Area: Sustainable development and circular economies Progetto: Agriculture on the front page Project leader: Mauro Del Corpo
The “primary” sector, for some time now, is no longer just a traditional sector of the economy: it is a group of economic, social and territorial relationships and for some aspects of lifestyles. It is a sector that offers ever more diversified goods and services and makes it more and more related to consumers and other sectors of the economy; it is a sector that, beyond mere production, expresses more than other areas of the territory, multi-functionality and ecosystem services. 40% of the Community budget is allocated to the sector and this is aroused questions in public opinion that does not fully know the extent of the services that agriculture offers.
The theme of information and communication can not therefore assume an economic and marketing, political and social reputation value. But it is also an opportunity to reflect on the ability that information and communication have matured to transmit the scientific and cultural contents that support the sector on which he lives life for individuals.
We talk too much about food, ignoring the fact that we have scientific research, experimentation, innovation to improve quality, and an agriculture that is increasingly attentive to preserving the environment and guaranteeing ecosystem services. And all this without forgetting the teachings that come from tradition. The primary sector is, in other words, a sector that today, much more than yesterday, faces processes that are primarily economic and social relations, the contamination of scientific and popular languages, innovative openings, all elements of the transfer of knowledge, even through modern digital paradigms.
If this assumption is accepted, then it becomes clear that today it is no longer sufficient to communicate – or inform or divulge – towards an indistinct or more or less known user, but it is more appropriate to dialogue with the various stakeholders, whether they are consumers or operators in the sector, to share data, knowledge, experiences, and to aggregate communities, social networks, interest groups. To create a dialogue between all the stakeholders (producers, distributors, distributors and consumers), can have the virtuous effect of giving more dignity to agriculture, including niche, and to direct the food supply chains more and more in the direction of satisfying the increasing consumer demand for healthy eating and sustainably produced.
And this applies to the whole system of relations of the agricultural world: enterprise, training and work, business, university and research, public administration, trade and consumption, food and society, etc.