October 2025 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

European Rural Parliament 2025 — Redefining Rurality in the Scottish Highlands

October 31, 2025 Theona Morrison

On October 20-23, over 400 rural delegates from over 40 European countries gathered in Inverurie in the north-east of Scotland for the 6th European Rural Parliament (ERP). It isn’t that communities lack capacity for change; they lack the support to deliver. This is the message behind the Inverurie Declaration, a call for systemic change from the delegates that asks not for help but for partnership from European, national and regional authorities. Theona L Morrison, Chair of Scottish Rural Action, shares her reflections on the 6th ERP. […]

Where The Untended Feeds Us – Cécile Gilquin’s “Tiers-Paysage”

October 24, 2025 Adèle Pautrat

“All the places neglected by human beings”: this is the site of the Third Landscape (Tiers-Paysage) as defined by Gilles Clément in his Manifesto of the Third Landscape. Cécile Gilquin was drawn to this concept that celebrates the neglected — those plants that we too often forget to appreciate — as “biological diversity that has not yet been classified as richness”, while also showing that it is possible to interact with nature without seeking to dominate it. She was inspired to launch in 2020 her own Third Landscape (or Tiers-Paysage in her native French). Portrait of a forager by Adèle Pautrat. […]

EU Budget: How Brussels’ New Plans Put Regions Out to Pasture

October 21, 2025 Natasha Foote

Brussels is still sifting through the wreckage of the budget bombshell the European Commission dropped in July. As the dust settles, one question looms large: who wins, and who’s left behind? In this ARC2020 mini-series, we unpack the ripple effects — and collateral damage — of the EU’s radical budget proposal, starting with the regions that risk being sidelined. […]

Why Is the Local Food Economy in Ireland So Weak?

October 21, 2025 Oliver Moore

Ireland’s weak local food economy is not simply a modern oversight or the result of consumer preferences. Instead, it is deeply rooted in historical and structural forces—chief among them, colonial extractivism. The foundations for this vulnerability were laid centuries ago, and they have laid down tramlines of extractivism which still operate today. Analysis by Oliver Moore. […]

The Trojan Horse of Simplification

October 13, 2025 Natasha Foote

On the back of yet another green light for a fresh batch of ‘simplification’ plans, ARC2020’s Natasha Foote explores how deep this latest round cuts into the roots of the CAP and sustainability rules, and what is hiding inside this simplification Trojan horse. […]

Planting Seeds of Quiet Agroecological Resistance in South Africa’s Fields

October 10, 2025 Natasha Foote

A quiet rebellion is taking root in rural South Africa. Led by women armed not with tractors or chemicals, but with seeds, soil, and agroecological knowledge, this movement rejects the export-led farming model that has long dictated what they grow and how they live. This agroecological resistance is feeding bellies and a growing rural resilience, one food garden at a time. Letter from their farms by Natasha Foote. […]

Spain | Participatory Water Governance – A New Model for Regional CAP Implementation?

October 10, 2025 Irene Perez

In a time of environmental regulation backsliding in agriculture, how can grassroots, participatory processes enable farmers, environmentalists, and other local stakeholders to effectively shape policy? Here, we dig deeper into a case study: the Social Water Roundtable of Andalusia (MSA), which works to shape regional water governance in agriculture through multi-stakeholder dialogue. Report by Irene Perez. […]

France | Not Perfect, But Possible – Seeing is Believing at Institut de Tramayes

October 1, 2025 Ashley Parsons

In the run-up to this November’s Rural Resilience Gathering, we took a trip to the Institut de Tramayes: a centre for learning by doing, that seeks to counteract the fragmentation of intellectual knowledge and manual know-how and cultivate “whole human beings”. More than a study trip, it was a moment to reflect on what it means to build a learning space that is rooted in rural realities and ambitions. What could we learn from Tramayes that could help build a University Paysanne in Plessé, and beyond? Report by Ashley Parsons. […]