Abstract
Human-nature connectedness is key to foster environmental and socio-cultural sustainability in agricultural landscapes since it promotes the establishment of belonging, stewardship, and connections to nature. Cooperation, collective action, and the role of women at sustainable agroecological practices could be leverage points in which small interventions may hold great potential for system transformation. We analyse the different types of human-nature con- nectedness mediated by the Agrolab participatory collective farming initiative running in Madrid (Spain). Our results described and quantified a participatory collective farming initia- tive using the leverage point perspective, and identified factors explaining nature relatedness of participants (i.e. social importance of agricultural landscapes, linkages with farming activ- ities, time spent outdoors, gender and a negative relationship with the rural residence). We found that women showed a stronger and broader worldview on the philosophical argu- ments about their connection with nature, while men identified themselves and nature through more cognitive responses. Our results give indication of participatory collecting farming as a leverage point to foster human-nature connectedness. Finally, we discussed how participatory collective farming activities are suitable for introducing nature into peo- ple’s daily lives and may help to identify pathways towards a stronger human-nature connectedness.
