Pro-Environmental Transformation of the Equine Sector-Facilitators and Challenges.

This study explores the perspectives of individuals within the equine sector in Sweden and Norway regarding environmental challenges and how these affect horse welfare. The authors identify certain hindrances to change such as location, resources, time, and economic factors. Nevertheless, they note an increasing commitment to environmentalism over the past fifteen years.

Methodology

• The study employs a mixed-methods parallel design, combining both survey answers and semi-structured interviews, thus ensuring a comprehensive grasp of opinions and perceptions within the sector.
• The survey involved 697 respondents from Sweden and Norway. The large sample size ensures validity and power to their statistical analysis.
• The researchers expanded upon the survey insights through 36 semi-structured interviews, giving a more nuanced and detailed understanding of the topic.

Findings and Interpretation

• Findings illustrate an increased environmental commitment within the equine sector over the past 15 years. This suggests that the industry is becoming increasingly aware of and committed to progressing towards sustainability.
• However, individuals often express a perceived lack of influence over this transformation. This highlights a disconnection between the overall industry transformation and the involvement of individual actors.
• The researchers used the COM-B model (which stands for ‘capability’, ‘opportunity’, ‘motivation’ and ‘behaviour’) and previous research on climate delay thinking structures to analyse the data. This helped them understand the barriers to proactive environmental behaviour in the industry.
• They found that the primary barriers to change are related to opportunity – physical constraints such as location, resources, and time pose challenges for individual actors to bring about changes.
• Economic factors are also cited as major obstacles to pro-environmental transformation – further research may be needed to explore these economic challenges in depth.

Ideas for Future Initiatives

• The authors suggest that existing cultural norms – like orderliness in the stables – could be used to promote environmental initiatives. These norms, despite not directly addressing ecological or ethical challenges, may act as a ground for encouraging environmental initiatives that could also enhance horse welfare.
• Overall, this study underscores the need for increased support and resources to enable individuals within the equine sector to contribute more actively towards environmental sustainability and improved horse welfare.

Conclusions

• This research provides valuable insight into the equine sector’s current environmental challenges and attitudes towards horse welfare.
• The findings suggest a potential for more effective transformations in the sector, but to achieve this, multiple barriers must be overcome.
• In conclusion, the authors of the study call for further research and practical initiatives that could foster environmentally sustainable practices in the industry, ultimately benefitting both the sector and horse welfare.