Table 3 Factors of food governance that guarantee trajectories towards the sustainability of AFS

The Hardware of food governance

Participatory structure

Participation of actors in decision spaces (Bloom and Hinrichs 2011b; Berti and Mulligan 2016)

Diversity of the actors involved (Sonnino et al. 2014; Siddiki et al. 2015; Ajates Gonzalez 2017)

Inclusiveness of vulnerable groups in collaborative spaces (Sonnino et al. 2014; Siddiki et al. 2015; Bassarab et al. 2019)

Connectivity/representativeness of members (Siddiki et al. 2015; Bassarab et al. 2019)

Power distribution

Structures that contribute to altering power relations (Darolt et al. 2016; Lever et al. 2019)

Redistribution of value along the channel (Berti and Mulligan 2016)

Dynamization mechanisms

Mechanisms for process facilitation and shared norms during the process (Bloom and Hinrichs 2011b; Favilli et al. 2015; Berti and Mulligan 2016; Kirwan et al. 2017)

Dynamics that emerge for inclusion/exclusion (Bassarab et al. 2019; Prové et al. 2019)

Food governance Software

Trust relationships

Mutual support and relationships of trust between the agents involved (Bloom and Hinrichs 2011b; Mount 2012; Nelson et al. 2013)

Reflexivity

Ability to build a common vision and identity, shared values (Mount 2012; Glowacki-Dudka et al. 2013; Favilli et al. 2015; Ajates Gonzalez 2017; Hubeau et al. 2017; Kirwan et al. 2017)

Communication

Transparency and accessibility of the flow of information (Mount 2012; Ajates Gonzalez 2017; Hubeau et al. 2017; Kirwan et al. 2017; Adelle 2019)

Legitimisation of the diverse knowledge to produce a holistic and plural knowledge (Adelle 2019)

Multilevel alliances

Multilevel strategic relationships

Diversity of multilevel partners involved (Pereira and Ruysenaar 2012; Termeer et al. 2018; Sonnino 2019)

Ability to create feedback loops between the various levels (Pereira and Ruysenaar 2012; Sonnino et al. 2014; Candel and Pereira 2017)

Transversal and holistic perspective of the FS (Sonnino 2016, 2019; Bassarab et al. 2019; Sonnino et al. 2019)

Institutional intervention

Agreements with the competent administrations (Pereira and Ruysenaar 2012)

Role of the administration (based on streamlining bottom-up processes) (Sonnino 2019)