The ‘good farmer’ and nature conservation through the eyes of agricultural advisors : insights from Slovenia

Novak, Ana (avtor), Šumrada, Tanja (avtor), Juvančič, Luka (avtor), Sutherland, Lee-Ann (avtor)

As nature conservation objectives are becoming increasingly integrated in the management of farming systems, agricultural advisors play a crucial role in facilitating this transition. However, although the literature on farmers’ values and social norms is well established, the role of advisors’ perspectives and how these shape farmers’ engagement with nature conservation remains under-explored. To address this gap, this study applies the “good farmer” conceptual tool, grounded in Bourdieu’s ideas of habitus, capital, and field, to analyse in-depth interviews with 20 Slovenian agricultural advisors. The findings reveal advisors’ embeddedness in a production-oriented habitus, which, together with their institutional role as policy intermediaries, appears to limit their capacity to act as facilitators of change. Advisors often adopt pragmatic strategies to reconcile tensions between top-down nature conservation policies and their position within closely-knit farming communities, where conservation practices are frequently perceived as external to the dominant cultural framework. This study advances the “good farmer” literature by introducing a novel actor group and geographical context – Central and Eastern Europe. We highlight the importance of aligning conservation strategies with locally embedded values, strengthening participatory approaches, and supporting advisors through education and collaboration to foster meaningful sustainability transitions in agriculture.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: agricultural advisors, ‘good farmer’, biodiversity-friendly farming, nature conservation, Slovenia
• Vrsta gradiva: Članek v reviji
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Organizacija: BF - Biotehniška fakulteta
• Status publikacije: Objavljeno
• Različica publikacije: Objavljena publikacija
• Leto izida: 2026
• Št. strani: 20 str.
• Številčenje: Vol. 43, iss. 1, art. 18
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-177718
• UDK: 631:502
• ISSN pri članku: 1572-8366
• DOI: 10.1007/s10460-025-10815-z
• COBISS.SI-ID: 263366659
• Datum objave v RUL: 05.01.2026

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: Agriculture and human values
• Založnik: Springer Nature
• ISSN: 1572-8366
• COBISS.SI-ID: 513116697

Licence

• Licenca: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva 4.0 Mednarodna
• Povezava: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.sl
• Opis: To je standardna licenca Creative Commons, ki daje uporabnikom največ možnosti za nadaljnjo uporabo dela, pri čemer morajo navesti avtorja.

Sekundarni jezik

• Jezik: Slovenski jezik
• Ključne besede: kmetijstvo, varstvo okolja, kmetje, kmetijski svetovalci, Slovenija

Projekti

• Financer: ARRS - Agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije
• Številka projekta: P4-0022
• Naslov: Ekonomika agroživilstva in naravnih virov

• Financer: EC - European Commission
• Program financ.: NextGenerationEU