What role for environmental cooperatives in collective agri-environmental schemes?

The collective action dilemma inherent to environmental quality problems implies that agri-environmental contracts are best managed collectively. Such collective contracts need to be coordinated, a complex process that in some countries is chaperoned through an associative structure. This research assesses the potential of environmental cooperatives (EC) for the governance of collective agri-environmental contracts. The context in which ECs historically emerged is presented, followed by an analysis across case studies of the factors that can facilitate the role of ECs. These factors are compared to a recent case study on a newly emerged French EC, for which a series of interviews are analysed. This investigation highlights that the role of the EC is above all a facilitating one, mediating between the different interest groups by ensuring three important contract criteria: (1) place-based targets and locally specific measures, (2) a participatory process to contract design, (3) flexibility in the measure’s adaptation.