Conceptualizing desertification in Southern Europe: stakeholder interpretations and multiple policy agendas

Summary

This qualitative study examines how agricultural and environmental policies contribute to desertification in Southern Europe by analysing stakeholder interpretations and policy implementation processes across Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Rather than identifying policy design flaws, the research reveals that harmful land management practices arise primarily from power imbalances between interest groups in land-use planning. The vagueness of 'desertification' as a concept permits multiple stakeholder interpretations, allowing powerful actors to align policy with their interests through selective discourse and institutional structures that reinforce their decision-making authority over natural resources.

Regional applicability

Whilst the study focuses on Southern Europe, its findings on policy implementation gaps, stakeholder power dynamics, and institutional barriers to effective land management are potentially transferable to United Kingdom upland and marginal land contexts where similar tensions between agricultural production, environmental protection, and structural policy goals exist. However, the specific desertification drivers and stakeholder configurations differ substantially between Southern Europe and the UK.

Key measures

Stakeholder interpretations of desertification; policy discourse analysis; land management practice drivers; power dynamics in policy implementation networks

Outcomes reported

The study identified how agricultural, environmental and structural policies link to desertification outcomes across four Southern European case study areas. It examined how policy goals are translated into land management actions through stakeholder networks and power dynamics.

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