Beyond pesticide reduction: Exploring synergies between contrasted territorial scenarios

Pesticide use creates significant environmental, health and socioeconomic challenges and its reduction is hindered by sociotechnical lock-ins. The territorial level, combined with systemic approaches, is promising to overcome these systemic challenges. This research proposes an original methodological approach which, instead of aiming at creating consensus, explores contrasted pesticide reduction scenarios with local stakeholders based on existing initiatives in order to identify pathways for collective action. The study was conducted in the Western Plain of Montpellier, in Southern France, and involved a diversity of stakeholders from the territory and outside of the territory in 5 steps, using the Co-Click’Eau tool and workshops. The scenarios explored the potential of diversification for food production, biodiversity conservation and crop-livestock integration to meet pesticide reduction challenges. In addition to an important pesticide use reduction, each scenario proposed significant land-use and farming practices transformations. The analysis revealed that the approach was able to create spaces for dialogue through the formulation of synergies between these strategies by participants, especially on land-use management, technical levers, linking production to consumers and highlighted complementary contributions of biodiversity and livestock to the territory. Beyond its agronomic dimensions, the process opens the pathway to better coordination with the identification of synergies and tensions between different visions, helping to identify coherent strategies including agricultural production, biodiversity, and food objectives. By doing so, our approach contributes to embedding pesticide reduction into a broader, systemic reconfiguration of agroecosystems and territorial governance. • 3 co-designed scenarios aimed for reduced pesticide use while tackling food, biodiversity and farming challenges. • The scenarios involved shifts in land use and farming practices. Indicators exposed and trade-offs of each scenario. • Additional workshops with local actors revealed tensions and synergies across scenarios. • The participatory process highlighted pathways for coordinated collective action.