The SURE-Farm integrated toolbox is useful for impact evaluations, notably of the resilience of farming systems. This is not only very relevant for the CAP Specific Objective 1, which focuses on economic resilience, but the SURE-Farm toolbox also allows for the assessment of a farms' numerous functions that encompass economic, environmental and the quality of life dimensions of the CAP Specific Objectives.
This diversity among models, their calculation approaches and their outputs are the main strength of the SURE‐Farm integrated toolbox because it enables the analysis of the farming systems and their resilience from different perspectives.
In the integrated toolbox, each model uses different analytical lenses to assess each particular function. For instance, FSSIM and the Ecosystem Services Model use mathematical optimisation to assess impacts of changes in policy, technology, climate on farming systems, while System Dynamics uses systems thinking to examine changes and evolution over time. The aggregation used in each model is also different. For example, AgriPoliS assesses individual farms and their individual interactions. At the same time, System Dynamics aggregates farms into big groups and focuses on the aggregated dynamics between the different groups and their environment. (Table 3 of Deliverable 5.1 offers a general description of the models in the integrated toolbox).
By using an integrated toolbox rather than a single model, one can get more benefits resulting from different modelling approaches without having to integrate all of the models into one single interconnected modelling system.
The outputs of the models and assessment of the resilience indicators were used on the SURE-Farm case studies to study the relationships between resilience attributes and the resilience indicators. Causal relationships, statistical correlations and stakeholders’ inputs were also used to identify key attributes shaping the identity of farming systems and contributing to specific resilience indicators.
Knowledge of the different tools, including strong mathematical and econometric skills is required for using the toolbox.