The challenge
Sustainability systems have mostly been focused on promoting the uptake of sustainable practices at the individual production units (such as farms), or groups of units scattered across a geographic area. They have not typically been designed to address the sustainability of an entire landscape or to measure the gradual improvement of that landscape over time; and while certified farms can have positive spill-over effects on the areas that surround them, those links are not always clear. The impact of sustainability systems would be much greater if they could indeed leverage the various elements at play in a given landscape – its range of land uses, ecosystems, and local stakeholders – and work to strengthen the entire tapestry of a region.