Agroecology Europe – a new European association

A new European organisation – Agroecology Europe – was created in January 2016 in Belgium. Its rationale is that agroecology has an increasingly high profile on the European scientific and political agenda.

FAO, for example, held its first ”International Symposium on Agroecology for Food Security” last year. Another example is from France where the government has decided to support and comprehensively implement agroecology. Agroecology is likewise a priority in the “European Innovation Partnership on Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability” and in the HORIZON 2020 programme.

The three initiators together with a group of scientists seized on this momentum to form the association, as previously reported in Biweekly (can be accessed here).

I hope that this will become an association that is relevant for many in AGRO. The main vision is to put agroecology high on the European agenda for the sustainable development of farming and food systems.

The emphasis is on a crossdisciplinary, holistic and inclusive approach, which of course is very much how we work in AGRO. So maybe it can become a relevant venue when seeking new European partners for EU projects that increasingly focus on precisely these virtues.

Some of the intermediate goals of the association are to:

·         Stimulate knowledge sharing and collaboration between scientists, advisers, farmers, food producers, consumers and other stakeholders and citizens in Europe

·         Stimulate, coordinate and facilitate research, education and agricultural advice

·         Develop international collaboration

Similar to any other legal society, a set of articles of association are required that define everything from the overall visions and ambitions to the size of the membership fee, the remit of the board, meeting frequencies, election procedures, advisory bodies, working groups, etc.

All this takes time and that is why it is not yet possible to sign on as a member. But this will come – probably this summer, when the website (www.agroecology-europe.org) will also be ready.