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Latest from EU Member States

Rural Dialogues | Stochastic System Collapse Part 2 – the Social and Solidarity Economy Alternative

September 5, 2019 ARC

In part one, we outlined just how bad the situation is regarding climate and biodiversity collapse, as well as the people-driven responses to this  – from extinction rebellion to the school strikes. Beyond these alarm-raising direct action initiatives, what is there out there to become the system change that’s so clearly needed? Here in part 2 we introduce the social and solidarity economy, and the interesting lessons we can learn from separatist movements from the past and present, from Quebec to Ireland. […]

Latest from EU Member States

Ireland | Beef Plan Movement Steps up Protest

July 14, 2019 ARC

On Wednesday the 10th of July an estimated 2,500 farmers took to the streets of Dublin to protest against the proposed Mercosur deal. The protest was organised by Beef Plan, a voluntary not for profit organisation set up in October 2018 by a small group of farmers from Meath (in Ireland’s centre-east). Since then, its membership has grown to over 20,000. So who are they and what do they want?  […]

Latest from EU Member States

Ireland | Agriculture as part of a Just Transition

July 6, 2019 ARC

How can the agricultural sector in Ireland be part of a Just Transition to address inequality in the sector and tackle climate change? Agriculture is not only a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland, it is also the most unequal sector in the Irish economy in income terms. When it comes to climate change and agriculture, we need to change how we think about the challenge of reducing emissions. Farmers and their communities must play a central role in planning climate action to ensure it is good for farmers as well as the planet. […]

Latest from EU Member States

Czech Republic | “No Forests, No Water, No Future” – Part I: Bugs in the Ecosystem

July 1, 2019 Louise Kelleher

Record droughts across Europe have been compounded in the Czech Republic by a plague of bark beetle that has jeopardized the nation’s forests. In a country where forestry and farming go hand in hand, every tree lost is a blow to the land, scuppering the soil’s capacity to store water and leaving it more vulnerable to erosion. To make matters worse, the vast fields of rapeseed that have become ubiquitous to Czech agriculture in recent years thanks to generous EU subsidies for biofuels have left the topsoil in a sorry state. […]

Latest from EU Member States

Farm Diversification – Agroforestry and Agritourism in Ireland

June 10, 2019 ARC

What future strategies exist for livestock farmers in Ireland? Beef farmers are struggling, and fighting over a EU/Irish government handout of E100 million due to clauses attached. A small number have opted for a different, more diversified route. Read about Jane Shackleton’s organic farm with Galloway cattle, sheep and an agri-tourism enterprise in the lakelands of Ireland.  […]

Latest from Brussels

IEEP Manifesto Analysis Part II: PES Promises Fair Play

April 15, 2019 Louise Kelleher

IEEP looks at how PES policies have evolved since its 2014 manifesto, and examines how they stack up against the recommendations of its own Think 2030 report. It checks for compliance with red indicators – the targets in the 7th Environmental Action Programme (EAP) considered unlikely to be met by 2020, as flagged in the EEA’s European Environment Agency’s 2018 Environmental Indicator Report. So what is PES promising? […]

Latest from key partners

United States | The Real Future of Agriculture

April 5, 2019 Ben Lilliston

The US ambassador to the UK has called American farming “the future of agriculture” to encourage the opening of European markets to US products. But what does this food system actually look like? What are its implications on public health, the environment and rural communities? Our partners at IATP report from the states.  […]

Latest from Brussels

Agriculture Committee Eviscerates Green & Fair CAP

April 2, 2019 ARC

The Agriculture Committee in the European Parliament voted today by 27 votes to 17 (with one abstention) to agree its position on the CAP strategic plan. This votes represents a significant weakening of the environmental ambition of the CAP reform process, and little progress on fairness in agri and rural supports. However the next Parliament will have the option to reject this and start anew. […]