We’re back with Shane Casey in The Burren, where it’s been a good Spring. Family and farm are thriving. For Shane, nature conservation and productivity go hand in hand. As the debate rages around the EU Nature Restoration Law, he is sympathetic to the farmers who are being asked to undo a lifetime of ‘improvements’ to make space for nature. […]
The transhumance is the pinnacle of Claire Jeannerat’s farming year, bringing with it a seasonal shift in her family’s home life. With the summer transhumance behind them, she sits down to catch her breath. The Swiss Shepherdess reflects on why her family has chosen to practice traditional pastoralism and to embrace the magic, the symbiosis and the sacrifices of this way of life. […]
Le défi relevé par l’association « Au maquis » : Cultiver et manger ensemble pour redonner de la dignité humaine. En juin 2022, lors d’un programme de visites dans le Luberon, avec Marie-Paule, notre hôte, nous nous sommes rendus au jardin de l’association, situé à LAURIS. Sous une cabane, nous avons rencontré Fanny et Maud, deux salariées paysannes de l’association. […]
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. […]
« Produire et vendre localement » comme « valeur forte », un sens commun pour les paysans rencontrés… Voilà ce que « Nos campagnes en résilience » a pu observer lors des visites de terrain (2020-2022). Au cours des entretiens, nous avons évoqué la place de l’agriculture dans les dynamiques territoriales. Tous les participants agriculteurs ont évoqué le territoire non dans sa définition institutionnelle (avec les frontières administratives) mais le plus souvent dans une logique économique. Quatrième et dernière partie d’une analyse thématique. Rédaction : l’équipe du projet, désormais connu sous l’appelation « Rural Resilience ». […]
The Nature Restoration Law is in a perilous place at present. Having been rejected by two relevant Committees in the European Parliament outright, all eyes are on the Committee leading on the file – the Environment Committee, or ENVI. Oliver Moore with a brief explainer of the current state of affairs. […]
While the debate intensifies around pesticides and new genomic techniques (NGTs), the European Commission appears to be in a political battle on many fronts as to whether these topics are on or off its agenda for the Summer. […]
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. […]
Samedi le 22 avril, à l’occasion de la rencontre internationale Global Bean Seed Festival, Xavier Hamon, artisan-cuisinier et partenaire du projet Rural Resilience, présente une tribune politique qui met en avant la relation au vivant liée à la culture des légumineuses. Si nous sommes tous d’accord pour reprendre le pouvoir sur notre alimentation, de quoi avons-nous besoin ? Paroles : Xavier Hamon […]
The center-right EPP party in the European Parliament has put forward a draft proposal to reject the Nature Restoration and Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation. Their reasoning? Food security – or, at least a particular construction of food security. Ashley Parsons reports. […]
In its inception impact assessment for the deregulation of GMOs, the Commission argues that plants produced through New Genomic Techniques would contribute to sustainability goals outlined in the European Green Deal’s Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies. One of the main goals of the Farm to Fork Strategy is to reduce the use of pesticides by 50% by 2030. […]
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. […]
Des campagnes heureuses, des endroits où il fait bon vivre… Voilà ce que « Nos campagnes en résilience » a pu observer lors des visites de terrain (2020-2022). Les territoires ruraux fourmillent d’idées et d’innovations : expérimenter est une des formes du “bien vivre ensemble”. Troisième partie d’une analyse thématique. Rédaction : l’équipe du projet, désormais sous la nouvelle appelation « Rural Resilience ». […]
We are told today that agriculture and rural areas are living through a pervasive digital transformation. But will digitalisation reverse the current productivism model or perpetuate it? At 72nd Annual Meeting of the Association for Regional Agricultural and Forestry Economics (ARAFE), Matteo Metta presented his insights on digital agriculture from the rural perspectives. The hybrid event took place last 23 October 2022 at the Ryukoku University (Kyoto, Japan) and touched upon key issues, global trends and local realities in agri, food, and rural transformations. […]
Carbon Farming is the new hype in agriculture. A proposal for a Certification Framework of Carbon Removals was proposed back in November by the Commission and there is a strong push by the Swedish presidency and French government to make it happen quickly. But can a Europe-wide Carbon Farming program coexist with the CAP? In this article, we explore the similarities and contradictions between the two. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention