The p&a Special Award: Future Farmer

The special award from planung&analyse was presented for the first time on September 26, 2023. It is an award for a person, a study, a company or a collaboration with special relevance and impact - socio-politically as well as for market and social research. An award as a statement.

Hartmut Scheffler, consultant and former managing director of Kantar, describes as a jury member and speaker why this p&a special prize goes to the book Zukunfts-Bauer and the rheingold salon. Here is the full laudatory speech:

There was a very interesting selection of attractive potential award winners - a good sign for a lively industry. And there was a study, summarized in a book, that particularly convinced the jury:

"Future Farmer - On the Analysis and Design of Public Trust"

by Jens Lönneker, Marco Diefenbach, Lukas Struwe from Rheingold Salon. What follows is a beautiful story for the possible socio-political relevance of market and social research in six chapters. Because the study, packaged in a book, wants to achieve no less than changing the view of agriculture in Germany.

Chapter 1: Building the future for politics and society

Trust in politics, media, science is falling. Discussions are becoming increasingly hardened, opinion bubbles collide. Wish and reality are moving further and further apart on many topics (climate, ecology). If discussions harden or are no longer held at all, the result is stagnation. Where social changes and upheavals seek and need answers, they are less often sought and found in conflictual topics. Fear of the future is a consequence. And now comes a study, now comes a book that shows us how to build the future. An optimistic, a feasible, an active approach. Future farmer: an operationalized promise!

Chapter 2: Building the future for market and social research

Trust in market and social research, the published results, the accuracy of the data is being put to the test. Every fake, every data forgery, every click farm increases skepticism. Is market and social research still relevant? Can they have any effect at all? Future farmer is also an example of the power and substance of market and social research.

Chapter 3: Agriculture in the future - the future farmer

Agriculture has been an example for decades where expectations and possibilities drift apart, where discussions harden, people talk about each other and not with each other, where conflicts are deepened and solutions are made more and more difficult. Stereotypes and clichés wherever you look. Idyll or horror industry? Glorified or damned? Without an economic future or with a perspective?

In this situation, the German Farmers' Association and the Westphalian-Lippe Farmers' Association e.V. believed in market and social research and commissioned the institute Lönneker & Imdahl rheingold salon GmbH & Co. KG to deal with this topic. The aim was to find a sustainable concept for agriculture, the future farmer.

Interim conclusion: Future farmer for socio-political issues, future farmer for the role and relevance of market research, future farmer as a future model for agriculture. One term - many mechanisms of action.

Chapter 4: Sustainable methodological approach

The aim was to understand the different opinions and positions of farmers and consumers/the public and to overcome mental barriers. The aim was to generate empirically based, reliable findings. The aim was to derive instructions for action and measures from this.

Gaining public trust is a central task again in an age of social divisions and accusations of fake news... The future farmer has such potential for public opinion on agriculture. However, its development can also serve as a model for the development of new, different narratives (Future Farmer, LV.Buch, p.102)

In-depth psychological individual interviews and group discussions were combined with quantitative representative surveys. What was new was the consistent use of narrative psychology. Narratives allow us to recognize motivations and origins, uncover the backgrounds of positions and opinions, and find explanations for situations, opinions, and conversational blockades. Six narratives were developed and evaluated from the perspective of farmers on the one hand and consumers on the other. The "winner" was the narrative "Future Farmer": It combines and connects technology and tradition, the use of technology also for protection functions, it combines yield and sustainability, benefits and economy. Of the six narratives developed, it is the best common denominator of and for farmers and consumers. In the survey, this narrative was broken down into nine topics such as animal welfare, biodiversity, etc. Framework conditions such as price or trade were integrated into the narrative. Possible resistance was addressed. The result is an empirically developed and empirically tested narrative of reconciliation and future design, with which discussion and action standstill can be actively overcome.

Chapter 5: Future through transfer and multiplication

From the description of objectives and procedure, it is immediately clear that this type of future building can also be used for other socio-political fields. It could and should be a model for public opinion formation, for solvability and solutions in conflictual social transformation processes. Examples? Education, care, new mobility concepts and much more.

Chapter 6: Future through impact

Some things have happened since it was published in May 2022. The study and the book have had an impact. On the association side, an annual conference has been headlined with "Future Farmer". There is a Future Farmer Officer. The results were presented at various state and federal congresses of the Farmers' Association. Lectures in marketing clubs have supplemented this. A beginning that makes us curious. But only the future will show whether all this will be an episode or the starting signal for a success story.

Summary

Shaping the future, building the future is the task of politics and associations. It is the task of market and social research. Future farmer is more than a play on words. It is the right approach in times of hardening and blockades. Market and social research can help to build the future. Future farmer is an attempt at reconciliation and future design, a model for regaining and shaping public trust. It is a theoretical concept with narratives at its center. It is an active approach to overcome standstill with empirical support.

Laudation by Harmut Scheffler, published on September 27, 2023, available at: planung&analyse Insights23: The p&a Special Award in Market Research: Future Farmer – planung&analyse (horizont.net)r