The social sustainability approach as a systemic framework for analyzing work organization in livestock farms

The social dimension of sustainability in livestock farming has been poorly documented, yet it is essential element in considerations regarding the future of livestock. We designed a framework to analyze the subject more deeply, taking into account its subjective and context-dependent nature. Social sustainability then was defined by drawing from statements made by actors and farmers who were interviewed in four different territories in France. The different facets of social sustainability identified were organized into seven main axes. The first four are related to farm-focused sustainability: job meaning, work organization, balancing private and professional life, and health. The last three axes take into account the embeddedness of farms in a territory and a society: territorial and societal conditions, local and social networks, and contribution to social sustainability of the territory. This framework which clearly reveals the complexity of social sustainability, was used to explore our understanding of work organization. We were able to explain the different facets of this organization, taking into full account the singularity and sensitivity of individuals as well as other scales, such as family, farm, territory and society. The social sustainability framework enriched our understanding of work organization including organization in place, wished for and experienced. We have drawn lessons from it concerning how to approach work organization, notably when accompanying farmers in transitions towards more sustainable work situations.