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. […]
Minding mental health is an ever increasing challenge for rural communities, and especially farmers. It’s a crisis exacerbated by precarious and political uncertainty, and tied up with questions of generational renewal on farms. To learn more about the situation on the ground, the services available, and what rural communities can do, Hannes Lorenzen spoke to Regina Eichinger-Schönberger, a health counsellor in Germany who specialises in suicide prevention in the green sector. […]
It’s easy to be overwhelmed. As we prepare to ride the wave of multiple crises, going into 2026 we are minding our mental health at ARC2020, and diving into this topic with rural actors and communities. A New Year’s message from ARC2020 president Hannes Lorenzen. […]
We congregated on the last weekend in November, together with participants from 12 European countries and beyond, for our Rural Resilience Gathering 2025. We took home new perspectives, tools and best practices, a richer vision of the mosaic of rural Europe – and a full tank of hope: that we can shape our agroecological future in our communities. Report by Louise Kelleher and Pauline Petit. […]
As the tractors roll back into the streets of Brussels and London, it feels an opportune moment to reflect on the state of food, farming and the environment across Europe, and to contemplate — at a time of division and anger — whether there might still be scope through deep listening and meaningful negotiation to strike a ‘grand bargain’ across Europe in which farmers and the environment both truly flourish. Op-ed by Edward Davey. […]
Every year the Feeding Ourselves movement joins more of the dots in the local food ecosystem. This year especially it has broken new ground – digging into Ireland’s difficult colonial past and building bridges to a more resilient future by consolidating ties with unlikely partners and anchor institutions. To give us a taste of where the movement is at, Oliver Moore reports from Ireland. […]
It’s getting increasingly harder for the pesticide lobby to argue against the science showing harm to people and ecosystems of its toxic products. ‘Luckily’ it has an ace up its sleeve: farmers’ frustrations/anger. Corporate lobby group Croplife Europe appears to be opportunistically planning to use farmers’ protests on the 18th of December in Brussels, in order to create political momentum to further slash EU safety rules for its products. Op-ed by Nina Holland of Corporate Europe Observatory. […]
Rollbacks in Brussels overshadowed Europe’s presence at COP30 in Belém, while Indigenous movements, civil society and frontrunner nations pushed forward plans for agroecology, plant-rich diets and fair climate transitions. Investigative researcher and reporter Rachel Sherrington joins the dots between Belém and Brussels. […]
On 4 December, EU negotiators reached an agreement to deregulate plants engineered with new genomic techniques. In this op-ed, Franziska Achterberg of Save Our Seeds argues that the deal dismantles key elements of EU GMO law for a broad category of genetically modified plants rebranded as “conventional-like” and granted patent rights. While the agreement still awaits final approval, Achterberg sets out why it should be rejected. […]
In the final episode of Fields of Power, we step back from the land grabbing cases we’ve traced across Hungary and ask a deeper question: what does land have to do with democracy? Fields of Power is a four-part podcast series is created by Ian M. Cook, Péter József Bori and Noémi Gonda. […]
Three years on from Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian farmers are still struggling to navigate the lasting legacy of the occupation in Europe’s breadbasket. With the relationship between the EU and the war-torn country set to deepen in the coming years, Ukrainian journalist Anna Romandash takes a deep dive on the current state of affairs on the ground and how to step forward beyond symbolic solidarity and into concrete support. […]
In episode 3 of the “Fields of Power” podcast series, we head out onto Hungary’s great plains in search of people living through the country’s land battles. What we find is a landscape marked not just by farmers without land, but by fear. By Ian M. Cook, Péter József Bori and Noémi Gonda. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention
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