There is motivation in many rural areas and communities to resolve the issues slowing achievement of a sustainable future, and to embrace the concept of the circular economy for agro-food systems. Increased consumption of resources is not an option and therefore best use must be made of capital, incorporating the “reduce, re-use, recycle” mantra. Research projects addressing sustainable land use can help to accomplish this aim, and the studies have demonstrated that stakeholders may be helped to understand and act on new knowledge especially if they are involved in more than one project. This is because they gain confidence to evaluate research ideas in the light of their own experience. In the Basilicata region of southern Italy there has been a succession of research projects since the 1990s to study the processes of land degradation and appropriate technologies to combat the risk of desertification. Most recently, the attitudes and perceptions of groups of cereal farmers included in both the DESIRE and REACT projects, or the REACT project alone, were compared using a Questionnaire, and the results highlighted the success of the iterative approach. This is an important finding, and can encourage understanding and action to overcome constraints and support the circular economy in agro-food systems.