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Short Abstract

Initially top-down, France’s Farmland Biodiversity Observatory engages farmers in biodiversity monitoring through local networks. Acting as a “frontier object,” it fosters dialogue between scientists and farmers, enabling collective action and collaboration across scales.

Abstract

The Farmland Biodiversity Observatory (FBO; Observatoire Agricole de la Biodiversité, France) is a citizen science programme designed to better understand links between agricultural practices and biodiversity at a local scale, and to engage farmers and agricultural professionals in biodiversity monitoring. Launched in 2011, the programme is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture. It was initially designed in a top-down way: objectives and protocols were defined at a national level to be deployed by local networks.

At the national level, the programme is coordinated by the National Museum of Natural History in collaboration with the National Agricultural Chambers (Chambres d’Agriculture France, CDA). The agricultural chambers are a network of public organisations administered by elected officials from the agricultural, rural and forestry sectors, with the CDA being the national entity.At the local level, implementation relies on a diverse range of facilitators - local agricultural chambers, cooperatives, associations, agricultural syndicates, etc. – who often integrate FBO in their own work and projects. Therefore, while the FBO is a national programme, each network may have their own dynamics and objectives.

As we observe a tension between knowledge production at the national scale and the participants’ operational expectations, direct engagement with farmers often appears limited. However, research on the programme shows that other dynamics must be considered. Indeed, the FBO operates as a “frontier object”: a shared framework that connects communities with different values, practices, and knowledge systems. Here, the naturalist observation fosters dialogue among the programme’s various stakeholders. With local networks and stakeholders interpreting the programme differently depending on contexts and perspectives, the FBO facilitates collective action and cooperation.

This contribution will discuss how a top-down farmland citizen science initiative evolved into a tool for dialogue and local scale collaboration.