Research project UNMEASURED

Summary

This project aims to bridge critical gaps in agroecology assessment by developing methodologies to evaluate ‘unmeasurable’ and difficultto-measure dimensions that are central to agroecological transitions but often overlooked in existing frameworks. By using participatory methods and a LL (multi-stakeholder) approach, it will develop and test qualitative, narrative-driven, and culturally grounded indicators to co-create tools that complement and enhance existing assessment frameworks, specifically FAO’s TAPE, Agroecology Europe’s OASIS, HOLPA, and the Agroecology Assessment Framework used by the international Agroecology Coalition. Through co-creation with diverse stakeholders—including farmers, consumers, civil society, researchers, and policymakers—UNMEASURED will moreover develop contextsensitive methodologies, including by building on the serious game La Grange (originally developed for agricultural learning and multidimensional decision-making by INRAE), to make hidden trade-offs, incommensurable values, and externalities visible and actionable. These enhancements will support policy-makers and practitioners in balancing priorities across social, economic, and environmental dimensions, establishing foundations for holistic and equitable agroecological transitions.

The project’s innovative contribution lies particularly in its focus on dimensions that are crucial for agroecology but difficult to quantify (Fig.2). Examples include social cohesion (expressed through trust networks, collective action, and mutual aid in rural and farming communities), cultural resilience (the capacity to transmit agroecological practices and knowledge across generations despite external pressures), care relations (active support for the interconnected well-being of farmers, communities, and ecosystems), and knowledge sovereignty (safeguarding context-specific, farmer-led innovation). These aspects—along with challenges such as intergenerational justice (balancing immediate needs with long-term ecological commitments), food sovereignty (ensuring communities have control over their food systems), and resilience to crises (where diversified, localised practices help mitigate climate, economic, and social shocks)—will be evaluated through participatory, qualitative, and relational methodologies that capture their full complexity. By aligning with key international agroecology frameworks—as well as the principles outlined in the Nyéléni declaration developed during the grassroots process running in parallel to the FAO regional seminars on agroecology—the project ensures that its approach remains scientifically rigorous, policy-relevant, and grounded in practitioner realities.

The two key innovations of UNMEASURED are the development of qualitative indicators for dimensions that resist standardisation, and decision-support tools for policymakers, farmers, agricultural advisors, researchers, community activists and other actors to navigate tradeoffs in agroecological transitions. Through an iterative process of development, testing, refinement, and validation in Living Labs across Northern, Western, Southern and Eastern Europe (see fig. 1), the project will generate evidence-based methodologies that enhance existing agroecology assessment frameworks, making them more holistic, relevant and transformative for scientific research, institutional decisionmaking, and practical implementation by agroecological practitioners.