09.09.2025
The European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE) has honored ZALF researchers Christoph Schulze and Bettina Matzdorf with the award for Best Publication. Their winning article, published in the EAAE’s Q Open journal, explores how stakeholder perspectives on agri-environmental contract design can inform more effective policymaking. The study’s findings have important implications for the effectiveness of agri-environmental and climate measures (AECM) under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The award was presented at the EAAE Congress in Bonn on August 29, 2025.
The research investigates how farmers, administrators, and advisors evaluate the design of AECMs - an important financial instrument of the CAP that supports farmers in adopting climate- and environmentally friendly practices. Based on 25 in-depth interviews conducted in the German state of Brandenburg, the study identified three common viewpoints among stakeholders: planners, cooperators, and individualists. The results highlight that environmental programs are most successful when they consider the diverse needs of these groups, thereby increasing both participation and effectiveness.
The publication is part of Christoph Schulze’s dissertation work. At ZALF, he conducts research in the working group “Governance of Ecosystem Services”, which focuses on agricultural and environmental issues - particularly the analysis of nature conservation contracts from farmers’ perspectives and the costs of implementation.
This year, the award for the best publication was presented at the EAAE Congress in Bonn, which also marked the association's 50th anniversary. More than 1,000 international experts discussed how agricultural economics can contribute to urgently needed transformations in food systems and achieving global sustainability goals.
Certificate in PDF format
Further Information:
Schulze, C., & Matzdorf, B. (2023). The institutional design of agri-environmental contracts—How stakeholder attitudes can inform policy making. Q Open, 3(1), qoad001.
https://doi.org/10.1093/qopen/qoad001
Funding:
This work was carried out as part of the
AgoraNatura project and was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, grant number 01LC1315A) and the European Research Council (ERC) as part of the EU's Horizon 2020 program in the project Contracts2.0 (grant agreement no. 818190).
