Key Aspects of Sustainability: Objectives

KEY ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABILITY C 5.
1
The impact of GI products on the local economy, society, culture and environment varies widely depending on the
characteristics of the production system and the modalities of the GI process. The intensity (how much?) and direction
(positive vs. negative) of the impact strongly depend on the rules and actions that local and non-local stakeholders
undertake on behalf of the GI product.
Objectives
In order to ensure the reproduction of local resources for a sustainable GI system, it is important to assess the
impact of the rules (code of practice) and collective action.
It is therefore crucial that local stakeholders set up a monitoring and control system in order to evaluate the impact
of their strategies and actions on local resources and sustainability, comparing individual and collective aims with
outcomes over time.
Key Concepts
Reproduction encompasses social, economic and environmental sustainability:
KEY ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABILITY

• Economic sustainability: the value created by means of remuneration activities should be fairly distributed
among stakeholders along the value chain according to their contribution to the value creation process.
• Environmental sustainability: reproduction means ensuring the preservation or even the improvement of
natural resources.
• Social and cultural sustainability: this entails the promotion of traditions and the cultural heritage, reinforcing
the sense of local identity.
Local stakeholders are the key element in determining whether the system is sustainable because of their role and
level of empowerment, their motivations, their social capital and their awareness of issues such as social equity and
environmental preservation.
There are many types of potential negative impact of a GI if the tool is used improperly. For example, the code of
practice may exclude certain local producers because they cannot meet its requirements, external actors may
undermine GI development, loosely formulated rules may lead to the replacement of specific local resources
with non-specific ones, leading to a loss of biodiversity, or the intensification of production methods and product
specialization may lead to the overexploitation of some specific resources.
Local stakeholders can consider this evaluation as a learning process conducted over time throughout the
quality virtuous circle. Indeed, the results of the evaluation process permit an adjustment of the rules and the
implementation of new initiatives that can guarantee long-term sustainability.
Process
Evaluation and debate must be a collective activity. This is anything but simple, considering the many stakeholders
involved and interested in the GI product, each with different aims and expectations. When evaluating the effects, at
least two different levels must be considered:
• The local production system viewpoint, which should be counted not simply as a sum of individual positions, but
also in terms of collective issues.
• A wider “public good” viewpoint, inasmuch as the positive impact on the economic and social standing of local
producers may hide some negative effects “outside” the local production system. Producers who have been
excluded from the benefits of the GI reputation (being located outside the delimited production area or perhaps
lacking sufficient technological, financial or information resources to use the GI) may threaten social cohesion
at the local level. It is therefore important to analyse impacts beyond the group of GI producers.
C 5.1
Accountability for positive effects from the GI system is a very important issue. Local stakeholders should measure
and trace the performance of the GI system with regard to collective values (social issues, environment, biodiversity
preservation etc.) and be able to communicate these effects outside the local production system, both to consumers
and to other relevant actors (public authorities, environmental associations etc.).
When assessing the various types of impact, a conceptual schema may be useful in order to undertake a global
evaluation, taking into consideration both individual and collective actions, as well as the equilibrium of the three
pillars of sustainability, i.e. economic, social and environmental issues.
Summary
The collective construction and management of the GI are the basis for positive effects. Networking activities
between private and public actors, together with the strength and nature of the “common vision”, will certainly
influence strategies regarding the GI product. These strategies can focus either on the efficiency of the supply chain
or on broader territorial considerations (see sheet C5.3).
Collective and participatory action can support the fair distribution of the benefits by setting inclusive rules of
representation and decision-making, as well as by assisting producers with conflict resolution (see sheet C4.1).
KEY ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABILITY

These rules can evolve in order to ensure better preservation of the local environment, cultural heritage and
traditions (see sheet C5.2).

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KEY ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABILITY C 5.

KEY ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABILITY

KEY ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABILITY

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