - national event Høstmarked

Organic Denmark

Whereas in the past the focus of policy support for organic farming was often production-oriented, the current Danish OAP considers market development (including support for certain marketing channels), promotion and awareness, as well as public procurement, as priorities. The OAP is a mix of push and pull actions. Push effects are meant to increase production, while pull measures aim at increasing the demand for organic products.

If we look at the pull measures, a key action was to stimulate the demand for organic products by consumers and in private and public kitchens, such as schools and hospitals. For these activities, 6.4 million EUR were earmarked in the 2015-2018 period.

Municipalities were motivated through a national goal of achieving 60 per cent organic in all public kitchens and by earmarked funds to support the conversion process, primarily through the education of kitchen leaders and workers, and changes in supply chains and menus.

The aforementioned measure was highly successful. For instance, the city of Copenhagen succeeded in developing one of the most ambitious public procurement programmes in Europe, which met the goal of 90 per cent organic food in 2015, without an increase in meal prices.

Implementation

Review phase

National

Reorientation

Happy pigs in the field

Organic Denmark

The history of governmental support to organic farming in Denmark starts in 1987, when the Danish Parliament adopted the Organic Farming Act, which laid down the basic structure of Danish organic farming policy, which still remains today. Permanent subsidies for organic farming were introduced in 1994. Early Organic Action Plans (OAPs) were established from 1995 to 1999.

The current OAP ‘Working together for more organics’ covers the period 2011 to 2020. It was revised and expanded in 2015, following a change of Government. The plan aims at doubling the land area of organic production by 2020 (against a baseline of 2007), and earmarks specific budgets over the period 2015 to 2018 to a set of different action-points. This plan was initiated by the Ministry for Agriculture and developed with the assistance of an external consultant.

The Danish Organic Action Plan was developed through the involvement of a broad spectrum of stakeholders in charge of defining the action points of the plan through several cycles of interviews, questionnaires and workshops. Since the 80s Denmark has been a forerunner in governmental support to sustainable agriculture, but the country is also a worldwide pioneer when it comes to designing policies according to inclusive and participatory approaches.

Whereas in the past the focus of policy support for organic farming was often production-oriented, the current Danish OAP considers market development (including support for certain marketing channels), promotion and awareness, as well as public procurement, as priorities.
The OAP is a mix of push and pull actions. Push effects are meant to increase production, while pull measures aim at increasing the demand for organic products.

North Europe

Denmark’s Organic Action Plan “Working together for more organics”

Ingrid

Heindorf

Building an inclusive policy

Reorientation

Focus on market development

Potential as a Transferable Model

North Europe

Denmark’s Organic Action Plan “Working together for more organics”

Ingrid

Heindorf

Building an inclusive policy

Reorientation

Focus on market development

Potential as a Transferable Model

Frugal Rehabilitation Demonstration (FRD): developing and adapting the methodology (FRM) through action-research

Once demonstration sites are selected, local ASM groups receive training and are contracted to implement FRM through six steps:

Preparation & Planning: degradation, boundary, hydrological & equipment assessments; labor, volume estimates; waste management; OHS standards
Technical Rehabilitation: infill, regrading and reprofiling; use of limited mechanisation
Topsoils: identification, conservation and re-distribution across sites
Biological Rehabilitation: topsoil enrichment ; natural regeneration assessments; identification of native and key vegetation communities; seed collection; seeds and natural fertilizers distribution into topsoils; tree, shrub and grass plantings
Mitigation Hierarchy: integrating rehabilitation planning into active ASM design and operations so as to reduce primary environmental impacts and unnecessary rehabilitation efforts
Handover of completed rehabilitation site to relevant government administrations for approval/sign-off

National and local government permission to implement Frugal Rehabilitation Demonstration projects.
Resources to fund demonstration labour effort and technical application of methodology at site.
ASM capacity and willingness to receive training and implement the methodology on site.

Successful application of the FRM: all the key physical and ecological requirements for successful rehabilitation are (with few exceptions) available within reasonable proximity of the site. They just need to be identified and adapted to context.
Habitat rehabilitation targeted to native vegetation communities can be successful without the use of non-native species.
Identification and recovery of topsoils are critical to success.
Biological rehabilitation works well together with topsoil seedbank to establish a path to ecological recovery.
Low level mechanised approaches to heavy-lifting of material in topographic filling can be effective but a dependence on mechanisation in the later stages of rehabilitation is not recommended. Overuse of machinery in these latter phases can result in reduced capacity for biological recovery.
FRM can be applied in abandoned areas, where mineral reserves are exhausted, and it can also be integrated into current ASM operations to reduce rehabilitation efforts.
Handover and sign-off from local authorities is key to ensure ongoing commitment.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Establishment of National FRM working group with government and sectoral stakeholders

On the basis that government ministries are willing and able to work together to develop solutions to address impacts of ASM on the wider environment, Protected Areas and on stakeholders impacted by such mining activity, a national working group (which includes such ministries, agencies and relevant representative stakeholders) needs to be established. This will help steer the process of project engagement with local government, artisanal miners and wider stakeholders at the local level to set the scene for Frugal Rehabilitation Demonstration (FRD). A key step in this process is to select sites for FRD that can serve the development and application of the methodology within the ecological, economic and social context. The purpose of establishing this FRM working group is to ensure a participatory, consultative approach to the development of the methodology, and to enable a demonstration site selection process that ensures an informed and strategic approach based on agreed criteria. Sites selected for methodology demonstration need to be typical, representative and associated with formalised ASM capacity to undertake the rehabilitation.

The key enabling factors were the collaborative approach to developing the FRM and adequate resources to undertake the participatory approach both at meetings and in the field. The working group was involved in a coordinated travel program to select, assess, monitor and review rehabilitation progress and approaches at sites.

The working group’s participation and involvement in the development of the FRM was critical to its eventual endorsement and adoption. Key ministries and associated agencies played a role in selecting FRD sites, visiting them through the rehabilitation process and discussing the development of a methodology that was informed through action-research across a range of representative sites. It was also important to have exposure and engagement with formalised artisanal miners, who were keen to participate in the work and help develop a mechanism for promoting best practice and their association with such practice.

Planning phase

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Ministerial and Sectoral Alignment: a partnership-based approach to developing a Frugal Rehabilitation Methodology

Acknowledging and identifying conflicts between ministries and sectoral stakeholders is important. It is important at the early stages of an initiative to recognise these problems and to establish and work through a consultative platform to make the case for a methodology that is of value to all stakeholders, that is inclusive of artisanal miners and the stakeholders impacted by such mining as well as government ministries. It is only through such collaboration that a methodology can be developed that addresses environmental concerns, meets artisanal miners needs for performance-based incentives and access to land, and can be valued by government in formalising condition-based permitting for mining. It is within the context and platform of engagement that the FRM can be demonstrated to be of value to all stakeholders, and deliver outcomes at the local as well as national level.

Government recognition of range of problems across the sector
Government alignment on best environmental practices and effective enforcement
Government willingness to engage in wider partnerships to assess problems associated with informal ASM and to seek solutions and incentives for better environmental practices
National and stakeholder willingness for ASM formalisation to be conditional on environmental performance
ASM sector willing to implement FRM
Stakeholders willing to endorse ASM licensing based on improved environmental practices

It is critical for the initiative to have support from the national government, as a gateway to engaging with local government and other local stakeholders impacted by artisanal mining. Also, it is important that leading ministries that may potentially hold conflicting views (e.g. mining and environment) appreciate and support the initiatives’ capacity for developing solutions and approaches that can deliver benefits of interest to all parties (ministries).

Documentation and dissemination of results