Meating Perspectives: A study on converging the perceptions on sustainable livestock

Within the context of the increased attention for the environmental impacts of the livestock sector, a multi-stakeholder platform on Responsible Livestock is being developed. This platform aims to bring together key stakeholders in the livestock sector- including representatives of governments, the private sector, academia, civil society, research, and international organizations- to work together in order to accommodate the development of the livestock sector in a sustainable fashion. In order for the platform to be effective, and cooperation among the participants to be achieved, the participants need to find a minimal consensus on a problem definition in order to agree upon a global agenda of action, and actually take joint action. Therefore the different views on the problems, or the different frames, of the actors need to be converged. This research will focus on the different frames which exist among the actors of the multi-stakeholder platform, and what can be done to converge these frames to reach a minimal consensus on a problem definition in order to take joint action. Therefore the main question of this study is: What can the FAO as a coordinator of the multi-stakeholder platform do to achieve a consensus on the problem definition in order to achieve international cooperation for improving the environmental performance of the livestock sector? The study consists of three steps; first the frames of the different stakeholders, and the issues on which they differ are identified. Second, the process of frame convergence is analyzed to determine whether or not the requirements for frame convergence have been met, and what is already done to converge the frames. And third, recommendations are made for further management actions to be taken by the FAO in order to enhance frame convergence. These three analyses have led to the following conclusions: 1. Regarding the frames: All actors share the frame that there is a problem, which is urgent and needs to be solved. Furthermore all actors have a positive frame on the task. Nevertheless, there are still some discrepancies in the perceptions of what exactly the problem is, what is causing it and how it should be solved. While in general the concept of resource use efficiency is found as a common denominator which combines different perspectives, it is still a rather abstract concept which is very broadly defined. In order for an agreement to be reached on what concrete actions need to be taken, the participants need to further specify and define the concept of natural use efficiency as a problem, cause and solution. Therefore, their frames need to be further converged. 2. Regarding the process: Overall, all of the requirements for frame convergence were at least to some extend present in the multi-stakeholder platform. The requirement which was most convincingly present was the one of a sense of urgency. Furthermore, despite some room for improvements, the requirements of cognitive variety and dialogue and interaction were for a large part present as well. Most room for improvements can be found in the requirements of social variety and trust. The FAO has already taken most of the management actions that are defined in the literature, in order to enhance these requirements and stimulate the converge of the frames of the different participants. Special attention is paid to creating a sense of urgency, certifying and consolidating meaningful images. Nevertheless, some points of improvement which can be identified. The main management actions that can be improved are the prevention of the exclusion of frames and actors, safeguarding interaction and investing in trust. 3. Regarding the recommendations: In order for an agreement to be reached on what concrete actions need to be taken, the participants need to further specify and define the problem, cause and solution. Therefore, their frames need to be further converged. Based on the analysis of the frames and the process, the following recommendations are made: 1) Invest in trust, especially in the trust of the private sector representatives, 2) Give a place to frames on consumption in the process, 3) Invest in causal and normative discussions on the ‘rightness’ of frames, 4) Consolidate resource use efficiency, and 5) Further expand country involvement.