Natuurlijk samenwerken: Ervaringen van agrariërs in living labs voor biodiversiteitsherstel

Biodiversity restoration in rural areas is complex and requires collaboration between agricultural entrepreneurs, scientists and other stakeholders. Living labs provide transdisciplinary settings where farmers, researchers, and other stakeholders co-create and test interventions for biodiversity restoration. This study examines the experiences of farmers in three Dutch living labs, focusing on conditions for effective collaboration with scientists. Nine in-depth interviews, workshops, and document analyses explored farmers’ motivations, knowledge needs, and experiences with ecological measures (hardware), institutional and financial frameworks (orgware), and values and practices (software).
Findings highlight that farmers are motivated by longterm farm viability, regional biodiversity, and societal recognition. They require context-specific knowledge, secure experimental space, and integration of ecological measures with financial, institutional, and social frameworks. Moreover, alignment of project timelines
and flexibility in research design are critical to sustaining collaboration. We conclude that transdisciplinary living labs can support biodiversity restoration if they combine integrative knowledge co-creation, tailored experimental opportunities, and adaptive research governance that accommodates farmers’ practical realities and longterm planning.