NewsFlash November 2015

December 2, 2015 ARC Newsflash
Hello and welcome to our November newsletter!Can rural areas step up to help with Europe’s refugee crisis? What is the rural response to climate change? And what are the core issues of inequality between rural and urban regions in the EU? These and other topics questions are being assessed this coming week in Austria at the second European Rural Parliament. (Live video links also at post)We’ve been busy covering GMO’s in recent weeks: EU Member States and regions have either opted in or out of the option of growing, and that has divided the UK. Romanian farmers however, seem unified in their rejection of the technology. In what has been one of our most popular stories ever – one with some real detective work conducted by Ramona from Eco Ruralis – we reveal how much a failed crop GM Maize is in what was once the darling nation-state of the biotech sector. (This story has been shared from our site over 11,000 times on facebook, a stat which excludes other shares from elsewhere).

Some more recent stories of note:
Sow your Resistance! Peasant Gathering for Seed Rights
SCAR Report and Sustainable Bioeconomy – a question of principles?
Transitioning to a Sustainable Food System with IPES
Ecological Focus Area (EFA) in Germany: good for biodiversity & the tax payer?

We’ve also made it easier for you to sign up for and to access all the previous newsletters – why not tell a friend? And if you use social media, we’re always very busy on facebook and twitter–  for the latter we passed 2000 followers last week, and its rising steadily. Join us over there for very up to the minute content.

Enjoy the read!

Dr. Oliver Moore and Luise Körner (Communications, AR2020)
#Arc2020 on twitter
#Arc2020 on facebook
Monsanto

Room for Agroecology in a ‘Climate Smart’ future?

The planet is currently on a path to a global mean temperature rise in the range 1.5 to 4.5°C by the end of the century, with the higher end of this range potentially pushing agriculture – and normal life itself – far beyond manageable thresholds. The Paris COP21 will offer the appropriate space for individual and groups of countries to invite sectoral experts to outline their solutions. Although agroecology is really something that needs to be put on the table, it has not come into the official discussions yet.We ask why – and we point towards regenerative agriculture.See the special section of our website devoted to Paris COP21 negotiations. This also archives all our ‪Climate Change‬ related content.
ISDS

250,000 people protest against TTIP in Berlin
250,000 people took it to the streets on 10th October in Berlin for a huge ‘Stop TTIP and CETA – For a Fair World Trade!’ demonstration. This was the biggest protest against TTIP Europe has seen so far. The number of participants exceeded the organizers’ expectations by a factor of five. It has been the biggest march in Germany since the anti Iraq invasion protests in 2003, and one of the biggest in many decades, surpassing even the anti nuclear protests of the 1980s. The European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Stop TTIP‘ already has more than three million signatories against TTIP and CETA throughout Europe.For our full report and other news, stories and background info on TTIP check our dedicated section at arc2020.eu.
Agroforestry

A New Citizens’ CAP says Nourish Scotland

“This is a good time to take a look at the CAP.” In a guest postPete Richie explains why Nourish Scotland wants to see a fundamental rethink of the CAP. Whether we see Europe as simply a ‘common market’ or a broader political project, to have a common policy framework which creates a fair internal market while supporting high environmental and animal welfare standards.
Events

Upcoming Events and Policy Dates
November 4-6
2nd European Rural Parliament
in Schärding, AustriaNovember 12
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
in Brussels, BelgiumNovember 16
Land grabbing and land concentration in Europe
in Brussels, Belgium

November 23-24
World Forum on Natural Capitalin Edinburgh
in Edinburgh, Scotland

Find all events listed on ARC2020 here.
COOL

Our 2000m² project at TEDxBerlin
If we were to divide the global surface of arable land by the number of people on the planet, we would each get 2000m². It is on this piece of land that everything Mother Earth supplies us with must grow. On our real field in Berlin we laid out our 2000m² and now were invited to speak at the TEDxBerlin conference: You can watch the talk here and get the 2000m² idea in a nutshell.
Dr. Oliver Moore – oliver@arc2020.eu
Communications ManagerLuise Körner – communication@arc2020.eu
Communications Team