Summary
This vision document supports national and regional Dutch authorities in operationalising the National Rural Area Programme by translating landscape-level sustainability targets into farm-specific KPIs and provincial prioritisation frameworks. The authors propose a spatially-explicit approach to identify and rank farm-level challenges, coupled with tailored intervention strategies operating at three implementation levels: good agricultural practice management adjustments, system-level farm restructuring, and broader systemic transitions. The framework aims to enable integrated steering of agricultural and environmental objectives whilst supporting monitoring and acceleration of the sustainability transition.
Regional applicability
This is a Netherlands-specific policy analysis with direct relevance to Dutch provincial governance and the National Rural Area Programme. Transferability to United Kingdom conditions is limited, as the study is contextualised to Dutch agro-ecological conditions, the Dutch Common Agricultural Policy implementation framework, and regional administrative structures; however, the methodological approach to spatially-explicit KPI translation and multi-level intervention design may inform UK policy development around farm-specific sustainability targets and regional agricultural transition planning.
Key measures
Critical Performance Indicators (KPIs): ammonia emissions, greenhouse gas emissions / groundwater levels (peatland), soil nitrogen surplus, phosphorus loading reduction measures, riparian and ditch management, soil quality, proportion of natural landscape elements
Outcomes reported
The study translated national sustainability objectives into farm-specific and provincial performance targets across six Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), including ammonia emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen soil surplus, phosphorus loading, soil quality, and natural landscape elements. It identified three levels of intervention strategies—from management adjustments to system-level changes—to enable region-specific, tailored solutions for sustainable agriculture transition.
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