Latest from key partners Archives - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Reconnect With Beans – Take Our Food Power Back

May 9, 2023 ARC

If we all agree to take back the power over our food, what do we need? Helping to frame the discussion at the Global Bean Seed Festival, Xavier Hamon, artisan cook and partner of the Rural Resilience project, encourages us to re-cultivate hundreds of varieties of grains and pulses, take back land, win political mandates, and most of all, support those who work for the living world, day after day. Words : Xavier Hamon. […]

Strengthening Multifunctional Agriculture through Digitalisation: Insights from Europe and Japan

April 27, 2023 Matteo Metta

We are told today that agriculture and rural areas are living through a pervasive digital transformation. But will digitalisation reverse the current productivism model or perpetuate it? At 72nd Annual Meeting of the Association for Regional Agricultural and Forestry Economics (ARAFE), Matteo Metta presented his insights on digital agriculture from the rural perspectives. The hybrid event took place last 23 October 2022 at the Ryukoku University (Kyoto, Japan) and touched upon key issues, global trends and local realities in agri, food, and rural transformations. […]

Sustainable Food Systems Law – EU Food Policy Coalition’s Recommendations for a Meaningful Transition

April 25, 2023 ARC

As the European Commission prepares for the launch of its proposal on the Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) Legislative Framework in late September, the EU Food Policy Coalition has published a joint report laying out clear policy recommendations for the SFS Law to ensure a meaningful transition to sustainable food systems across the European Union. Summary and report to download here. […]

Why Legumes are Necessary for Agroecological Transition

November 23, 2022 ARC

What role for legumes in the agroecological transition? And what is bulatura? Here, author and researcher Lucia Nicastro interviews two farmers – Stefano Vegetabile of Nuove Rotte. Andrea Giaccardi, of l’Orto del Pian Bosco – about how and why they integrate legumes into their farming systems. […]

Objectives are Not Enough | Pesticide Atlas 2022

October 24, 2022 ARC

Even though the EU’s pesticide legislation is the most sophisticated, it has failed to achieve a reduction in use. The EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy seeks to change that. Many questions remain. This article is an excerpt from the Pesticide Atlas 2022, published on October 18th, 2022 Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union, and others. […]

Rural Europe Takes Action | The Sámi Environmental Programme

September 22, 2022 ARC

From the Sámi perspective, all matters are environmental matters. The Sámi Environmental Programme is a holistic framework with a long-term, decolonised perspective on sustainability and Indigenous culture. Josefina Skerk, former Vice President of the Sámi Parliament, shares powerful perspectives on life, land and climate justice in a conversation originally published in “Rural Europe Takes Action – No more business as usual”, the policy guide launched by ARC2020 and Forum Synergies in June 2022. […]

Op Ed | Hunger Games and Locked in Pesticides

September 20, 2022 ARC

In this op-ed, Matthias Wolfschmidt of Foodwatch International unpacks the EU’s food system, its reliance on cheap imports, its generation of food waste, the power of lobby groups and Europe’s subsequent reliance on damaging pesticides and fertilizers. In this context, Wolfschmidt considers how the weaponisation of hunger embeds a lock in of problematic agri-industrial inputs, while also pointing to a way out of this bind within 15 years. […]

Rural Europe Takes Action | Seeds of Collaboration

July 22, 2022 ARC

“Rural Europe Takes Action – No more business as usual”, a policy guide for rural Europe by ARC2020 and Forum Synergies, launched in June 2022. Today’s extract from Rural Europe Takes Action tells the story of the Balkan Seeds Network, a network of scientists and seed savers’ organisations tapping into the rich biodiversity and agricultural heritage of South Eastern Europe to stimulate resilient food systems, and establishing a paradigm of collaboration for the Balkan region. […]

On Meaningful Diversity: Reflecting on 75 years of Rural Sociology at Wageningen University

July 14, 2022 ARC

75 years have passed since Evert Willem Hofstee was appointed to the position of Professor at Wageningen University, which marks the beginning of rural sociology as a discipline and as a university department. What are the key features and how has it developed from 1946 to present? Prof. Dr. Han Wiskerke reflects on the 75th anniversary of what is now called Rural Sociology Group. […]

The Good Food Good Farming Pesticide Check-up

June 14, 2022 ARC

As decision-makers consider the future of pesticide regulation in the EU, Good Food Good Farming is running a citizen science project inviting citizens to do a “Pesticide Check-up” by getting their hair tested for pesticides. The project is open to participation until June 30. […]

Reversing Rule and Exception – Transformative New Integrated Policy for Rural Agri & Food presented in European Parliament

June 10, 2022 Ashley Parsons

A book filled with “extraordinary examples of ongoing transformations of our rural world” was launched in the European Parliament this week. Key political stakeholders – including European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, Isabel Estrada Carvalhais, and Dacian Ciolos – agreed on the need to start to build a process to explore and develop ideas contained therein- including a radical new Regulation. So what are these ideas? […]

First look – Rural Europe Takes Action e-book

June 7, 2022 ARC

Today we have something special for you. Another rural Europe is possible – and its happening. Today, we launch Rural Europe Takes Action – no more business as usual. We’ve spent many months working with our friends in Forum Synergies to bring an inspirational yet practical set of examples and proposals, of visions and strategies, together into one handy, approachable text. And it’s now ready for you to read. […]

Diversifying Europe’s Rural Economy | SHERPA

May 25, 2022 ARC

As rural Europe deals with its challenges and embraces its opportunities, what role for production change and diversification? And what are the key factors involved? SHERPA -Sustainable Hub for Engaging into Rural Policies with Actors – a Horizon 2020 project, addresses this topic. Key areas highlighted that can lead the process of diversification include entrepeneurship, digitalisation, bioeconomy and the food chain. […]

War in Ukraine and World Food – What options does the international community have?

March 14, 2022 ARC

Sebastian Lakner assesses the current, rapidly changing situation of agri-food trade and policies. How is the war impacting on agri-food supplies, and what are the responses at EU and national level? This opinion piece is an English language update of an earlier German post on the agricultural economist’s blog. […]

Rocky Road – EU Regs, Deforestation and a Just Transition for Smallholders

February 24, 2022 Ashley Parsons

After “organic,” “non-GMO,” or even “palm-oil free,” there may be a new label coming to products for EU consumers: “Deforestation-free.” But might there be unintended consequences for some of the world’s poorest smallholders, who also happen to be those least responsible for climate breakdown? Ashley Parsons and Oliver Moore report. […]