Sebastian Eiter
Research Professor
(+47) 974 81 109
sebastian.eiter@nibio.no
Place
Ås O43
Visiting address
Oluf Thesens vei 43, 1433 Ås
Biography
Dr Sebastian Eiter is a geographer and landscape ecologist. His research topics include driving forces and consequences of agricultural landscape change, cultural heritage, biodiversity, public participation and urban agriculture.
Abstract
Urban agriculture (UA) is increasingly recognized as a key component of sustainable cities. Commercial farmers in urban areas benefit from a large customer base, short transport distances, and access to diverse sales channels. However, high pressure on land resources makes it difficult for farmers and decision makers to find suitable areas for UA. This study ranks urban and peri-urban farmland areas based on their suitability for urban agriculture (UA) and identifies opportunities for extending the area for UA to currently unused farmland. Through collaboration with urban farmers, we identified four key themes and eleven criteria, which were weighted for two sales scenarios: on-farm and off-farm. We performed a GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and assessed suitability using the technique of order preference similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) on 1×1 km grid cells. By overlaying the suitability maps with presumably unused farmland (PUF), we identified areas with high potential for extending UA. In the City of Bergen, 15.3% (on-farm; off-farm=14%) of the total farmland is both unused and highly suitable for UA, compared to only 2.8% (on-farm; off-farm=2.4%) in Oslo. Assessing the suitability of agricultural land for UA can support spatial planning, protect agricultural topsoil from urban expansion, and help achieve global, national, and local goals for urban farming and sustainable land use.
Abstract
Urban agriculture is often considered a tool to increase the economic, social and environmental sustainability of cities and city food systems. However, sustainability is difficult to measure, resulting in debate about how sustainable urban agriculture truly is. There is therefore a lack of incentive to promote urban agriculture or protect existing initiatives that are threatened by development pressure on urban land. Monitoring the sustainability impact of urban agriculture could provide evidence and enable politicians and decision makers to make informed decisions about whether and where to prioritise different forms of urban agriculture above competing interests. We used case examples from five European cities to identify the challenges involved in monitoring urban agriculture, from selecting indicators and gathering data, to using the results. We found large differences in approach in terms of what topics to monitor and who was responsible, who gathered the data and when, what data was recorded and how they were stored, and how findings were disseminated or published. Based on these experiences, we recommend stronger involvement of existing interest groups and educational institutions in monitoring urban agriculture, and promotion of convenient tools for data collection by citizen science and for long-term data storage.
Abstract
Urban agriculture has the potential to contribute to more sustainable cities, but its impacts are complex and varied. By implementing robust monitoring systems, cities can better understand the true effects of urban farming initiatives. This evidence can then inform smarter policies and more effective urban planning strategies.
Division of Survey and Statistics
Mitigation and Adaptation in Cultural Heritage Landscapes: Lessons from Transhumant Pastoral Systems for Managing Novel Climate Risks (PastAdapt)
Cultural landscapes provide essential ecological and sociocultural services and contain insights needed to combat climate change, but they are vulnerable to climate change and other stressors. By examining the cultural landscapes of transhumant pastoralism in France, Norway, and Spain, we will detail climate and other threats to this intangible cultural heritage (ICH), the characteristics and factors that create adaptive capacity in these systems, and methods for sustaining ICH through community action and policy.
Division of Food Production and Society
Sustainable growth of the Norwegian Horticulture Food System – GreenRoad GS35 (“GrøntStrategi mot 2035)
The main aim of GreenRoad is to deliver knowledge and solutions for increased value creation and sustainability in the horticultural food system in Norway.