Australian–Norwegian collaboration advances sustainable soil carbon business models
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Researchers from Norway have travelled to The University of Western Australia (UWA) to strengthen an international collaboration exploring how soil carbon sequestration can support more sustainable, resilient and economically viable food systems.
CAED Director, Prof. Marit Kragt recently hosted Norwegian collaborators, Prof. Natalia Mæhle (see Profile) and Prof. Pia Piroschka Otte (see Profile) from April to May 2026, as part of their joint research project on designing sustainable business model (SBM) concepts for carbon sequestration in soils to transform the Norwegian food system, known as “KARBONMAT”.
Prof. Otte’s research focuses on sustainability transitions and building knowledge to support systemic change, while Prof. Mæhle brings expertise in marketing and business innovation, with a particular interest in how businesses can become more environmentally and socially sustainable without compromising profitability.
Together, they are investigating how soil carbon sequestration practices can be integrated into practical and socially sustainable business models for agriculture. While carbon farming is increasingly recognised for its role in climate mitigation and regenerative agriculture, widespread adoption requires more than science alone. The project is exploring the economic, social and institutional systems needed to support long-term uptake by farmers, industry and policymakers.
Prof. Kragt contributes expertise in environmental and agricultural economics and is leading the project’s choice experiment component, helping to understand farmers’ preferences and trade-offs associated with different approaches to soil carbon sequestration. This work builds on their earlier collaborative research exploring farmers’ interest in crowdfunding to finance climate change mitigation practices (Kragt et al., 2021, Journal of Cleaner Production).
Australia plays a leading role in carbon farming and soil carbon research. During their visit, the researchers learned more about how carbon farming is incentivised in Australia. They conducted field trips and interviews with carbon farming project developers, government representatives and other stakeholders. Prof. Otte and Mæhle further delivered research seminars at the UWA School of Agriculture and Environment (available soon at AARES/ARE-UWA - YouTube).
One of the most valuable outcomes of the visit has been the opportunity to refine and strengthen the project’s proposed business model framework — a major deliverable under the KARBONMAT research project. The insights gained from Australian stakeholders and industry representatives have helped the team develop a revised model they believe is more likely to succeed in Norway.
“The stakeholder engagement undertaken here in Perth has been instrumental in strengthening our proposed business model framework for valorising carbon in soils,” said Professor Mæhle.
The collaboration began in 2017 after Prof. Otte came across one of Prof. Kragt’s journal papers. What started as a joint project around crowdfunding sustainable agriculture initiatives has grown into an ongoing international partnership. Building on the success of this current research project, the team is now preparing a proposal for the European Union’s HORIZON Program, with several new project ideas already in development around carbon sequestration, sustainable agriculture and climate transitions.
For more information:
Prof Marit Kragt: marit.kragt@uwa.edu.au
Prof. Natalia Mæhle: Natalia.Mehle@hvl.no
Prof. Pia Piroschka Otte: pia.otte@ruralis.no
Resources:
Kragt, M.E., R. Burton, A. Zahl-Thanem, and P.P. Otte. 2021. "Farmers’ interest in crowdfunding to finance climate change mitigation practices." Journal of Cleaner Production no. 321:128967. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128967
Funding:
The Karbonmat project is supported by Ruralis through funding by The Research Council of Norway.
Ruralis – Institute for Rural and Regional Research is one of the leading academic communities in Europe in interdisciplinary rural studies, with extensive international and national cooperation. Ruralis has a national responsibility for the theoretical and methodological development of interdisciplinary rural studies.
Comments