Green Nudges in Agriculture & Forestry Conference 2025
On May 21, 2025, the first Green Nudges in Agriculture and Forestry Conference took place in the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) Building in Brussels. The conference gathered 64 people from a range of different backgrounds. This included academics, policymakers, advisors, and agricultural and forestry researchers. Over the course of the day, the conference set out to achieve the following objectives:
- Defining Green Nudges: Establishing a clear, powerful framework for action.
- Showcasing Green Nudges in Action: Inspiring real-world examples driving sustainability.
- Launching ForestAgriGreenNudge & Prudent projects: Introducing groundbreaking initiatives for change.
- Targeting Forestry & Agriculture: Tackling sector-specific challenges with tailored solutions.
- Driving CAP27 Objectives: Demonstrating Green Nudges as a catalyst for sustainable policy.
- Empowering Collaboration: Building a dynamic network of AKIS actors for lasting impact.
The full recording of the day can be found on our ForestAgriGreenNudge YouTube channel, and speaker biographies can be found at the bottom of the document.
Key Messages from the Conference
- A green nudge is: “An intervention in farmers’ and/ or foresters’ decision-making “choice architecture” (framing of a problem, information available, presentation, etc.) which favours in a systematic and predictable way the adoption of sustainable practices, without modifying the economic incentives, nor reducing the decision-makers choice set, thus preserving their freedom of choice.”
- Nudges are becoming more accepted by the policymaking community. They were said to be cheap, easy to implement, and socially attractive.
- There are different types of nudges that can be identified in projects across Europe.
- These nudges can be used as an alternative to existing policy instruments of taxation and regulation but can also be complimentary to policy initiatives.
- Any action that is taken on Green Nudges will need to ensure a level of buy-in and engagement from all stakeholders, particularly farmers and advisors.
Introduction to the day
The conference was opened by Nikos [ow1] [GN2] Georgantzis (Burgundy School of Business) who welcomed the delegates and set out the programme for the day. Nikos’ welcome was followed by an introduction by Peter Schmidt (President of the Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment (NAT) Section, EESC). Peter told the conference of the history of the EESC and its powerful purpose in allowing for research and cooperation across all parts of society. This society brought together a united front of employers, trade unions, and civil society organisations. That research capacity has allowed the EESC to be part of the strategy for environmental sustainability. It was said that this conference would prove to be a useful starting point for debate and that it is important that all people can be brought on the journey for change. Peter ended his talk by saying that nudges are necessary today for the role of agri-environmental systems, food systems and environmental sustainability.
If nudges are necessary for environmental sustainability, it was Thierry Labaert (EESC Rapporteur on applying nudge thinking to EU Policies) who would set out green nudges and their role in green deal objectives. Nudge thinking, it was explained, was first brought to the European Union 10 years ago. This was an acknowledgement that the traditional taxation and regulatory methods to change behaviour were no longer the best course of action, nor were they politically easy to do. This was coupled with the fact that environmental policies were traditionally based on providing information to change behaviour. However, there were risks that there can be gaps between intended behaviour change, and the reality of that change; awareness does not guarantee change. These potential problems have provided space for nudges. Nudges were said to be cheap, easy to implement, and socially attractive. There is also data on their use in agricultural and forestry contexts. Thierry said that this will be key within parts of the Green New Deal. If the new deal needs to foster behaviour change, then nudges can support the information provided. Nudges will allow for the information provided to remain the same but will enable the context by which information is shared to change. This will support future behaviour change in the process.
Policy Workshop 1
Throughout the day, the project team from Prudent carried out an evidence-based policy exchange with the conference. This was led by Anastasia Kannavou (Agricultural & Environmental Policy, Green & Digital, Greece) and Simone Cerroni (University of Trento). The policy exchange was part of the series of workshops that Prudent will be carrying out across the lifetime of their project. The work will focus on providing evidence-based policy advice and raising awareness, transferring knowledge, building competence, and disseminating results. The first policy workshop was conducted during the conference and took place across three sessions. The structure of the sessions allowed for different focuses with each one. The three focuses were i. an experimental session, ii. an informative session, and iii. a learning session.
The first session was the experiment session. This involved a comparison of expert views from the conference’s delegates, compared to farmers’ views; with the farmers and foresters having previously completed the survey. The survey was a best-worst scaling survey that focused on the acceptability and efficacy of green nudges. Each participant was randomly allocated a list of nudges, and they had to mark which was the most acceptable/ highest efficacy and which was the least. This was repeated across multiple pages, with new nudges needing to be judged along the same criteria. Acceptability was explained as nudges which people would not be against. Efficacy was explained as the perceived effectiveness of nudges. [ow3] The results of the survey were seeking to uncover the middle ground between acceptability and efficacy, alongside identifying if experts understood farmer perspectives.
Green Nudges in Action
After hearing about what nudges are and having the chance to answer the survey, the conference had a chance to hear examples of how nudges have previously been used. The panel of speakers were invited to share their work and then there was a chance for questions. The speakers were Gregory Valatin (Forestry Economics Research Unit), Emilio Gil (Polytechnic University of Catalonia), Simone Cerroni (University of Trento), and Sophie Thoyer (INRAE). The panel questions were moderated by Alun Jones (CIHEAM Zaragoza).
The first speaker was Gregory Valatin. He spoke on the potential for policy nudges in forestry in the UK. It has been recognised that nudges could be used to support the UK in its aim of increasing UK forestry cover from 13% to 17%. Using potential nudges, Gregory was able to show the conference how nudges can help overcome a range of existing barriers and serve policy goals.
Emilio Gil spoke next on the Renovate project (renovateproject.eu). There is currently a gap between technology and the use of technology. Renovate aimed to support that. Through the use of gamification and simulations, it has sought to educate farmers on reducing pesticide use. This was said to be especially important for supporting the next generation of farmers.
The third speaker, Simone Cerroni, presented the findings from the farmers and foresters’ perspectives on the acceptable and perceived efficacy of certain nudges. This is supported through surveys being conducted in four countries to check acceptability and efficacy. The four countries are Belgium, Italy, Finland and Lithuania. The four countries each have a different focus and this covered both forestry (Finland) and agriculture (Belgium, Italy, Lithuania). Simone was able to show that there were nuances between preferences within the countries but there were similarities too. He stressed that it was important to understand what farmers believed, otherwise the effects of the nudges could be weaker.
The final speaker on the panel was Sophie Thoyer. Sophie sought to add a different dimension to the discussion through the ways that nudges can be positive, but the effects can also be limited. She did this based on a number of studies that contained nudges in an agricultural context. Within those studies, there were limited positive impacts, but the authors insisted that the benefit/cost ratio was more positive. It was also raised that it was important to know what nudges are doing. At present, there are more nudges that target system 1 decision-making (fast and reflexive decision-making) than system 2 decision-making (reflective). However, the impacts of nudges are often tested on decisions that need longer-term thinking for longer-term results. Sophie provided these examples so that the pitfalls of behavioural nudges can be understood and this can suggest what types of nudges will be supported and provide a better understanding of behaviour.
After questions had been asked, the conference had a quick break. Delegates were encouraged to reflect on what had been said and had the chance to network.
Projects
After the break, the conference had a chance to hear about the two European projects that will seek to further understand, identify, and use nudges in their work. These are two projects which have been commissioned by the European Union to consider initiatives around nudges for sustainable action for agriculture and forests. Nikos Geograntzis talked about the ForestAgriGreenNudge project and Michael Koustiaras (PEU Project Manager and Researcher at the Agricultural University of Athens, Greece) talked about the Prudent project.
The first project that was introduced was ForestAgriGreenNudge. This project will look to identify initiatives and projects which explicitly or implicitly use green nudges to promote sustainable practices. These will then be assessed, tested in the field, enriched by innovative nudges and set out in an online library for the results to be disseminated to stakeholders.
The second project that was introduced was Prudent. The project will cover similar aspects, such as the need to identify nudges and test them in the field. The outputs of this project will help contribute to the future of the CAP post-2027 and European Green Deal perspectives.
It was stressed that it was important that the two projects seek to have similarities in their definitions of what nudges are (see picture below), different types of nudges, and the language used throughout the project.
Policy Workshop 2
The second policy workshop session was the informative session. The first part informed the conference of how green nudges can support policy instruments in CAP post-2026. The work on this has already been taking place and started with a mapping exercise of the exiting policy practice gaps and challenges. The gaps and challenges present a range of opportunities to allow stakeholders to come together and leverage knowledge in the future.
As part of the information setting, an overview of the Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN) was shared with the conference. This was done by Petros Kokkalis (Former member of the European Parliament,. rapporteur for FSDN). The FSDN is a new EU-wide farm survey, with 80,000 representative farms contributing data. The purpose of the FSDN will be to promote sustainable agriculture and empower farmers to shape EU policy. The FSDN is expected to be a useful tool to mark data alongside introducing nudges through its benchmarking and comparison services, gently steering farm decisions.
The third part that was shared in this session was around the potential of behavioural insights. The talk was by Jesus Barreiro-Hurle (Senior Scientist at the European Commission Joint Research Centre). He spoke of the need for behavioural insights to be incorporated into agricultural policy making, and this should be reflected at all levels. Behavioural insights can take place through individual actions through individual policies, but there can also be a need for systemic thinking to be within the process.
After a morning packed with talks, panels and workshops, the conference broke for lunch.
Policy Workshop 3
After lunch, the conference went straight into the third policy workshop session. The third policy workshop session focused on learning. It started off by showing the conference delegates the results of the first experiment session and the outcome of the best-worst scaling survey on green nudges. The conference showed that there were similarities between expert perceptions on farmer perspectives and farmer perspectives. This was found in the high preference for visible nudges or the lack of preference for default options. There were also notable differences, and work will need to be done around how those differences could affect action.
After this, there was an interactive session on Mentimeter, which helped to shape upcoming Prudent policy recommendations and tools. The survey contained open questions, word clouds, and ranked answers. The outcome of the session would help support upcoming Prudent policy recommendations and tools.
Stakeholder Viewpoints
It is crucial that any future work on projects and Green Nudges incorporate the viewpoints of the whole supply chain. The conference was pleased to welcome Joe Healey, an Irish dairy and cattle farmer who used to be the President of the Irish Farmers Association, to provide a farmer union view. Through a series of stories and statistics, Joe showed that farmers understand the challenges of the future but believe it is possible to meet them. They only believe it is possible if all the supply chain links also understand the challenges and work together. Any action that is taken, by the actions that result from the conference, will need to include farmers. Farmers need to be part of the story, and Joe reminded the conference that agriculture is a key element of European trade and society. He reiterated the importance of trust and best practice across all the links of the supply chain. It was said to be key that the win-win is demonstrated.
The farm union view was followed by Mark Ramsden (ADAS), who provided an advisor’s perspective. Mark started by saying that the results of the third policy workshop surveys had demonstrated the importance of advisors in co-creating policies. However, he said that it was important that advisors are supported in their work. There is a risk, otherwise, that they can be caught between farmers and policymakers, and this could cause unhelpful decision making. There is great potential for decision making to be supported through the advisory networks that have been created and fostered by the EU, across a range of different projects. Mark showed where these networks have been created and the way in which a new platform is being created which will bring the different advice platforms together. This will help the networks and resources to continue to be supported after projects come to an end, allowing for progress to continue. The work of nudges can help support advisors in creating change, both with their clients and, it was suggested, even in nudging themselves.
Closing Remarks
Nikos Georgantzis made the closing remarks of the conference. He said that there were real causes of optimism that could be identified throughout the day. Nudges are understood by policymakers as a potential behavioural approach and this has made it a valuable and timely tool. Nudges can also cause change for large collectives. We can identify nudges and they can be complementary with other forms of incentives.
Nikos also acknowledged that there were challenges that needed to be addressed. Education will support work, but it will not necessarily change behaviour. This can also be found in the gap between stated and real behaviour. It is therefore important that farmers are engaged throughout the process and ensure that evidence of the impact on farm behaviour is identified.
Nikos closed the conference by urging people to promote the projects and understand that nudges can play their role.
Programe Overview 09.00-16.00
Welcome & Introduction
Keynote lecture
What are Green Nudges, and how they contribute to Green Deal objectives
Policy workshop - Part I
Warm-up Exercise and Experimental Session
Green Nudges in Action
Examples of how nudges can be applied
Panel Discussion
Green Nudge Projects
Introducing ForestAgriGreenNudge to provide overview across WPs
Introducing PRUDENT to provide overview across WPs
Policy Workshop - Part II
PRUDENT Policy Analysis
FSDN – A benchmarking tool to improve the sustainability of agriculture across the EU
Unlocking the full potential of behavioural insights for policy – A JRC report
Policy workshop - Part III
Learn Session
Presenting findings of Part I
Discussion
Stakeholders’ view on Nudges
Farmer Union View
Using Green Nudges in EU Advisory Networks
Closing remarks
Click here to access the complete agenda, including schedules, topics, and expert speakers
The conference is organized in partnership with
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101134051
