Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MATS (Making Agricultural Trade Sustainable)
Période du rapport: 2023-01-01 au 2023-12-31
Trade at the local, national, and global level has the potential to produce significant positive impacts on societies, especially if governed to ensure fair prices, equitable market access, and the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). MATS wants to contribute to the development of fair trading systems which support local development in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner throughout the global agri-food value chains.
MATS identifies key leverage points for changes in agricultural trade policy regimes that foster the positive and reduce the negative impacts of trade on sustainable development. The project examines interactions between agricultural trade, sustainability, development, and investments. Focus is on improving the design and implementation of selected trade governance systems on a local, national, and global level. A particular geographic interest of MATS is on EU-Africa trade relations, but intra-EU trade relations and EU trade relations with certain parts of South America are covered in the case studies as well.
MATS contributes to the existing trade policy research by connecting micro (local) and macro (global) levels through trade regimes, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Its design includes formal quantitative models (such as System Dynamics or GTAP-type models). To address complexity and diversity in the scale of international trade and investment issues, MATS integrates these in a mixed-methods approach grounded in case study-based analysis and participatory engagement with accompanying consultations with a wide stakeholder community.
MATS applies the rigour of systems thinking, with the inspiration that systemic and systems dynamic approaches can provide further understanding on the complexity of agri-food sector and value chains. Systems thinking will help to design more coherent agricultural trade policies which support all the dimensions of sustainable development. This combination is necessary to tackle the existing disconnection in contemporary local-global trade governance systems with an under-appreciation of social sustainability and investment issues.
MATS identifies key leverage points for changes in agricultural trade policy regimes that foster the positive and reduce the negative impacts of trade on sustainable development. The project examines interactions between agricultural trade, sustainability, development, and investments. Focus is on improving the design and implementation of selected trade governance systems on a local, national, and global level. A particular geographic interest of MATS is on EU-Africa trade relations, but intra-EU trade relations and EU trade relations with certain parts of South America are covered in the case studies as well.
MATS contributes to the existing trade policy research by connecting micro (local) and macro (global) levels through trade regimes, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Its design includes formal quantitative models (such as System Dynamics or GTAP-type models). To address complexity and diversity in the scale of international trade and investment issues, MATS integrates these in a mixed-methods approach grounded in case study-based analysis and participatory engagement with accompanying consultations with a wide stakeholder community.
MATS applies the rigour of systems thinking, with the inspiration that systemic and systems dynamic approaches can provide further understanding on the complexity of agri-food sector and value chains. Systems thinking will help to design more coherent agricultural trade policies which support all the dimensions of sustainable development. This combination is necessary to tackle the existing disconnection in contemporary local-global trade governance systems with an under-appreciation of social sustainability and investment issues.
The first reporting period covers the timeline 1.7.2021-31.12.2022 when in total twenty deliverables scattered in six (out of eight) working packages has been completed.
Working package 1 was about mapping linkages between agricultural trade, trade policies, and SDGs, consisting of four deliverables setting the scene for further MATS work and the 15 in-depth case studies. Three discussion papers (i.e. deliverables) were produced and a webinar was organized to wrap up, discuss, and disseminate the results of WP1 with a variety of different stakeholders.
Working package 2 and its four deliverables produced a set of indicators for assessing the sustainability impacts of agricultural trade and a synthesis of model-based studies to gain a broad understanding of which models have been used to assess the relation between trade and sustainability in previous research. A “Sustainable Trade Toolbox” was developed to feed into the broader analytical framework developed at a later stage, connecting the modelling, governance, and case-study implementation. The toolbox will be updated following the conclusion of the 15 in-depth case studies. Using this framework, MATS aims to expand silo-based thinking and analyses, offering a more holistic and comprehensive analysis of the extent to which policy affects behavior, while using an evidence-based approach aided by science.
In the working package 3 the main work is carried out in the second (the year 2023) and third periods (the year 2024) of the project timeline. However, the first deliverable was concluded providing methodological guidelines and a reporting template for the 15 in-depth case studies. The work builds on the results of WP1 and WP2. This deliverable is important to facilitate a comparative analysis and synthesis of the case studies in the later stage of this and other working packages.
The work regarding working packages 4 and 5 will take place in the second and third period of the project timeline, and the relevant deliverables in WP4 and WP5 will be produced in 2023 and 2024.
Working package 6 is about dialogue, dissemination, and exploitation consisting of five deliverables. It includes an overview of the role of MATS in fostering effective communication between different actors and interest groups and provides an enhanced engagement strategy for MATS. It includes “The Sustainable Trade Hub” which is the MATS webpage and the core instrument for communication, interaction, and knowledge exchange between stakeholders and the venue for publishing our work. The WP6 also includes High-Level Policy Workshops, one planned in Europe and the other in Africa. The last deliverable provided an overview of all dissemination materials produced within the first period of the project and presented the follow-up dissemination materials for the later phases of the project.
Working package 7 is about project management and communication, consisting of four deliverables. Namely, the organization of general assembly, the MATS communication plan/strategy, the MATS internal communication platform and all materials, channels, and main tools for external communication, and the data management plan (DMP).
The final working package 8 was about ethics and security, providing three deliverables. The work described the key ethical principles and procedures to be used for interactive research activities in the MATS project, the Protection of Personal Data, and ethical issues that may be raised when research activities are conducted, partially or wholly, in non-EU countries.
Working package 1 was about mapping linkages between agricultural trade, trade policies, and SDGs, consisting of four deliverables setting the scene for further MATS work and the 15 in-depth case studies. Three discussion papers (i.e. deliverables) were produced and a webinar was organized to wrap up, discuss, and disseminate the results of WP1 with a variety of different stakeholders.
Working package 2 and its four deliverables produced a set of indicators for assessing the sustainability impacts of agricultural trade and a synthesis of model-based studies to gain a broad understanding of which models have been used to assess the relation between trade and sustainability in previous research. A “Sustainable Trade Toolbox” was developed to feed into the broader analytical framework developed at a later stage, connecting the modelling, governance, and case-study implementation. The toolbox will be updated following the conclusion of the 15 in-depth case studies. Using this framework, MATS aims to expand silo-based thinking and analyses, offering a more holistic and comprehensive analysis of the extent to which policy affects behavior, while using an evidence-based approach aided by science.
In the working package 3 the main work is carried out in the second (the year 2023) and third periods (the year 2024) of the project timeline. However, the first deliverable was concluded providing methodological guidelines and a reporting template for the 15 in-depth case studies. The work builds on the results of WP1 and WP2. This deliverable is important to facilitate a comparative analysis and synthesis of the case studies in the later stage of this and other working packages.
The work regarding working packages 4 and 5 will take place in the second and third period of the project timeline, and the relevant deliverables in WP4 and WP5 will be produced in 2023 and 2024.
Working package 6 is about dialogue, dissemination, and exploitation consisting of five deliverables. It includes an overview of the role of MATS in fostering effective communication between different actors and interest groups and provides an enhanced engagement strategy for MATS. It includes “The Sustainable Trade Hub” which is the MATS webpage and the core instrument for communication, interaction, and knowledge exchange between stakeholders and the venue for publishing our work. The WP6 also includes High-Level Policy Workshops, one planned in Europe and the other in Africa. The last deliverable provided an overview of all dissemination materials produced within the first period of the project and presented the follow-up dissemination materials for the later phases of the project.
Working package 7 is about project management and communication, consisting of four deliverables. Namely, the organization of general assembly, the MATS communication plan/strategy, the MATS internal communication platform and all materials, channels, and main tools for external communication, and the data management plan (DMP).
The final working package 8 was about ethics and security, providing three deliverables. The work described the key ethical principles and procedures to be used for interactive research activities in the MATS project, the Protection of Personal Data, and ethical issues that may be raised when research activities are conducted, partially or wholly, in non-EU countries.
MATS consortium has the ambition to set a new benchmark in trade policy analysis with a particular focus on social sustainability and societal implications with respect to human well-being. The unique feature of MATS is the fusing of case studies with an integrated and systemic modelling, assessment, and simulation approach, while accounting for legal and governance perspectives as part of the implementation of an analytical framework.
The main project outputs are:
1. New quantitative and qualitative insights on the interactions between agricultural markets, trade, investments, policy, environmental sustainability, and human well-being, underpinned, and illustrated, by 15 in-depth case studies.
2. A set of Discussion Papers and Policy Briefs on the impacts of EU, African, and WTO policies with their synergies and trade-offs, on transition pathways for desirable changes in trade relations and instruments with recommendations for enhancing the coherence of agricultural and trade policies with sustainable development goals and policy.
3. An enhanced civil society–stakeholder–policy dialogue that is supported by an evidence-based communication platform – the Sustainable Trade Hub – which fosters effective collaboration between researchers, policymakers, civil society, and the wider stakeholder community.
4. A set of innovative research tools for the analysis of the interactions between agricultural trade, investments, policy, innovation, environmental sustainability and human well-being, and a suite of communication materials on agricultural markets, trade, and sustainability.
The main project outputs are:
1. New quantitative and qualitative insights on the interactions between agricultural markets, trade, investments, policy, environmental sustainability, and human well-being, underpinned, and illustrated, by 15 in-depth case studies.
2. A set of Discussion Papers and Policy Briefs on the impacts of EU, African, and WTO policies with their synergies and trade-offs, on transition pathways for desirable changes in trade relations and instruments with recommendations for enhancing the coherence of agricultural and trade policies with sustainable development goals and policy.
3. An enhanced civil society–stakeholder–policy dialogue that is supported by an evidence-based communication platform – the Sustainable Trade Hub – which fosters effective collaboration between researchers, policymakers, civil society, and the wider stakeholder community.
4. A set of innovative research tools for the analysis of the interactions between agricultural trade, investments, policy, innovation, environmental sustainability and human well-being, and a suite of communication materials on agricultural markets, trade, and sustainability.