Participatory policy development for regional sustainability of agriculture

The EU Rural Development Policy framework is a result of complex interactions at different levels - European, national, regional and local. Ideally, the decision making process about its implementation should be shared by these different levels of governance. However, the implementation approaches vary between member states reflecting their individual governance models. This research examines the utilization of the ‘bottom-up’ approach for the development of visions for regional sustainability of agriculture and pathways to reach them in a model region in Central South Bulgaria – Bessaparski Hills area, which is a Natura 2000 zone, Important Bird Area and High Nature Value farmland.