Taking into account the ontological relationship to change in agroecological transitions

The intensification of researchers’ work on agroecological transitions (AET) in recent years (Duru et al., 2015; Elzen et al., 2017; Levidow, 2015; Meek, 2016; Ollivier et al., 2018) highlights the growing importance of how change is addressed in the field of agroecology. This research offers a wide variety of interpretations, from different standpoints, on the most important mechanisms, knowledge, dimensions, and scales to consider for understanding the change towards agroecology and to support or launch it. Generally, these standpoints are based on a framing of what needs to be changed (and how) but not on the explanation of the vision of change they carry.
Yet, these interpretative choices are deeply embedded in what we may call our ontological relationship to change. This relation to change is obviously complex and multidimensional, but deeply framed by the way we face complexity, uncertainty, and radicality. When dealing with concrete transition processes, this relation to change is the foundation of the interpretations and proposals of the various involved stakeholders (researchers, farmers, advisors, facilitators, decision- makers) upon mechanisms of change and modalities for conducting transitions. They guide decisions on why, how and by whom changes are, or should be, enacted and implemented. However, these ontological relationships to change are seldom analyzed in studies dealing with transitions.