| Chapter : | Introduction: Putting Ecological Economics into Sustainable Agricultural Practices |
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political, and sociocultural dimensions of agriculture (which will be demonstrated through the case study). This will achieve outcomes consistent with those broadly defined sustainability objectives that are at the core of ecological agricultural practices as well as ecological economics agendas.
Objective 2: From a specific application of the holistic perspective (i.e., a methodological synthesis of the ecological economics analytical framework and system dynamics modelling) proposed in this research, the potential of this approach in helping policy makers shift the current management of agriculture towards more sustainable practices is explored. In addition, a set of recommendations will be developed for scientific research and policy formulation aimed at improving the sustainable development of ecological agriculture in China, which also can be generally applied to agricultural development around the world.
To achieve these expected objectives, the development of suitable methodologies and tools is essential.
Methodological Framework
The research will be carried out within the general conceptual framework of ecological economics, which has emphasised the articulation of the interdependences and interactions of ecological, economic, and social sustainability. This perspective will be employed in studying the complex nature of problems encountered in the context of Chinese ecological agriculture. The research also promotes the necessity of taking a holistic or integrated approach in dealing with these problems. Although ecological economics has been found to be holistic in principle, in practice it seems that there are no immediate tools available for implementing this part of its theory, particularly in relation to sustainable agriculture. The purpose of the present research is to identify appropriate tools that could be used to support a holistic policy analysis as well as policy making in relation to ecological agriculture. Building on the epistemological foundation of ecological economics’ methodological pluralism described by Norgaard (1989), a specific system dynamics modelling approach is