How Does 4R Nutrient Stewardship Affect Environmental, Social, and Economic Outcomes?

Description of Activity and Deliverables: This activity is the second to synthesize results of this network project to better tailor 4R Nutrient Stewardship BMPs for specific environments and cropping systems in Canada for improved environmental health and profitability. This activity will consider the results for the N and P mitigation studies in this project.

Objectives:

1. Develop or adapt an integrated methodology (using tools such as scenarios and indicators) to assess the environmental, social, and economic effects of practices promoted and tested under the 4R Nutrient Stewardship model.
2. Evaluate the environmental, social, and economic outcomes of 4R Nutrient Stewardship as implemented at 4R Nutrient Stewardship Research Network activity sites across Canada.
3. Use specific case studies to hypothesize and measure (where possible) broader social benefits of the 4R Nutrient Stewardship program as implemented across Canada.

Deliverables:
Year 1 (2015–2016)

• Phase 1 summary report, which includes:
• Overview of relevant national and international assessment methodologies that evaluate and integrate the environmental, economic, and social costs and benefits for land or other natural resource-related policies and projects.
• Documentation of methods and data used for evaluating and selecting relevant indicators for inclusion in the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Evaluation Framework.
• Summary of the preliminary evaluation framework to monitor 4R nutrient management practices

Year 2 (2016–2017)

• Phase 2 summary report, which includes:
• Guidance outlining suggested indicators and their context specific adaptations, and data collection methods to guide testing and field trials.
• Clear plan for implementation of the methodology with data from this project (4R Nutrient Stewardship Research Network activity site results).
• Presentation of Phases 1 and 2 results at a scientific meeting
• Interim progress report on Phase 3

Year 3 (2017-2018)

• Phase 3 summary report, which includes:
• Description of case studies from the network sites and experiences with data collection.
• Summary of the impacts of the 4R nutrient management program, with evaluation methodology applied, suggested and collected indicators and trends and other relevant information to inform necessary improvements in nutrient management.
• Application to different scales and tailored for Canada (farm level, regional, national)
• Policy brief summarizing key findings
• Manuscript for peer-reviewed publication