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. […]
Lovingly curated and launched today, “Everyday Heroines – Stories Rooted in Rural Resilience” is a tribute to the extraordinary strength of women who, every day, fundamentally shape the future of their communities. A joint publication by ARC2020, Polska z Natury Foundation, ZIARNO and the Ecological Folk High School. […]
Welcome back to Zsámboki Biokert, a market garden and alternative learning space, located close to Budapest. Young trainees flock here to learn how to work with nature and grow nutrient dense food. This knowledge-sharing is part of a broader strategy of resilience – for young people in pursuit of meaningful lifestyles grounded in wellbeing, but also for the farm team and wider community. When overwhelmed by the scale of the challenges, collective advocacy for agroecology can be a coping technique. A letter from the farm by Logan Strenchock. […]
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. […]
What began as a small French-fries stand and a desire to grow their own potatoes brought two young farmers into the heart of one of Europe’s most pressing agricultural challenges: access to land. Since founding their organic farm near Münster, David Büchler and Sarah Hoffmann have followed a path familiar to many new entrants, marked by long searches and uncertain opportunities. But a collective purchase model made long-term security possible, after a legal case that finally culminated in a win. By Christine Etienne. […]
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. […]
Resilient, self-reliant food systems. This is what a major new IPES-Food report puts forward as a way to deal with food price volatility driven by increasing geopolitical tensions. We recognise here many of the ingredients for Rural Resilience that we have identified in our project, including fair livelihoods for farmers and access to food for all. It’s a new and very ‘now’ pathway for governments to advance a food sovereignty approach. Oliver Moore digs in. […]
A farm can be a place for the kind of learning that’s hard to find in educational institutions. Combining her work in both farming and networking with Education for Sustainable Development, Ann Marie Weber explores how collaboration among regional actors and transformative learning processes can drive structural change toward sustainable food systems. She runs a small farm near Marburg (Hesse, Germany), where she grows vegetables to make hot sauce, chutneys and other preserves – not for market, but to help create a space for people to connect with their own agency, food and nature. In conversation with Louise Kelleher. […]
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. […]
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. […]
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. […]
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. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention
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