Participation is usually regarded as a good practice in environmental policymaking, but its effects on policy strategies are unclear. Based on literature research, surveys, and interviews with participants, the present paper assesses whether decisional participation in formulating Austria’s National Adaptation Strategy (NAS) was worth the effort. Assessed against the goals of the participation process, the authors found that it raised awareness for adaptation and facilitated an exchange among the participants and that it improved the content of the NAS.

Farmers’ experiments can be defined as the autonomous activities of farmers to try or introduce something new at the farm, and include evaluation of success or failure with farmers’ own methods. Experiments enable farmers to adapt their farms to changing circumstances, build up local knowledge, and have resulted in countless agricultural innovations. Most research on the topic has been conducted in countries of the south.