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POLICY AND PRACTICE REVIEWS article

Front. Polit. Sci.
Sec. Comparative Governance
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpos.2024.1382338
This article is part of the Research Topic (De)Politicizing Climate and Environmental Politics in Times of Crises: Contexts, Strategies and Effects View all 8 articles

Closing the Nutrient-Food Loop: Technology Innovation and (De)politicization in European Nutrient Policy

Provisionally accepted
Sandra Schwindenhammer Sandra Schwindenhammer *Denise Gonglach Denise Gonglach
  • Institute of Political Science, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This contribution examines the development of the European Union’s nutrient policy from 2000 to 2022. It focuses on the policy’s shift orienting towards expert knowledge and technological innovations in nutrient recovery and recycling, and explores the resulting (de)politicization of the policy area. Drawing on evolutionary policy change, agri-food (de)politicization, and agri-food technology innovation research, a three-phase development is identified through qualitative document and public feedback data analysis. The policy development started with a focus on environmental issues and nutrient scarcity in the 2000s (phase 1), expanded to nutrient recycling as a means to close the nutrient-food loop in the mid-2010s (phase 2), and began utilizing secondary nutrient sources for agri-food production and to ensure a stable supply of fertilizers in the 2020s (phase 3). The study shows that while expert knowledge and technological advancements have steered sectoral policies towards a circular agri-food system, they have also led to the EU’s nutrient policy adopting a technocratic approach, privileging specific expert insights and depoliticizing the policy area. The findings highlight the intricate relationship between technological innovation, policy evolution, and public engagement in shaping the European agri-food system.

    Keywords: European Union, depoliticization, Nutrient policy, policy change, Technology innovation, expert knowledge

    Received: 05 Feb 2024; Accepted: 18 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Schwindenhammer and Gonglach. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sandra Schwindenhammer, Institute of Political Science, University of Giessen, Giessen, 35390, Germany

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