A territorial approach to organic farming: the case of eco-regions in Austria

Summary

The ongoing changes from an agricultural to a rural society require from farmers to define their position new. Organic agriculture provides a value system which is well accepted by non-agricultural rural stakeholders and can therefore be a potential starting point for territorial sustainable development. In Aus-tria the approach of eco-regions (Bioregioen) provides such an approach. The paper gives some preliminary results on the preconditions necessary for the establishment of such an approach building on the results of an ongoing national project. Furthermore different strategies how to position the organic agenda within the framework of various regional development strategies are discussed.