What is ARC?

The Agricultural and Rural Convention (ARC2020) is an independent not-for-profit association. Our aim is to create conversation around the food, farming and rural systems that sustain us and build an appetite for a better food future. 

We do this through media and advocacy: 

1. By offering open-access news and analysis, we unearth the forces shaping how food and farming are governed in Europe, amplifying voices often left out of the mainstream. We don’t just report problems; we sow seeds of solutions, sharing stories from the ground of agroecology and lived alternatives. 
2. In cultivating spaces for connection, we bring farmers, rural communities, activists, researchers, and policymakers into conversation. We prepare the ground where knowledge can be shared, alliances can take root, and new ideas can sprout. These connections are the fertile soil where collective action can grow.

The ARC Crew 

We try to keep one foot on the ground in Europe’s territories, with contributors from across the continent, and another in Brussels, where we have an office and people close to the heart of the EU policymaking machine.

ARC2020 is steered by a team of collaborators in Brussels, France, Ireland, Germany and Czechia, and stewarded by its board.

Hannes Lorenzen, ARC Co-Founder and President

“Networking across Europe is my passion. I like bringing people together from all walks and ways of life. It is fascinating to get in touch with the growing number of folks and places breathing the new life we want. For me, the struggle for system change in farming and food is essential and very urgent. I am not afraid of politics and also enjoy hands-on in farming and gardening. Doing the splits between wide Europe and my small home island in North Friesland is a very stimulating and enriching exercise.”
 

 

Andrzej Nowakowski, ARC Vice President and Greens/EFA advisor on Agriculture and Rural Development

With a background in Ecology, Andrzej has been working on sustainable agriculture policy for more than 20 years: “I am passionate about mainstreaming farming models that work with nature and that build up biodiversity at the same time as farmers and their communities.” With an interest in agroecology, agronomy and permaculture, specifically in alternatives to synthetic pesticides, but also bringing soils back to life and putting trees into farm systems: “I am motivated to work with civil society and academic networks to find allies to help strengthen our ecosystems – biological, social, political – for the future.”

 

Benny Haerlin, ARC Co-Founder and Treasurer 

From global aspects of good food and good farming to “Wir haben es Satt” demonstrations on the future CAP down to a 2000 m² global plot providing kids and their parents as well as Fridays for Future activists with a hands on experience of the land that feeds them, Benny Haerlin is into #foodsystemstransformation. Heading the Berlin office of the German Foundation on Future Farming aka “Save Our Seeds” he also has an eye on seeds and soil politics as well as old and new genetic engineering technologies and Gene Drives. With this portfolio and a lifelong Europhilia, being the Vice President of ARC2020 is kind of inevitable.

 

 

Natasha Foote, Brussels correspondent & CAP Reform 2027 Project Coordinator

Natasha is a freelance journalist, podcaster and moderator specialising in EU agrifood policy. She previously worked as an agrifood journalist with the EU media EURACTIV, and before that spent several years working on farms around Europe to learn more about the realities for farmers on the ground. Natasha holds a Master’s degree in Environment, Development and Policy with distinction from the University of Sussex, where she worked on food issues and alternative approaches to food production.

 

 

 

Ashley Parsons, Rural Resilience Project Coordinator
(currently on maternity leave)

On her 7000km journey from France to Kyrgyzstan on bicycle and horseback, daily interactions and sometimes long sojourns with rural farmers and grassroots organizations showed Ashley Parsons the resilience and strength of our rural communities. Ashley is a writer and journalist dedicated to exploring potential and existing systems of inclusive progress, whether they are found in the agro-economy sphere or in the larger biodiversity and environmental conservation movement.

 

Adèle Pautrat, Seeds4All Project Coordinator

Originally from the Occitan countryside, Adèle Pautrat is the coordinator of the Seeds4all project run by the ARC2020 association. Her work aims to defend the sovereignty and diversity of seeds as a key element in the agro-ecological transition, by informing, raising awareness and networking the players involved in change, at local and European level. Now based in Brussels, Adèle also works as an independent photographer under the artist name of Adèle Violette.

 

 

 

Louise Kelleher, Publications Coordinator

Louise believes the world would be a better place if we all knew where our food comes from. She is excited about how we can get there: by re-establishing connections with food and nature, decolonizing food systems, and learning to live in sufficiency and community. As part of the comms team at ARC, her favourite bit of the job is sharing the wisdoms of farmers who have a deep respect for the land and for all Earth’s creatures. An Irish emigrant in rural Bohemia, Louise’s background is in translation, editing and intercultural communication.
 

 

 

Alison Brogan, Fundraising Coordinator

“I am excited about food and farming system transformation because by transforming the dominant modes of food production, distribution and consumption we can dismantle systems that disconnect humans from each other and from nature. Working on ARC’s Partnership and rural strategising, I am eager to continue to use our platforms to amplify calls for better food, farming and rural well-being and spotlight the examples and solutions that light the way forward.”

 
 
 

 

Pauline Petit, Acting Coordinator, Rural Resilience Project

Pauline is deeply committed to advancing the agroecological transition of rural territories, promoting the right to food, and building a fairer and more sustainable food system. She firmly believes that meaningful transitions happen through the sharing of knowledge and skills, education, and collective learning. Pauline regularly delivers training on energy and agricultural challenges. Before fully dedicating herself to agriculture, she gained hands-on experience in the agricultural sector and worked as a project developer in renewable energy—an interdisciplinary path that now informs her holistic approach to food and energy transitions.

 

 
 

 

ARC2020 is supported by