Collective intelligence on a European scale – could this be the missing piece of the puzzle to make the agroecological transition a reality? Thierry Lohr, local councillor for Plessé, France, and partner of the Rural Resilience project, tells the story of an idea that has galvanised a pan-European collective of rural changemakers: the Peasant University. […]
What would you do with €2.5 trillion? This is the amount the EU spends every year on public procurement. With the rules that shape this spending up for revision, there is a multi-trillion euro opportunity to serve better food in schools, hospitals, prisons and care homes – while simultaneously supporting farmers and nourishing local economies. Ashley Parsons reports. […]
It takes a village to raise a child. What happens when a village makes the choice to help feed its children? What are the steps to ensure good local food on plates and in bellies? How can local authorities take action beyond national or EU policies? We visited the school canteen in Plessé, France, to find out. Louise Kelleher reports. […]
If the French municipal elections this spring taught us anything, it’s that what’s on our plates is most certainly political. Food is about much more than farming. In rural areas especially, food directly impacts health, landscapes, and quality of life, and it was a topic on doorsteps all over France during the recent campaign. Right now a political window of opportunity is open: for communities to take the power back over their food systems. Pauline Petit reports. […]
Who milks the cows when the farmers fall sick? There is only one answer to that question for most: the farmers, or their families. But it is a very different story in two European countries—and while right now, access to sick leave and holidays is determined by postcode, this could soon start to change. Here, ARC2020’s Natasha Foote digs into how these farm relief services work in practice and what the ingredients for success look like for other countries that want to set up similar services for their farmers. […]
What if, instead of going into debt to invest in their farms, farmers came together to pool equipment? What if, instead of struggling to run a small farm alone, there was extra help at hand? What if new entrants could draw on the experience of more established farmers in their local area? It may sound too good to be true, but this is the reality with France’s network of Agricultural Machinery Cooperatives (CUMA). Pauline Petit reports from Plume Chat Huant, a local CUMA cooperative in north-west France. […]
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 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. […]
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. […]
In a farming system that demands more than it gives, Marie Halicki finds that relationships, not yields, nourish resilience, sovereignty, and sanity. […]
Organic farming has long been hailed as the poster child for sustainable agriculture. But as the EU organic sector becomes increasingly industrialised, cracks are beginning to appear. How can we weed out the weaknesses in the current model and transition to diversified, resilient systems? Seeds4All visited the Bergerie de Villarceaux, a pioneering farm through the decades, in the hope of gleaning lessons from the past for the organic farmers of tomorrow. By Adèle Pautrat and Natasha Foote. […]
At first glance, the Nantaise cow is a relic of the past. A small, sturdy breed once common in western France, it had all but disappeared by the late 20th century. Today, thanks to a growing network of farmers and chefs, the little cow is making a quiet but powerful comeback—proving that small-scale, local production can be a serious and viable alternative to industrial farming. […]
France has more than enough land to feed its inhabitants. Yet almost half of French farmland serves the global export trade. Food sovereignty will remain a pipe dream as long as the absurd globalised food system continues to hold sway, says a new report by Terre de Liens. The Rural Resilience project reports from the launch event in Paris. […]
We invite you to retrace with us the Rural Resilience project journey in 2024. Together we look back on a year that took us from rage and rollbacks to a European triangle of rural action. […]
Geopolitics, geography and geometry can sometimes come together as a force for good. A gathering of people from European rural and urban civil society in the Polish village of Grzybów was one such moment. The event, which was spearheaded by ARC2020 and took place at the end of November, weaved together rural, urban, farming and EU perspectives to find a common thread towards a fairer, more sustainable farming and food system. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention
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