Kan een goede boer natuurinclusief zijn? De rol van culturele normen in een beweging richting natuurinclusieve landbouw

What farmers consider as a good farmer and a good landscape influences their views about nature inclusive farming. We investigated the cultural norms concerning the ‘good farmer’ and the ‘good landscape’ in a qualitative study involving 24 farmers in 4 case study areas. A good farmer can be recognised by his/her land, and what good land should look like depends on its use: for food production it should be tidy and well maintained; nature-inclusive land may look a bit ‘messy’. Respondents notice that cultural norms are changing, particularly as a consequence of new practices that are visible in the landscape. New skills are required to put nature-inclusive farming into practice and to recognise and appreciate it in other farmers’ land. This in turn requires subcultures in which such cultural capital can be accumulated. An example of such subcultures are agri-environmental collectives. The report contains action strategies for influencingcultural norms.