Side Event - Tuesday 26 August morning

Dairy Decisions: A Role-Playing Game of Farm Management under Sustainability Incentives

There is a growing demand for indicators and metrices to assess the sustainability and circular of agricultural systems. However, when integrated into incentive structures such as price premiums or subsidies, these indicators can significantly influence the direction of farming practices. To explore the power and political dynamics of such indicators, the Circular Food Systems network has developed a role-playing game that simulates their impact.

In Dairy Decisions you are invited to assume the role of dairy farmers operating within the agri-environmental context of the Netherlands. You are assigned a unique dairy farm profile, reflecting real-world variation in biophysical characteristics, herd size, land availability and production systems (e.g., pasture-based or organic).  

Your performance isn’t just for bragging rights. Regional and national governments, as well as dairy processors, are watching. They allocate rewards or incentives  — subsidies, bonuses, and contracts — based on your sustainability practices and outcomes. In this game you will experience how these rewards, based on Key Performance Indicators, work in practice and how they may influence farming practices and decision making in the Dutch dairy sector.  

Please subscribe for this side event by sending an e-mail to: cfsnetwork@wur.nl

About the Circular Food Systems Network

The Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) brings countries together to find ways to grow more food without growing greenhouse gas emissions. The Circular Food Systems (CFS) network is part of the GRA’s Integrative Research Group.  

The CFS network is a growing group of international researchers and policy-makers working on exploring opportunities for GHG emissions mitigation by circularity in food systems. The objective of the CFS-network is formulated as: to contribute to food security with mitigation of GHG emissions by circularity across the entire agri-food system. We do that by: 

• Bringing together, developing, and disseminating knowledge about circular food systems; 
• Mobilizing agricultural scientists to explore circularity within different agricultural systems focusing on GHG emissions 
• Providing policy makers with methodologies and system designs for a climate-smart, circular food system 

For more information on the work and activities of the CFS network, please visit the webpage. 
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