Dr Katrin Prager

Katrin is an interdisciplinary social scientist with a background in landscape planning and environmental management, agri-environmental policy making and farmer adoption of sustainable farming practices. She works in the Socio-Economics Research Group within the theme of society, institutions and governance.

Current Project:

LandscapePartners - The contribution of multi-stakeholder partnerships to sustainable landscape management, funded by EU FP7 (Marie Curie - IEF)

Past projects included:

• Sustainable Land Use in North-East Germany (GRANO), BMBF-funded
• Structural Change and Transition in Agriculture (SUTRA), DFG-funded
• Comparing approaches to Landcare and natural resource management in Germany and Australia, DAAD-funded
• Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation (SOCO), EU-funded

Katrin collaborated with ZALF and Humboldt University of Berlin (Germany), the University of Tasmania (Australia), and various research organisations across Europe.

Research Interests

Katrin's research interests relate to the interaction between social and ecological systems, and to institutions and governance in landscape and environmental management. Work focuses on:

• Community engagement in natural resource management and rural development
• Communication and cooperation between civil society and governmental organisations
• Participatory processes in agri-environmental policy making and implementation
• Adoption of soil and water conservation practices

Katrin's highlighted publications

• Socio-economic factors influencing farmers' adoption of soil conservation practices in Europe., Prager, K.; Posthumus, H., (In press) In: Human Dimensions of Soil and Water Conservation: A Global Perspective, (ed. Ted Napier). Nova Science Publishers, USA.

• Applying the institutions of sustainability framework to the case of agricultural soil conservation., Prager, K., (2010) Environmental Policy and Governance, 20, 223-238.

• Stakeholder involvement in agri-environmental policy making - Learning from a local- and a state-level approach in Germany., Prager, K.; Freese, J., (2009) Journal of Environmental Management, 90, 1154-1167.

Katrin's most recent publications

• Implementing policies for soil and water conservation in European Union agriculture., Louwagie, G.; Kutter, T.; Schuler, J.; Helming, K.; Gay, S.H.; Prager, K., (In press) In: Human Dimensions of Soil and Water Conservation: A Global Perspective, (ed. Ted Napier). Nova Science Publishers, USA.

• Incentives and enforcement: the institutional design and policy mix for soil conservation in Brandenburg (Germany)., Prager, K.; Hagemann, N.; Schuler, J.; Heyn, N., (In press) Land Degradation and Development, Special Issue, "The Challenge of Effective Soil Conservation Policies".

• The challenge of effective soil conservation policies (editorial)., Prager, K.; Helming, K.; Hagedorn, K., (In press) Land Degradation and Development, Editorial for special issue "The challenge of effective soil conservation policies".

• Soil degradation, farming practices, institutions and policy responses: An analytical framework., Prager, K.; Schuler, J.; Helming, K.; Zander, P.; Ratinger, T.; Hagedorn, K., (In press) Land Degradation and Development, Special Issue, The Challenge of Effective Soil Conservation Policies.

• Collective efforts to manage cultural landscapes., Prager, K., (2010) International Workshop "Social-Ecological Resilience of Cultural Landscapes", Berlin, Germany, 15-16 June 2010.

• Adopting sustainable soil management - the role of socio-economic factors., Prager, K.; Posthumus, H., (2010) Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference, 16th, "Sustainable Agriculture", Hong Kong, 30 May - 1 June, 2010.

• Landcare bowling alone: Finding a future in the "fourth" phase., Compton, E.; Prager, K.; Beeton, R.J.S., (2009) In: Contested Country: Local and Regional Environmental Management in Australia (eds. Lane, M.B., Robinson, C. and Taylor, B.). CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, pp147-160.

• Final report on the project - Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation (SoCo)., Gay, S.H.; Louwagie, G.; Sammeth, F.; Ratinger, T.; Marechal, B.; Prosperi, P.; Rusco, E.; Terres, J.; van der Velde, M.; Baldock, D.; Bowyer, C.; Cooper, T.; Fenn, I.; Hagemann, N.; Prager, K.; Heyn, N.; Schuler, J., (2009) European Commission, Luxembourg.

• Landschaftspflege durch verbaende in Australien und Deutschland - Landcare in Australia and Germany - Comparison of the landcare groups and Landschaftspflegeverbande., Prager, K., (2009) Naturschutz und Landschaftsplanung, 41, 89-96.

• Applying the Institutions of Sustainability Framework to the case of agricultural soil conservation., Prager, K., (2009) Paper presented at the 8th International Conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics (ESEE), University of Ljubljana, Slovenia., 29 June-2 July 2009.