The explicitation of the demand of the society in terms of the quality of the rural environment is of great interest to an agriculture in search of a new role. Surveys have revealed the establishment of a social demand based on latent private demands, expressed and socialised through various organisations. These surveys bring to light the fact that the demand refers to common representations which determine what functions are attributed to farmers in terms of rural space management and who is recognised as able to evaluate the actions of the farmers in this respect ; they set forth the content of the demand, and also the fact that the demand frequently not expressed. These representations appear as implicit conventions, which are the basis for and the product of a means of coordination in a non-commercial trade situation, between an offer which is the result of the effects of agriculture on the rural space, and the demande of the users. Observation of the insufficiencies of this mode of coordination is a source of learning for public action.
