The Polish Rural Parliament launched earlier this month, holding its inaugural gathering at the European Congress on Rural Renewal and Development organised by the Polish EU Presidency on May 8-10 2025. What does this mean for the rural movement in Poland? Below we bring you an interview with its co-initiators, Ryszard Kamiński (Polish Rural Forum) and Szymon Migoń (Polish Rural Youth Union). But first, Hannes Lorenzen reports from the Congress in Poznan.
Updated 22/05/2025 13:41
Rural regions and people need more attention. This is evident and recognised since farmers took to the streets in many parts of Europe a year ago. However, how that attention will materialise in future policies is not agreed, not in European institutions, nor by national governments.
Policies for farmers are often presented as rural policies. This was also the case at the European Congress on Renewal and Rural Development, organised by the Polish EU Presidency. It could have been a moment of clarity on what is being planned in Brussels and Warsaw to respond to the many challenges rural communities and farmers face. The Congress brought together European agriculture ministers with a broad range of agricultural experts and rural activists.
Although the discourse mainly reflected farmers’ needs, the Congress also offered a moment for the Polish Rural Forum to open public attention to the wider needs and opportunities of rural communities and to launch a Polish ‘Rural Parliament’.
Rural Parliaments are initiatives of rural movements in many parts of Europe. They act independently from governments and administrations. They challenge, but also support their governments in shaping rural policies and programmes, and strengthening rural communities beyond farming.
To be part of this European Congress was already a remarkable acknowledgment of the Polish Rural Forum in its critical and constructive civic role, but also the fruit of many years of struggle to draw politicians’ attention to the problems and solutions offered by rural regions and people.
Compared to the more than a thousand mainly agricultural stakeholders assembled in Poznan’s exhibition hall, the inaugural gathering of the Polish Rural Parliament could have easily been lost in the crowd. But in fact their agenda was much more ambitious than the visions and general discourse on farming and food policies among high level panellists of ministers and experts.
“Our National Rural Parliament shall become an open space for creative and constructive cooperation for all,” says Ryszard Kamiński, founding member of the Rural Forum, and co-initiator of the Rural Parliament [see full interview below]. The plan foresees actively including all potential rural stakeholders, from local initiatives, municipalities and administrations, to large farmers, chambers of agriculture, and climate and environmental organisations.
Kamiński sees the Rural Parliament as the “dough of cooperation” between all rural people, beyond all existing differences and potential conflicts. “We will create the moment for open talk and the basis for constructive cooperation,” he says.
Cooperation, not competition
There are 24 such National Rural Parliaments that exist across Europe to date, including one European Rural Parliament. In past years, these Parliaments have gathered civic rural movements as a dedicated voice of rural people.
Instead of each individually vying for politicians’ increasingly stretched time and competing for ever-shrinking pots of public money, this allows NGOs and other rural community organisations, farmers and their organisations, as well as public and private enterprises, to push together for change
In doing so, Rural Parliaments help to reconnect the movement with the needs of villagers and rural communities. In the light of farmer protests and growing tensions between rural and urban communities on environmental and climate regulations, the ambitions of the Polish Rural Parliament seem to open a door to a broader rural alliance.
Kamiński is all too aware of the risks that entering such a big stage could hold, but believes the opportunities outweigh the threats. “It would be worse to let the existing tensions grow in separate camps,” he says, pointing out that they “all face enormous challenges as rural citizens”.
“We need to learn how to cooperate instead of competing for public attention and resources,” he stresses. This is something that was made clear at the Congress, where conversations on rural renewal and development often turned only to statements about the future of farming.
“Generational change is not just a problem for farmers but for all rural enterprise – rural infrastructure is not just about roads but also about better education and training, kindergartens and health care, and of course a fair income from renewable energies,” Kamiński says.
This is even more important in times of EU budget restrictions, amidst rumours that EU rural funding may be merged with other budget lines. “We need to sensitise politicians for the much broader challenges and opportunities for rural areas beyond farming and the need for genuine cooperation,” he concludes.
And the speech by the EU Commissioner for farming and food, Christophe Hansen, at the congress does nothing to allay Kamiński’s fears. Hansen’s remarks rest squarely within the realm of farming, describing the many economic and geopolitical challenges ahead for farmers, such as unfair trading practices, growing bureaucracy and generational change. He sees solutions in simplification and flexibility in funding schemes, including private/public investments in farms with support of the European Investment Bank (EIB), especially for young farmers.
The list of stakeholders interested in forming the Polish Rural Parliament is long and promising. In addition to the traditional organisations focusing on rural issues (such as the Polish Rural Forum, the Polish Union of Rural Youth, the National Union of Village Leaders or the Federation of Educational Initiatives), the Parliament intends to involve also the national union of agricultural chambers with 250,000 members, another organisation bringing together 1,000 largest farmers in Poland, as well as a wide range of environmental organisations, water enterprises and forestry organisations
The rural movements take the stage towards the end of the European Congress of the Polish presidency. Though the huge conference hall seems pretty empty now, the attention of the remaining audience is high.
The message from Tom Jones of the European Rural Parliament and Urszula Budzich-Tabor from the Rural Pact Support Office, which is technically supported by the European Commission, is clear.
“Over past decades rural initiatives and movements have created a strong rural voice that is being increasingly heard by governments and administrations. But policy change is slow. There is still too much competition and silo thinking within European and national governments and institutions, and too little dialogue between all rural stakeholders. Much rural advocacy and cooperation is being done by volunteers like the Polish Rural Forum. If we are to succeed in making European rural regions strong and resilient for the challenges to come, we will need much better cooperation – between different governmental services, as well as between civil society and governmental institutions.”
All in for rural cooperation!
An interview with Ryszard Kamiński, Polish Rural Forum – Polish Rural Parliament, and Szymon Migoń, President of the Polish Rural Youth Union
HL: The Polish Rural Forum is jumping on a big stage: A Polish Rural Parliament. It was founded 23 years ago. Why a Rural Parliament now?
RK: I believe the time has come to take a new step. We have been the specific rural voice in Poland for a long time with success. But we have stayed in our circles of rural communities and activists. The challenges are bigger now. When we started in 2002, we were just out of a system that did not allow for civic bottom-up initiatives, let alone rural parliaments. We gathered people who wanted to take their destiny into their own hands. We travelled and discovered what others did in Europe in their rural communities – beyond farming. We were not taken seriously by our governments at the beginning. That has changed. On rural affairs we are heard and respected. And farmers and rural workers look at us as potential partners in their struggle. This is the moment to talk and cooperate.With the Rural Parliament we are ready to create a platform for dialogue and strategic thinking.
HL: You dare quite a step – you want to work with a broad range of very different stakeholders; small and large farmers’ organisations and rural workers; environmentalists and energy companies; municipalities and local communities. That is quite like doing the splits between many different worlds. What is the recipe to succeed?
RK: Yes, we take a risk. But we have no choice. We need more dialogue and cooperation across the rural board. If we continue to define our rural role against farmers we will lose, and so will farmers without us. If farmers continue the path of competition, as recommended by the EU Commission and our ministries, most of us will lose too. When the old system broke down, farmers went wild in their new freedom. One million small farmers bought one million tractors – at an average of farms of 6 hectares. They totally turned their back on any form of cooperation. I am still a member of the old organisation for shared machinery and milk production. I believe we do not have to reinvent the wheel. We can build on our long tradition of mutual aid in rural Poland. We just need to make a reasonable choice to create new forms of sharing and cooperation.
HL: You are a farmer, scientist, advisor and rural moderator in one. The moderator role is voluntary. How are you going to manage the Rural Parliament project with so many different responsibilities?
RK: It is of course a group of people managing the process with complementary skills, talents and competences. I have my feet on the ground with my farm, local community organisation, local food supply chain. At the same time I am respected in political circles from the regional to the national level, including my work at the National Academy of Science. Many of us have similar multifunctional potential to serve the project. Some will deal with the rural-urban divide between people, others with conflicts arising from climate change, water management or access to land. We still have our cooperative banks and the old and new education concepts for rural areas like Grundtvig schools and peasant universities. It is all here; we just need to use it carefully and in a cooperative spirit.
HL: (to Szymon) The elephant in the rural and farming policy room is generational change. You are the younger part of the Rural Parliament project and a young farmer. Where do you see potential for creative and fair cooperation between young farmers and other rural stakeholders on village or community level with regard to growing income problems and fading small scale rural infrastructure in Poland?
SM: I come from a farming family. Later, my father founded a sawmill, and throughout this time, my family has been very active in the local community. You could say I practically absorbed social engagement with my mother’s milk. Both my grandfather and father served as chairmen of the volunteer fire brigade, my mother was active in the parents’ council, and my father is also a municipal councillor.
That’s why I fully understand how important it is to connect different groups – farmers, entrepreneurs, and social activists. The voice of young people is especially important in this dialogue, because the future of the Polish countryside depends on us.
First and foremost, we need to ask: what can we do to encourage young people to stay in rural areas and help make these areas more attractive? We face real challenges – such as poor infrastructure, limited public services, and low youth engagement. I believe this last point is especially crucial: social involvement helps young people form strong bonds with their communities, making them less likely to want to leave.
However, without proper infrastructure, entertainment options, and public services, it will still be hard to convince them to stay. That’s why the most important thing is to create a space for dialogue – a space where we can work together to transform rural areas into places that are welcoming and vibrant for everyone: young people, seniors, farmers, and entrepreneurs. That space is the Rural Parliament.
HL: You were part of the European Congress on Rural Renewal and Development in Poznan. It seems that the discourse of politicians and experts was mainly about EU and national policies and rural and youth was a bit on the sideline. What kind of dialogue and action do you foresee to bring a local and village approach to the attention of decision-makers?
S.M: The voice of rural youth must be heard – those related to agriculture and those shaping local communities. That is why, as the Polish Rural Youth Union, we took an active part in the Congress by organising the second edition of FLOW – Forum of Rural Area Leaders. This is a conference different from all the others. It is not focused on expert analyses or academic debates; it is the voice of young people. Expert insights serve only as a complement to their perspectives.
We discussed, among other topics, future professions, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy sources, and the importance of cooperation at local, national and international levels. Our goal is to encourage young people to leave their comfort zone and be able to speak about their problems, but also about their ideas for shaping the future of the countryside.
I deeply believe that the voice of rural youth was truly heard during the Congress, the question now is whether it will also be listened to by politicians and decision-makers. Every opportunity to present the perspective of rural youth is significant. That’s why we strive to participate in various events and conferences – and just as importantly, to initiate our own activities, such as FLOW or the Polish Rural Parliament.
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