Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Regenerating soil, regenerating soul: an integral approach to understanding agricultural transformation

  • Special Feature: Original Article
  • The “How” of Transformation: Integrative Approaches to Sustainability
  • Published:
Sustainability Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Understanding what motivates farmers to adopt “climate-smart” regenerative practices is critical for developing the right policies, incentives, outreach, and support mechanisms. This article explores factors that motivated farmers in NSW Australia to transition from conventional to regenerative agriculture (RA), focusing on the role that their perceptions of agrochemicals and the microbiome played. Drawing on integral theory, the article takes a holistic approach to analyzing how farmer interiorities in personal and collective realms interacted with external behavior and the larger social-ecological system in which food and fiber is produced. A key finding is that negative experiences with agrochemicals associated with increasing costs and declining results were an important driver of change. Conversely, positive experiences learning about the microbiome and practicing ecological approaches to fertilization and pest control engendered enthusiasm and commitment to a transition away from high-input agriculture and a transformation in mindset. Further, conviviality associated with communities of practice, e.g. microscope groups, played an important role in the transition process, as farmers solidified new identities and participated in ongoing social learning. Based on these results, I argue that farmers’ feelings of kinship with nature (animals, plants, microbes) resulting from learning about and working with soil are underappreciated drivers of behavioral change and powerful leverage points for larger-scale social-ecological transformation. The integral model facilitates recognition of the connections between soil condition, farmers’ perceptions of and feelings about its condition, ensuing behavior including participation in new networks, and the creation of new norms, all of which create space for the emergence of institutional and systemic change.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abson DJ, Sherren K, Fischer J (2019) The resilience of Australian agricultural landscapes characterized by land sparing versus land sharing. In: Gardner S, Ramsden S, Hails R (eds) Agricultural resilience: perspectives from ecology and economics. Ecological reviews (British Ecological Society) (Chapter 11). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 232–252

    Google Scholar 

  • Adevi AA, Martensson F (2013) Stress rehabilitation through garden therapy: The garden as a place in the recovery from stress. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 12(2):230–237

    Google Scholar 

  • Adger WN, Barnett J, Chapin FS, Ellemor H (2011) This must be the place: underrepresentation of identity and meaning in climate change decision-making. Global Environmental Politics 11(2):1–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Adger WN, Barnett J, Brown K, Marshall N, O’Brien K (2013) Cultural dimensions of climate change impacts and adaptation. Nat Clim Chang 3(2):112–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Babaian C, Twigg P (2011) The power of plants: Introducing ethnobotany and biophilia into your biology class. American Biology Teacher 73(4):217–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes ML, Wang P, Cinner JE, Graham NAJ, Guerrero AM, Jasny L, Lau J, Sutcliffe SR, Zamborain-Mason J (2020) Social determinants of adaptive and transformative responses to climate change. Nat Clim Chang. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0871-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrera-Bassols N, Zinck JA (2003) Ethnopedology: A worldwide view on the soil knowledge of local people. Geoderma 111(3–4):171–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernard HR (2006) Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. AltaMira Press, Lanham, MD

    Google Scholar 

  • Best D, Beckwith M, Haslam C, Haslam SA, Jetten J, Mawson E, Lubman DI (2015) Overcoming alcohol and other drug addiction as a process of social identity transition: the social identity model of recovery (SIMOR). Addict Res Theory 24(2):111–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Beus C, Dunlap R (1990) Conventional vs. alternative agriculture: the paradigmatic roots of the debate. Rural Sociol 55(4):590–616

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown AM (2017) Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds. AK Press, Chico, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown K, Adger WN, Devine-Wright P, Anderies JM, Barr S, Bousquet F, Butler C, Evans L, Marshall N, Quinn T (2019) Empathy, place and identity interactions for sustainability. Global Environmental Change Part A 56:11–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Burton RJF (2004) Seeing through the ‘good farmer’s’ eyes: Towards developing an understanding of the social symbolic value of ‘productivist’ behaviour. Sociol Rural 44(2):195–215

    Google Scholar 

  • Caillon S, Cullman G, Verschuuren B, Sterling EJ (2017) Moving beyond the human–nature dichotomy through biocultural approaches: Including ecological well-being in resilience indicators. Ecol Soc 22(4):27. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09746-220427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callicott JB (1990) The metaphysical transition in farming: From the Newtonian-mechanical to the Eltonian ecological. Journal of Agricultural Ethics 3:36–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02014479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell H (2020) Farming Inside Invisible Worlds: Modernist Agriculture and its Consequences. Bloomsbury Academic, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell BM, Beare DJ, Bennett EM, Hall-Spencer JM, Ingram JSI, Jaramillo F, Ortiz R, Ramankutty N, Sayer JA, Shindell D (2017) Agriculture production as a major driver of the Earth system exceeding planetary boundaries. Ecol Soc 22(4):8

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS III, Chapin FS, Pickett STA, Power ME et al (2011) Earth stewardship: a strategy for social–ecological transformation to reverse planetary degradation. Journal of Environmental Studies and Science 1:44–53. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-011-0010-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cox TEB (2014) Integral agriculture: Taking seriously the mindset of the farmer, the interiority of the beings on the farm, and a metaphysics that connects them. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Iowa State University

  • Creswell JW (2009) Research Design: Qualitative. Sage Publications Inc, Thousand Oaks, CA, US, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches

    Google Scholar 

  • Cross R, Ampt P (2016) Exploring agroecological sustainability: Unearthing innovators and documenting a community of practice in Southeast Australia. Soc Nat Resour 30(5):585–600

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis JV (2011) Ecopsychology, transpersonal psychology and nonduality. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 30(1–2):137–147

    Google Scholar 

  • de Bruyn LL, Abbey JA (2003) Characterisation of farmers’ soil sense and the implications for on-farm monitoring of soil health. Aust J Exp Agric 43(3):285–305

    Google Scholar 

  • de Bruyn LL, Andrews S (2016) Are Australian and United States farmers using soil information for soil health management? Sustainability 8(4):304

    Google Scholar 

  • de Bruyn LL, Jenkins A, Samson-Liebig S (2017) Lessons learnt: Sharing soil knowledge to improve land management and sustainable soil use. Soil Sci Soc Am J 81(3):427–438

    Google Scholar 

  • Doherty D, Jeeves A (2016) Regrarians handbook. Regrarian, Ltd., Victoria, Australia

    Google Scholar 

  • Esbjorn-Hargens S, Zimmerman M (2009) Integral Ecology: Uniting Multiple Perspectives on the Natural World. Shambhala, Boston, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Evich HB (2019) How a closed-door meeting shows farmers are waking up on climate change. Politico, December 9, 2019. https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/09/farmers-climate-change-074024

  • Fazey IRA (2010) Resilience and higher order thinking. Ecol Soc 15(3):9

    Google Scholar 

  • Folke C, Jansson A, Rockstrom J, Olsson P, Carpenter SR, Chapin FS, Crepin A-S, Daily G, Danell K, Ebbesson J, Elmqvist T, Galasz V, Moberg F, Nilsson M, Osterblom H, Ostrom E, Persson A, Peterson G, Polasky S, Steffen W, Walker B, Westley F (2011) Reconnecting to the biosphere. Ambio 40(7):719–738

    Google Scholar 

  • Folke C, Österblom H, Jouffray JB, Lambin EF, Adger WN, Scheffer M, Crona BI, Nyström M, Levin SA, Carpenter SR, Anderies JM, Chapin S III, Crépin AS, Dauriach A, Galaz V, Gordon LJ, Kautsky N, Walker BH, Watson JR, Wilen J, de Zeeuw A (2019) Transnational corporations and the challenge of biosphere stewardship. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3:1396–1403

    Google Scholar 

  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2013) Climate-Smart Agriculture: Sourcebook. United Nations, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Fortuna G (2020) Europe revives carbon farming but without access to carbon markets. Euractiv.com, September 30, 2020. https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/europe-revives-carbon-farming-but-without-access-to-carbon-markets/

  • Fountain H (2021) A different kind of land management: Let the cows stomp. New York Times, February 17, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/climate/regenerative-grazing-cattle-climate.html

  • Francis CA, Harwood RR (1985) Enough food: achieving food security through regenerative agriculture. Rodale Institute, Kutztown, PA

    Google Scholar 

  • Fullerton J (2015) Regenerative capitalism: how universal principles and patterns will shape our new economy. Capital Institute, Greenwich, CT

    Google Scholar 

  • Fynn R (2012) Functional resource heterogeneity increases livestock and rangeland productivity. Rangeland Ecology Management 65(4):319–329

    Google Scholar 

  • Giles J (2019) Could this new way of grazing help avoid a culture clash over burgers? GreenBiz July 22, 2019. https://www.greenbiz.com/article/could-new-way-grazing-help-avoid-culture-clash-over-burgers

  • Giller KE, Hijbeek R, Andersson JA, Sumberg J (2021) Regenerative Agriculture: An agronomic perspective. Outlook Agric. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030727021998063

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gosnell H, Gill N, Voyer M (2019) Transformational adaptation on the farm: Processes of change and persistence in transitions to “climate-smart” regenerative agriculture. Glob Environ Chang 59:101965. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.101965

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gosnell H, Grimm K, Goldstein B (2020a) A half century of Holistic Management: What does the evidence reveal? Agric Hum Values 37(3):849–867. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10016-w

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gosnell H, Charnley S, Stanley P (2020b) Climate change mitigation as a co-benefit of regenerative ranching: Insights from Australia and the United States. Interface Focus 10:20200027. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2020.0027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grenni S, Soini K, Horlings LG (2019) The inner dimension of sustainability transformation: How sense of place and values can support sustainable place-shaping. Sustain Sci 15:411–422

    Google Scholar 

  • Griscom BW, Adams J, Ellis PW, Houghton RA, Lomax G, Miteva DA, Schlesinger WH, Shoch D, Siikamäki JV, Smith P, Woodbury P, Zganjar C, Blackman A, Campari J, Conant RT, Delgado C, Elias P, Gopalakrishna T, Hamsik MR, Herrero M, Kiesecker J, Landis E, Laestadius L, Leavitt SM, Minnemeyer S, Polasky S, Potapov P, Putz FE, Sanderman J, Silvius M, Wollenberg E, Fargione J (2017) Natural climate solutions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 114:11645–11650. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1710465114

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gunderson L, Holling CS (2001) Panarchy: Understanding Transformations in Human and Natural Systems. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Hochachka G (2011) Integrating interiority in sustainable community development: a case study with San Juan del Gozo Community, El Salvador. In: Esbjorn-Hargens S, Zimmerman M (eds) Integral ecology: uniting multiple perspectives on the natural world. Integral Books, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Holscher K, Wittmayer JM, Loorbach D (2018) Transition versus transformation: What’s the difference? Environmental Innovations and Societal Transitions 27:1–3

    Google Scholar 

  • Hustak C, Myers N (2012) Involutionary momentum: affective ecologies of plant/insect encounters. Differences 23(3):74–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamatsis I, Francis AJP (2013) Spirituality mediates the relationship between engagement with nature and psychological well-being. J Environ Psychol 36:136–143

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellert SR, Wilson EO (1995) The Biophilia Hypothesis. Island Press, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • LaCanne CE, Lundgren JG (2018) Regenerative agriculture: merging farming and natural resource conservation profitably. PeerJ 6:e4428. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lal R (2020) Regenerative agriculture for food and climate. J Soil Water Conserv. https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.2020.0620A

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watershed Landcare, Inc (2013) “Beyond the Rhetoric” - Mudgee Microscope Group, a case study: a cooperative approach by land managers to better understand and manage for soil biological health. http://www.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/617590/Mudgee-Microscope-Group-Case-Study.pdf

  • Lloro-Bidart T (2018) Cultivating affects: a feminist posthumanist analysis of invertebrate and human performativity in an urban community garden. Emot Space Soc 27:23–30. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755458617301767

  • Lorimer J (2020) The Probiotic Planet: Using Life to Manage Life. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN

    Google Scholar 

  • Machmuller MB, Kramer MG, Cyle TK, Hill N, Hancock D, Thompson A (2015) Emerging land use practices rapidly increase soil organic matter. Nat Commun 6:6995. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7995

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mann C, Parkins JR, Isaac ME, Sherren K (2019) Do practitioners of holistic management exhibit systems thinking? Ecol Soc 24(3):19. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11092-240319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marquis A (2007) What is integral theory? Couns Values 51(3):164–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Massy C (2017) Call of the Reed Warbler: A New Agriculture, A New Earth. University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, Queensland

    Google Scholar 

  • Masters N (2019) For the love of soil: strategies to regenerate our food production systems. Printable Reality, New Zealand

    Google Scholar 

  • Masterson VA, Stedman RC, Enqvist J, Tengö M, Giusti M, Wahl D, Svedin U (2017) The contribution of sense of place to social-ecological systems research: A review and research agenda. Ecol Soc 22(1):49. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-08872-220149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell JA (2005) Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach. Sage Publications Inc, Thousand Oaks, CA, US

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer FS, Frantz CM, Bruehlman-Senecal E, Dolliver K (2009) Why is nature beneficial? The role of connectedness to nature. Environ Behav 41(5):607–643

    Google Scholar 

  • McGuire A (2018) Regenerative agriculture: solid principles, extraordinary claims. Washington State University, Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources. https://csanr.wsu.edu/regen-ag-solid-principles-extraordinary-claims/

  • Meadows D (2008) Thinking in systems: a primer. Earthscan, Sterling, VA

    Google Scholar 

  • Mercola J (2017) Will McDonald’s transition to regenerative agriculture? Organic Consumers Association. Dec. 19, 2017. https://www.organicconsumers.org/news/will-mcdonalds-transition-regenerative-agriculture

  • Miles MB, Huberman AM (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, 2nd edn. Sage Publications Inc, Thousand Oaks, CA, US

    Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery DR (2017) Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life. W. W. Norton & Co., New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore M-L, Tjornbo O, Enfors E, Knapp C, Hodbod J, Baggio JA, Norström A, Olsson P, Biggs D (2014) Studying the complexity of change: toward an analytical framework for understanding deliberate social-ecological transformations. Ecol Soc 19(4):54. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-06966-190454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore M-L, Riddell D, Vocisano D (2015) Scaling out, scaling up, scaling deep: Strategies of non-profits in advancing systemic social innovation. J Corp Citizsh 58:67–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Moser SC, Hart JF (2015) The long arm of climate change: Exploring climate change impacts via teleconnections. Clim Change. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-015-1328-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nerbonne JF, Lentz R (2003) Rooted in grass: Challenging patterns of knowledge exchange as a means of fostering social change in a southeast Minnesota farm community. Agric Hum Values 20:65–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Neufeldt H, Jahn M, Campbell BM, Beddington JR, DeClerck F, De Pinto A, Gulledge J (2013) Beyond climate-smart agriculture: Toward safe operating spaces for global food systems. Agriculture & Food Security 2(1):1–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Newton P, Civita N, Frankel-Goldwater L, Bartel K, Johns C (2020) What is regenerative agriculture? A review of scholar and practitioner definitions based on processes and outcomes. Front Sustain Food Syst 4:577723. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2020.577723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien AT (2013) Supporting soil fungi to rebuild soils in agriculture. PAN: Philosophy Activism Nature 10 

  • O’Brien K (2013) The courage to change: adaptation from the inside-out. In: Moser S, Boykoff M (eds) Successful adaptation: linking science and practice in managing climate change impacts. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien K (2018) Is the 1.5C target possible? Exploring the three spheres of transformation. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 31:153–160

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien K, Hochachka G (2010) Integral adaptation to climate change. Journal of Integral Theory and Practice 5(1):89–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogden LA, Hall B, Tanita K (2013) Animals, plants, people, and things: A review of multispecies ethnography. Environment and Society: Advances in Research 4:5–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Patton MQ (2002) Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. Sage Publications Inc, Thousand Oaks, CA, US

    Google Scholar 

  • Pauli N, Abbot LK, Negrete-Yankelevich S, Andres P (2016) Farmers’ knowledge and use of soil fauna in agriculture: A worldwide review. Ecol Soc 21(3):19

    Google Scholar 

  • Paustian K, Lehmann J, Ogle S, Reay D, Robertson GP, Smith P (2016) Climate-smart soils. Nature 532:49–57. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature17174

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pelling M (2010) Adaptation to Climate Change: From Resilience to Transformation, 1st edn. Routledge

    Google Scholar 

  • Perroni E (2019) A regenerative era in Australian agriculture is emerging. Food movement, food systems news and reviews. Sustainable Food Trust. https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/a-regenerative-era-in-australian-agriculture-is-emerging/

  • Pincus L, Ballard H, Harris E, Scow K (2018) Seeing below the surface: Making soil processes visible to Ugandan smallholder farmers through a constructivist and experiential extension approach. Agric Hum Values 35(2):425–440

    Google Scholar 

  • Pouliot A (2013) Intimate strangers of the subterrain: a mycelial metaphor for connectivity. PAN: Philosophy, Activism, Nature, no 10

  • Provenza F (2018) Nourishment: What Animals Can Teach Us About Rediscovering Our Nutritional Wisdom. Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction, VT

    Google Scholar 

  • Puig de la Bellacasa M (2014) Making time for soil: Technoscientific futurity and the pace of care. Soc Stud Sci 45(5):691–716

    Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes CJ (2017) The imperative for regenerative agriculture. Sci Prog 100(1):80–129

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Richelle L, Visser M, Bock L, Walpole P, Mialhe F, Colinet G, Dendoncker N (2018) Looking for a dialogue between farmers and scientific soil knowledge: learnings from an ethno-geomorphopedological study in a Philippine’s upland village. Agroecol Sustain Food Syst 42(1):2–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2017.1322661

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riddell D (2011) Evolving approaches to conservation: integral ecology and Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest. In: Esbjorn-Hargens S, Zimmerman M (eds) Integral ecology: uniting multiple perspectives on the natural world. Integral Books, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Riedy C (2007) The eye of the storm: an integral perspective on sustainable development and climate change response. VDM Verlag

  • Savory A, Butterfield J (2016) Holistic Management, Third Edition: A Commonsense Revolution to Restore Our Environment. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Scannell L, Gifford R (2010) Defining place attachment: a tripartite organizing framework. J Environ Psychol 30:1–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Scherr S, Shames S, Friedman R (2012) From climate-smart agriculture to climate-smart landscapes. Agric Food Secur 1(12)

  • Sherren K, Fischer J, Fazey I (2012) Managing the grazing landscape: Insights for agricultural adaptation from a mid-drought photo-elicitation study in the Australian sheep-wheat belt. Agric Syst 106:72e83

    Google Scholar 

  • Shrivastava P, Smith MS, O’Brien K, Zsolnai L (2020) Transforming sustainability science to generate positive social and environmental change globally. One Earth 2(4):329–340

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh N (2015) Payments for ecosystem services and the gift paradigm: Sharing the burden and joy of environmental care. Ecol Econ 117:53–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Soloviev ER, Landua G (2016) Levels of regenerative agriculture. Terra Genesis International. http://www.terra-genesis.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Levelsof-Regenerative-Agriculture-1.pdf

  • Stinner DH, Stinner BR, Martsolf E (1997) Biodiversity as an organizing principle in agroecosystem management: Case studies of holistic resource management practitioners in the USA. Agr Ecosyst Environ 62:199–213

    Google Scholar 

  • Teague R, Barnes M (2017) Grazing management that regenerates ecosystem function and grazing land livelihoods. African Journal of Range & Forage Science 34(2):77–86. https://doi.org/10.2989/10220119.2017.1334706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teague WR, Apfelbaum S, Lal R, Kreuter UP, Rowntree J, Davies CA (2016) The role of ruminants in reducing agriculture’s carbon footprint in North America. J Soil Water Conserv 71(2):156–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Tissot B (2011) Integral marine ecology: community-based fishery management in Hawaii. In: Esbjorn-Hargens S, Zimmerman M (eds) Integral ecology: uniting multiple perspectives on the natural world. Integral Books, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Toensmeier E (2016) The Carbon Farming Solution: A Global Toolkit of Perennial Crops and Regenerative Agriculture Practices for Climate Change Mitigation and Food Security. Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction, VT

    Google Scholar 

  • Tourangeau W, Sherren K (2020) Leverage points for sustainable wool production in the Falkland Islands. J Rural Stud 74:22–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Volcovici V (2019) In rare bipartisan bill, U.S. senators tackle climate change via agriculture. Reuters, June 4, 2020. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-climatechange-agriculture/in-rare-bipartisan-bill-u-s-senators-tackle-climate-change-via-agriculture-idUSKBN23B23J

  • Westley FR, Tjornbo O, Schultz L, Olsson P, Folke C, Crona B, Bodin Ö (2013) A theory of transformative agency in linked social-ecological systems. Ecol Soc 18(3)

  • Wilber K (1996) A Brief History of Everything, 2nd edn. Shambhala, Boston, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeomans PA (1954) The keyline plan. P.A. Yeomans, Sydney. https://soilandhealth.org/book/the-keyline-plan/

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was made possible by a grant from the USDA Pacific Northwest Research Station and the generosity of colleagues at the University of Wollongong, especially Dr. Nicholas Gill. I am indebted to the many sheep and beef farmers, consultants, and educators who took the time to share their knowledge with me, and to the reviewers whose suggestions greatly improved this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Hannah Gosnell

Authors
  1. Hannah Gosnell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hannah Gosnell.

Additional information

Handled by Karen O'Brien, University of Oslo, Norway.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gosnell, H. Regenerating soil, regenerating soul: an integral approach to understanding agricultural transformation. Sustain Sci 17, 603–620 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-00993-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-00993-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation