What if we acknowledged the labour embedded in every plate of food we eat, in every glass of wine? Forum Synergies trainee Lana Chaduneli spent a rich two weeks in mentorship with pioneering winemaker Charlotte Horton at Castello di Potentino in Tuscany in autumn 2025, where she learned how agriculture, culture and intellectual life need not be separated, but can instead be mutually enriching. By Lana Chaduneli. […]
Lawyers have declared it unlawful. The EU’s watchdog has found maladministration. And yet it’s full steam ahead for the EU’s simplification train – or ‘omnibus’, to be more precise. As one simplification chapter closes, another opens. What is going on, and what does this mean going forward? Natasha Foote brings you the latest in the legal wrangle around the EU’s simplification saga. […]
How accessible are conversations around transition? Good Food For All! – a European Citizens’ Initiative carried by a coalition of over 300+ civil society organisations across Europe, including ARC2020 – is taking important strides to help make the messages of the food sovereignty and agroecology movements heard. But the battle for hearts, minds and policies is far from won. In this op-ed, Robbie Blake of IPES-Food asks how these movements can tell better stories. […]
One month after its signing by Mrs von der Leyen, the EU-Mercosur agreement remains contentious, with the European Parliament scrutinising its legality. In Poland – one of a handful of Member States that voted against the deal – it remains a lightning rod for farmers’ grievances. And it’s not just farmers who are unfairly expected to absorb risks: new research co-authored by Igor Olech for Poland’s Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics spotlights structural loopholes in Mercosur’s sustainability architecture. Igor Olech reports from Poland. […]
Welcome to the Year of the CAP — but just how “common” will the EU’s next agricultural policy be? Could pensioners be excluded from direct payments? And will farmers finally get a day off? Meanwhile EU leaders are freewheeling in the direction of free-trade deals. We may remember 2026 as the year the floodgates were opened to new genetic technologies. Plus the future of seeds is at stake, with upcoming trilogues that will make or break the proposed overhaul of the EU’s Seed Law. But first, there’s a battle looming over the budget. Natasha Foote reports on a decisive year ahead for EU policy. […]
India’s Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) initiative is arguably the world’s largest and fastest-growing agroecological movement. It is based on cultivating diversity, the targeted stimulation of the soil microbiome without the use of chemicals or genetic engineering, and solidarity among the women of the participating communities. Two young women farmers from the movement are touring Europe to share their natural farming approach. […]
Ireland, Spain and Poland are among a number of Member States now looking to biogas to support the transition to sustainable energy systems. But is investing in biogas infrastructure a beneficial use of public funds? In new research, Sophie Scherger of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy lays out the lessons that can be learned from an early adopter of biogas: Germany. Op-ed by Sophie Scherger. […]
Without rebalancing power in our agri-food systems, how can we expect our rural communities to be well? Xavier Hamon is an artisan-cook who is keenly aware of how rural powerlessness can take a toll on mental health. Here is our conversation. […]
We are back with Shane Casey in The Burren, Ireland, where lambing season is in full swing. Shane has been busy with the next generation on and off the farm too, visiting schools with a herd of Old Irish Goats. Once a common sight in the Irish countryside, this rare native breed is helping to revive a cultural heritage that has lessons to teach us today, on biodiversity, wildfire management, and the transmission of knowledge from one generation to the next. Over to Shane in the lambing shed. […]
In 2026, the right to food will be a core theme of our work. And what better to whet our appetites than a Menu of Food Voices? Spotlighting seven place-based approaches from very diverse territories across Europe, every voice in this report brings a unique recipe for transforming food systems from the bottom up. Op-ed by Julianne van Pelt of Foodrise. […]
As a temperature check on where the alternative agri-food movement is in Britain, the Oxford Real Farming Conference is a good barometer. Oliver Moore reports from Oxford. […]
Ewa Smuk-Stratenwerth is co-founder of ZIARNO Ecological-Cultural Association and the Ecological Folk High School in Grzybów, Poland. As part of our series on mental health and wellbeing in rural areas, Hannes Lorenzen spoke with her about polarisation and conspiracies in rural Poland, but also about her views on “healthy patriotism” and the importance of practicing human virtues. […]
With the signing of the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement this weekend, a spectre of the past comes back to haunt Europe’s farmers. But there is still a political window to save their future. Op-ed by ARC2020 President Hannes Lorenzen, published in Le Monde on Saturday 17 January 2026. […]
Can a system designed in Brussels and enforced from space truly understand the subtle, seasonal rhythms of rural life? Or does it risk reducing farms to mere data points, penalising complexity, and widening the gap between policymakers and those who work the land? Here, Ilaria Potenza explores this new farming frontier and what this really means on the ground. […]
A small field not far from Brussels is home to Tiers-Paysage, where Cécile Gilquin grows and forages with an immense respect and gratitude for nature’s gifts. Her mission is to help eaters rediscover edible wild plants. In this letter from a forager, Cécile walks us through a world where the untended feeds us. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention
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