Assessing the contribution of digital technologies to agroecological principles in the European context

Abstract

The aim of our research is to find out how the alignment/misalignment of digital technologies with agroecological principles can be assessed, in order to allow for a holistic evaluation of digital technologies in the future. To address this research question, we looked at agroecology as the “10 elements of agroecology” defined by the FAO, which encompass environmental, socio-economic, cultural and political principles. We developed a set of indicators representing these elements of agroecology. The indicator development was based on an exploratory and a systematic literature review, as well as a short survey, followed by a series of qualitative interviews with both agroecology and digitalisation experts. First results indicate that our indicator-based approach, although non-exhaustive, allows for a wide number of digital technologies to be assessed under the lens of their contribution to agroecology.