The commitment of sheep and goat production systems in the agro-ecological transition:a collective participative approach in Corsica

The importance of environmental challenges in agriculture and livestock production requires an eco-logical transition of the production systems including the sheep and goat ones. In this context, establishing theconditions for agro – ecological changes and building innovative pathways of changes could favor this transi-tion. After a presentation of some theoretical concepts behind the idea of ecological transition and agro – ecol-ogy, the objective of this communication is to report the implementation of a participative approach involvingscientists, technicians, teachers and breeders in Corsica Island focusing on pastoral systems. This approachaims to design the performances of the systems from their triple social economic and environmental dimen-sions, how they are in line with the agro – ecological orientations and how to improve them. Inspired from pre-vious methodologies but innovating through a participative approach, an easy-to-implement method has beenadjusted to the characteristics of the local systems and agro-ecological criteria for sheep and goat herds andsystems, we designed 10 groups of indicators including societal dimensions integrated in an AgroecologicalLivestock Proximity Index (ALPI). The exchanges during the sessions have shown that agro-ecology is notonly an institutional injunction. It is also a collective methodological approach and pathway to design whichinnovations could support the sustainable development and changes in sheep and goat farming and special-ly, in pastoral systems. The utilization of this method and its further developments are evoked.