Towards Improving Environmental Sustainability on Dairy Farms in Ireland: Developing an Effective Advisory Strategy to Support Communication on Biodiversity Management on Irish Dairy Farms

Farmland biodiversity plays an integral role in environmental sustainability, yet agriculture is recognised as a contributor to biodiversity loss. Achieving sustainability and biodiversity conservation targets on Irish dairy farms requires the incorporation of biodiversity focused practices into farmland management which, in turn, requires the support of agricultural advisory services. The aim of this study was to design an appropriate communication strategy on farmland biodiversity management (FBM) that can be integrated within existing agricultural advisory approaches, as well as to research the efficacy of components of the designed communication strategy. A Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach, that involved two iterative cycles of data collection, action, and reflection, was adopted in this study. In the first PAR cycle, communication activities focusing on biodiversity management were piloted with a group of 11 monitor farmers. In the second PAR cycle, six dairy farmer discussion groups, comprising 85 members, were engaged in the piloting a FBM communication strategy. The design and development of the strategy was informed by two phases of multi-actor co-design with stakeholders from the agricultural sector. The co-design phases were focused on how integrating an FBM communication strategy within dairy discussion groups could be achieved, developing the feasibility of the FBM communication strategy for implementation by agricultural advisors, and ensuring that the strategy engages farmers. Results for this thesis signify that the communication activities prompted positive attitude and practice changes related to FBM amongst monitor farmers. Moreover, the communication activities afforded sensemaking and promoted positive attitude changes associated with farmland biodiversity over the communication strategy pilot with discussion group members. The findings of this study provide lessons for agriculture extension services on communication on FBM with farmers through agricultural advisory services. The integration of the developed communication strategy on FBM within agricultural advisory services would have implications for future biodiversity management communication and, as such, for the achievement of agricultural sustainability by enabling farmers to change their understanding and attitudes, as well as their management practices associated with biodiversity.