The goal of this project is to analyze the various strategies developed by systems under Geographical Indications (GI) in France to incorporate agro-ecological practices (evolution of specifications, production systems and practices, environmental or organic co-certifications...) and the specific socio-economic challenges of GIs towards more sustainable socio-ecological systems considering:

a) Differentiated socio-economic challenges exist across regional territories depending on the significance of these systems under geographical indications (Fig.1).

b) Due to their specific territorial and ecological roots, the development of strategic initiatives may induce unintended effects without proper alignment of governance rules, for which a better understanding is still necessary;

c) The strategies and transition trajectories toward agroecology are influenced by the modes of collective action adopted by these geographical indications through their Management Bodies (Odg), as well as by the regulatory mechanisms (legal, regulatory, organizational, collective, or social...) at national (INAO, ministry), community, or international levels.

In France and other EU countries, GIs have been a crucial driver for value creation and territorial development, and have also significantly contributed in the context of agricultural modernization and intensification initiated after the Second World War to the protection of natural resources and landscapes. They have helped to maintain "traditional" agricultural know-how and systems through the connection to "terroir," while continuing to innovate and adapt to consumer expectations and new societal demands. The innovative nature of the GingKo research project is based, both theoretically and conceptually, on defining GIs as "knowledge commons" by utilizing the most recent advances of the IAD/SES framework (Ostrom 2009, Ollivier et al. 2018, Mazé 2023). Due to the importance of "evidence-based criteria" to establish the specific link to "terroir," systems under Geographical Indications provide a particularly interesting field study for analyzing the interactions between "natural commons" and "knowledge commons" (Ostrom 2009, Hess, 2012; Mazé 2023), and the significance of the concept of "territorial or ecological embeddness" (Penker 2005, Bowen and Mutersbaugh 2014; Baritaux et al. 2016). A further ambition of the project is to advance in consolidating existing data on these strategies by coupling quantitative and qualitative data on the models of collective action of GIs and how they are incorporated into innovative sustainability strategies and agro-ecological transitions. This particularly involves studying how the economic and social dynamics surrounding GIs affect their environment, resilience, and territorial vulnerabilities, and the construction of more resilient agri-food systems.