In this second part article we look at the resilience of agricultural insurance systems, a function fulfilled by public (France, Spain) or private (Germany) reinsurance, in relation to water scarcity and drought. […]
Blue gold: water is one of the most precious resources for agriculture and for life. In part one of this analysis, Marie-Lise Breure-Montagne looks at the difficult transition from acceptance of risk to transfer of climate risks (beginning with drought) to insurance companies – developments which spotlight inequalities in the circumstances of farmers across Europe. […]
What levers do France and Germany have for adapting land policies to regional and local realities? After looking at regional public policies, consider the work of Terre de Liens in France and Regionalwert-AG in Germany, which are working to make farmland available for new entrants and agricultural renewal in these two major European countries. […]
How to distribute agricultural land for more resilient agriculture… without Europe-wide legislation? Policy analysis comparing access to land in France and Germany, by Marie-Lise Breure-Montagne. […]
In phase 2 of the Rural Resilience project we pledged to explore new territories. Over the summer, we set out in search of experiments in resilience in the four corners of France. Marie-Lise Breure-Montagne reports. […]
The human and financial cost of exposure to pesticides in rural areas remains largely hidden from the spotlight. In France, Marie-Lise Breure-Montagne, of the Rural Resilience project analyses the risks and cost – part 2 of 2. […]
The SUR still proposes at least another thirty years of coexistence with pesticides, as its objective is the phasing out pesticides by 2050. Can we afford to wait another three decades? No, say those who advocate for an 80% reduction by 2030 (rather than 50%).
This article is based on accumulated knowledge of the impact of pesticides on health, distinguishing two types of exposed populations: farmers and other professional pesticide users (Part 1). […]
Part 2 in democratising local food policy: we look to Germany and the democratic potential of Food Policy Councils. […]
In the first few months of the year, the Rural Resilience project has been busy attending events to maintain ties with existing partners and grow new connections, around issues making sense on both sides of the Rhine. Through the lens of multi-tiered rural policies, we are working with actors in territories across Europe to bring forward reality-based proposals, rooted in actions that are already underway on the ground. Here’s a quick overview of where we’ve been and who we’ve met. […]
ARC2020’s Rural Resilience project explores the possibilities for Europe’s territories to become more resilient from the ground up, so we were keen to visit Ireland in March 2023 to support the Feeding Ourselves gathering in Cloughjordan Ecovillage. Alison Brogan shares the rich learnings for rural infrastructure gleaned from this weekend in the Irish midlands. […]
How can a top-down tool such as France’s Territorial Food Programmes help to democratise local food policy? How does the French infrastructure compare to Germany’s Food Policy Councils? In the best case scenario, communities take food into their own hands. Part 1 of a policy analysis by the Rural Resilience project. […]
Au Maquis is a food justice non-profit based in the small Provençal village of Lauris. Under the shade of a cabana, we sat down with Fanny and Maud who run the farm. The association has a total of eight staff and 1,800 members, including over 100 volunteers, who come together to grow and eat, to build community and to hold space. It takes a village to cultivate food justice. […]
Producing and selling locally is a shared value. Rural territories are defined not by administrative borders but by economic concerns. That’s what we heard on the ground from the farmers and other rural actors we visited in France in 2021 and 2022. Last in a four-part series analysing the hot topics around transition, by the Rural Resilience project team. […]
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. […]
The countryside is a nice place to live. Farmers are happy. That’s what we heard on the ground in the cooperative farms we visited in France in 2021 and 2022. One thing these farms have in common is a focus on collective wellbeing: farmers are innovating and experimenting to improve quality of life for themselves and their communities. Yet these experiments go under the radar at national and European level, and need supports to weave ties between actors and sectors. Part three of a series analysing the hot topics around transition, by the Rural Resilience project team. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention