On 28 November – 1 December, in the rural village of Grzybów, Poland, ARC2020 is co-organising a European gathering of sustainable rural initiatives to take stock of a new political situation of Europe and to look into possibilities of cooperation: “Weaving Common Ground” between rural and urban people. In collaboration with our local hosts, the Ecological Folk High School and Ziarno association, the gathering will conclude a three-year cooperation of people in rural France, Germany and Poland.
Closing the Weimar triangle
From west to east, ARC2020’s Rural Resilience project is winding its way across Europe. After finding our roots on the ground in pandemic-stricken France, in autumn 2022 an inaugural European gathering celebrated rural resilience with local partners in the French municipality of Plessé. The following year we took root in Germany, growing partnerships especially in the region of Hessen, which bore fruit in a second European gathering in the university city of Marburg. These relationships continued to flourish in the interim, not least by common participation in the Feeding Ourselves gathering in Ireland in the spring of 2023 and 2024.
This year in particular, alienation between rural and urban Europe and frustrations about politics have massively contributed to a radical shift to the right in EU member states and recently in the European Parliament. In response to a growing polarisation of society, in particular the farmer protests earlier this year sowing seeds of division, we aspire to create a European triangle of rural action. Our inspiration is the Weimar triangle which stands for cooperation at state level between three large Member States: France, Germany and Poland. In times of populism and nationalism we want to focus on what we can do together in our villages and in Europe to overcome the multiple ecological and social crises we face.
And so in April 2024 we found ourselves singing around the supper table in a cosy farmhouse in the Polish village of Grzybów.
Sowing seeds of cooperation in Poland
Ziarno (“seed”) is the name of the association from which an entire cultural-ecological ecosystem has sprouted. Founded in the tiny village of Grzybów in central Poland, it’s a beehive of inspired activists and organisations that somehow move at a well organised but very relaxed, and above all human, pace.
We were there for a short first visit to get to know one another and explore a possible partnership. Surprised to learn so fast about the many levels of activities in such a short time, we found the secret in a carefully built cooperation and education system and an interweaving web of independent organisations that has emerged over several decades.
In 1993, Ewa and Peter Stratenwerth put down roots in Grzybów when they started an organic farm. A hub of food processing and educational and cultural activities, the 20 ha organic mixed farm breeds goats and cows. They make cheese in their own on-farm dairy, and grow grains which are used to bake various types of bread in their bakery.
Two years on, Ziarno ecological and cultural association was founded to promote agroecology by organising educational, artistic and cultural events and integrating the local community.
Two decades later, in 2015, the Ecological Folk University Foundation (EUL) was established. Learning is based on the holistic philosophy of the Danish folk high schools: learning through practice, experience and the living world. Teachers and students share knowledge as partners, and students are stimulated to discover their talents and vocations.
The Ecological Folk High School offers a two-year course in organic farming, where much of the “classroom” learning happens on the farm. Students come from all over Poland, most of them new entrants.
School groups visit almost every day during the season. In keeping with the ‘head, heart, hands’ approach, children learn about animals, nature, biodiversity and bees by running around the farm and eating fresh farm food. During their visit they eat lunch and breakfast prepared by the women’s cooperative Cor et Manus.
A van marked “Bread and cheese from Grzybów” delivers the farm’s produce to Warsaw. These and other organic products and local crafts are sold in the farm shop.
Altogether 25-30 people are employed between these various organisations, some of them local, all of them “treasures”.
Working, eating and singing together are a big part of life here. Folk songs are sung at every opportunity. Inside and out, the buildings are adorned with murals inspired by traditional motifs. The main hall doubles as an exhibition space for paper cuttings, a local folk art called “klapok” for the flapping sound the paper hangings make in the breeze.
Weaving common ground
Despite different activities and approaches in our work, we found much common ground with the folks at Ecological Folk High School and Ziarno: agroecology, bridge building, working at multiple levels of scale, and a holistic vision. And so the seeds of partnership were sown and lovingly nurtured.
We agreed to organise together a European gathering of sustainable rural initiatives.The name of the event is ambitious and aspirational: “Weaving Common Ground” in these times of conflict and confrontation. Together we will practice the art of putting aside our differences to find common ground. Education, art and culture will be our tools in this task: among other activities, we will literally weave together a common work of art.
Grzybów is the third stop in a triangle of cooperation across Europe. In Plessé, France, we discovered the strength of participatory democracy in local governance. In Marburg, Germany, we saw how cooperation between local food initiatives and a city council can succeed. In Grzybów, Poland, we wish to learn about the transformative power of collective learning, local culture and dialogue.
We will not shy from the problems and conflicts that plague the rural regions of these three countries. On a diplomatic level, the Weimar Triangle cooperation between the governments of France, Germany and Poland deals with industrial and regional cooperation and defence. With this gathering, we propose some other triangles, rooted in acts of empowering rural people to collectively determine their own futures: A triangle of learning, doing and sharing – the three pillars of the local community in Grzybów. A triangle of individual, community and nature – at the heart of the educational model of the Ecological Folk High School. And finally, a European triangle for rural action – or even a Weimar Triangle for our European countryside and cities.
Seventy participants from Poland, Germany, France and the wider Europe will gather in Grzybów later this week. They are farmers, policymakers, educators, researchers, seed savers, activists and other rural actors. We look forward to sharing our learnings, our commitments and our action from this collective exercise in weaving common ground.
More
Marburg Gathering | Building Bridges for Future-Proof Food Systems
Cultivating The Future Together – ARC’s Rural Resilience Gathering in France
Feeding Ourselves 2023 – Building Bridges for Rural Resilience
