ARC2020

The Year of the CAP & Big Budget Overhaul - Key EU Policy Moments to Watch in 2026 | Agricultural and Rural Convention Welcome to the Year of the CAP  —  but just how “common” will the EU’s next agricultural policy be? Could pensioners be excluded from direct payments? And will farmers finally get a day off? Meanwhile...

Buckle up, 2026 is going to be a wild ride 🎠 Luckily @natashafoote.bsky.social is here to steer us along & cut through the C(R)AP!
www.arc2020.eu/the-year-of-...
#CAP #MFF #NGT

📣 Journalists in the #WesternBalkans: don't miss our biodiversity story grants! We’re offering reporting grants of €1,200 each to support stories on biodiversity issues—and solutions—in the region. Apply by February 19: https://loom.ly/J5rYsXE

Fantastic news! This case sets a powerful precedent for communities to come together and make polluters pay.

Learning from Germany’s Decades of Public Biogas Support | Agricultural and Rural Convention Ireland, Spain and Poland are among a number of Member States now looking to biogas to support the transition to sustainable energy systems. But is investing in biogas infrastructure a beneficial use ...

How not to do it: Germany has spent decades investing in biogas - what lessons for Ireland, Poland, Spain & other MS? Op-ed by Sophie Scherger @iatp.bsky.social
www.arc2020.eu/learning-fro...
#EnergyTransition #Biogas #Germany
@seobirdlife.bsky.social @nabu.de @foeeurope.bsky.social

In 2026 #RightToFood will be a core theme of our #RuralResilience work. What better to whet our appetites than a Menu of Food Voices? Op-ed by Julianne van Pelt of @foodrise-eu.bsky.social
www.arc2020.eu/menu-of-food...
@reseauactionclimat.org

Article posted on @arc2020.bsky.social

Mercosur will make European farmers more vulnerable to international capital and commodities flows | Agricultural and Rural Convention With the signing of the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement this weekend, a spectre of the past comes back to haunt Europe’s farmers. But there is still a political window to save their future. Op-ed by ...

With the signing of the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement this weekend, a spectre of the past comes back to haunt Europe’s farmers. But there is still a political window to save their future. Op-ed by ARC2020 President Hannes Lorenzen for @lemonde.fr
www.arc2020.eu/mercosur-wil...
#Mercosur

What kind of fight makes sense in 2026? | Agricultural and Rural Convention It's easy to be overwhelmed. As we prepare to ride the wave of multiple crises, going into 2026 we are minding our mental health at ARC2020, and diving into this topic with rural actors and communitie...

What kind of fight makes sense in 2026? ARC president Hannes Lorenzen reflects on how to ride the wave of multiple crises
www.arc2020.eu/what-kind-of...
#MentalHealth #EU #Rollback #RuralResilience

#FarmToFork promised a fairer and sustainable food system. Recent years of crisis and protests have strained trust. There may still be room for a grand bargain that supports farmers, environment & healthy food
🔗 arc2020.eu/what-hope-on-the-horizon-from-farm-to-fork-to-a-grand-bargain-in-2026/

Op-Ed | Pesticide lobby use farmers’ protests as cover for slashing EU safety regulations  | Agricultural and Rural Convention It’s getting increasingly harder for the pesticide lobby to argue against the science showing harm to people and ecosystems of its toxic products. ‘Luckily’ it has an ace up its sleeve: farmers' frust...

Pesticide lobby use farmers’ protests as cover for slashing EU safety regulations, writes @ninaholland.bsky.social @corporateeurope.org in this op-ed:
www.arc2020.eu/op-ed-pestic...
#FarmersProtests #Pesticides

We are proud to present our new podcast 🥳
What Seeds For Tomorrow? is a mini series produced by #Seeds4All with Alexandra Baumgartner & EC-LLD🌱 Listen wherever you get your podcasts linktr.ee/seedcarriers
Huge thanks to @natashafoote.bsky.social @frankadams.bsky.social and all who supported 💚

European Days of Action 2025 - United for Food Justice | Agricultural and Rural Convention 550 voices, 28 countries, one demand: Food Justice. The European Days of Action, this year in its eighth edition, put a spotlight on the need to shift power away from corporations and towards people, ...

✨ Thanks to @arc2020.bsky.social for featuring this photo story on the European Days of Action 2025!

Across 28 countries, over 550 actions showcased how communities across Europe are standing up for #FoodJustice and pushing for fairer, more sustainable food systems. 🌍🌾

EU Budget: How Brussels’ New Plans Puts Regions Out to Pasture Brussels is still sifting through the wreckage of the budget bombshell the European Commission dropped in July. As the dust settles, one question looms large: who wins, and who’s left behind? In this ...

Brussels is still reckoning with the budget bombshell the European Commission dropped in July - a sweeping proposal to reshape the EU’s long-term budget and the CAP.

What would it mean for the future of Europe’s regions?

@natashafoote.bsky.social finds out: www.arc2020.eu/eu-budget-ho...

France | Not Perfect, But Possible - Seeing is Believing at Institut de Tramayes | Agricultural and Rural Convention In the run-up to this November’s Rural Resilience Gathering, ARC2020’s Ashley Parsons and Thierry Lohr, local councillor for Plessé and one of the key initiators of a Université Paysanne in the munici...

Our recent visit to Institut de Tramayes was a moment to reflect on what it means to build a learning space that is rooted in rural realities & ambitions
www.arc2020.eu/france-not-p...
#RuralResilience #Plessé #France #EU #Education

Rural Pact | Stuck in The Loop – Time To Get To Action | Agricultural and Rural Convention The Rural Pact Conference “From vision to action: Empowering rural areas for the future” took place in Kortrijk, Belgium on 16-17 September. Following this event, ARC2020 president Hannes Lorenzen sha...

The #RuralPact is losing momentum.
5 years in, Europe’s rural communities are still waiting for real change.
Action over reflection, local empowerment, secure funding, and integrated rural policy:
arc2020.eu/rural-pact-stuck-in-the-loop-time-to-get-to-action #RuralVisionEU #RuralPactConference

Rise for Food Justice - Join the European Days of Action 2025! | Agricultural and Rural Convention October is just around the corner - and so are the European Days of Action! Since 2018, the #GoodFoodGoodFarming movement has united thousands across Europe to demand just food systems. This year’s fo...

🌱 “Change doesn’t just happen in Brussels or Strasbourg. It happens in villages, towns, schools, and kitchens across Europe.”

Thanks to @arc2020.bsky.social for interviewing us about the European Days of Action – what it is, why we’re mobilizing, and how everyone can get involved!

Rural Resilience Caravan to Return to Plessé, France | Agricultural and Rural Convention On 27 - 30 November, the Rural Resilience Gathering 2025 will take place in Plessé, France, co-organised by ARC2020 and elected representatives of Plessé together with a whole host of partners active ...

The Rural Resilience Gathering 2025 will take place in Plessé, France! Organised by ARC and elected representatives of Plessé, we'll convene partners active in #Agroecology, #AccessToLand and #FoodSovereignty at this crucial moment for Europe's rural areas. Event info: www.arc2020.eu/rural-resili...

Op-Ed | Farmland Sees the Less Sunny Side of Germany’s Solar Transition Germany’s energy transition is affecting its land market, driving investment and increasing concentration of land ownership. In this op-ed, Anne Neuber of Netzwerk Flächensicherung, an alliance workin...

"Farmland Sees the Less Sunny Side of Germany’s Solar Transition" - new op-ed about the German energy transition & land market dynamics by Anne Neuber of Netzwerk Flächensicherung on ARC2020 now: www.arc2020.eu/op-ed-farmla...

European Rural Parliament 2025 — Rural Community Solutions to Global Challenges | Agricultural and Rural Convention This October 20-23, over 400 rural delegates from across Europe will gather in the north-east of Scotland for the 6th European Rural Parliament (ERP), a participative democratic assembly that shines a...

📣 #ERP2025 is happening in Scotland on Oct 20-23. Read all about it in our new article:
www.arc2020.eu/european-rur...
#RuralFirst #Solidarity #Sustainability #PlaceBasedKnowledge

Re-Sowing the Seeds of Connection in Switzerland, Part II – Healthy Interdependencies, Led By Farmers | Agricultural and Rural Convention In a global context marked by rising trade tensions, identity-based isolationism, and climate pressures, the Seeds4All project wanted to understand how Switzerland, landlocked at the heart of the Euro...

#Seeds4All visited #Switzerland this summer 🌽
Adèle Pautrat reports from #FoodCultureDays + so many learnings from #agroecology in the field 🌱
#FoodSovereignty #Biodiversity #LocalFood #Tamales
www.arc2020.eu/re-sowing-th...

We are back at our desks & asking the big questions 🥕
What #EU policy supports are there for smaller farmers to supply #localfood? 🥬
@olliemoore.bsky.social & Ashley Parsons give us plenty to chew on in this new article 🍎
www.arc2020.eu/does-eu-poli...
#RuralResilience @greenpeace.eu

Great piece by Edina Ocsko on the power matrix in rural policy

Letter From The Farm | How a Young Lithuanian Farmer Blends Science, Soil & Community | Agricultural and Rural Convention ARC’s Hannes Lorenzen met Vytenis Grigas, a young Lithuanian farmer and psychology lecturer, at a CEJA conference on the future of EU farm policy. Five years ago Vytenis began what he calls a “serious...

🌱 Young Lithuanian Farmer: Cultivating Soil, Science & Community

Meet Vytenis Grigas—a visionary farmer blending psychology, permaculture & community to regenerate soil and fight for fair EU agri-policy.

Read his story 👉 www.arc2020.eu/how-a-young-...

#Agroecology #YoungFarmers #CAP

Letter From The Farm | Neighbours, Not Numbers: How Local Feeds Us All In a farming system that demands more than it gives, Marie Halicki finds that relationships, not yields, nourish resilience, sovereignty, and sanity.

“There’s plenty of time to think behind the wheel of a tractor.”

In her honest & reflective letter, Marie Halicki, a young farmer from the Isère region shares her story of realism, resilience, and why feeding your neighbours matters more than feeding “la France": www.arc2020.eu/letter-from-...

The Rise of a New Grain Alliance – Germany’s Free Bakers Sow the Seeds of Change A new idea is brewing in Germany, with the first seeds sown of a new alliance along the food value chain for cereals and legumes. ARC2020’s President Hannes Lorenzen reports on how farmers, bakers, se...

A new alliance is forming in Germany - one that unites actors in an agroecological value chain from seed to bread 🌾🧑‍🌾🥖 www.arc2020.eu/the-rise-of-...

#Agroecology #SustainableFarming

LEAK: CAP Crumbles as EU Eyes Radical Post-2027 Overhaul The European Commission is preparing to tear up the architecture of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), in what could set the stage for a radical overhaul of the EU’s farming subsidy programme, acco...

🚨 Leaked drafts suggest the EU Commission is preparing to tear up the architecture of the Common Agricultural Policy, setting the stage for a radical overhaul of the EU’s farming subsidy programme.

@natashafoote.bsky.social brings us up to speed: www.arc2020.eu/leak-cap-cru...

Op-Ed | From Declaration to Action - Rethinking Rural Power in EU Policymaking | Agricultural and Rural Convention Rural voices still seem to go unheard in EU policymaking. The Rural Pact Coordination Group proposes a new tool for rural stakeholders to take the power back: the Declaration on the Future of Rural Ar...

Why do rural voices still go unheard? 🙊 #RuralPact Coordination Group proposes a tool to take the power back 💪 Op-Ed by Edina Ocsko
www.arc2020.eu/op-ed-from-d...
#E40 #SmartVillages @soledadmorales.bsky.social @rafaelamorim.bsky.social @ecolise.bsky.social @eesc.bsky.social @smeunited.bsky.social

Crafting the Collective - Tijs Boelens' Vision for a Farmer-Led Grain Revival | Agricultural and Rural Convention If we want local food systems to thrive, every link in the chain must be nurtured: seeds must be saved, farmers must earn a fair price, processors must adapt their methods—and consumers must be able t...

Dankje to Tijs Boelens & De Groentelaar farm 🌾 who grow heirloom wheat from peasant seeds that is locally brewed into beer by Belgoo 🍻 The next step in Tijs' story is a performance with the Future Farmers collective 💃
www.arc2020.eu/tijs-boelens...
#Teirf #BelgianBeer

Re-Sowing the Seeds of Connection in Switzerland, Part I - Nurturing What We Have | Agricultural and Rural Convention The Seeds4All project emerges from a Swiss immersion with a two-part reflection on how seeds can become anchoring points for rebuilding connections and fostering healthy interdependencies in the pursu...

🇨🇭 Did you know there are 4 hyper local fava bean varieties in Valais? Many thanks to Sortengarten Erschmatt, Laura Kuonen, Domaine des Dailles, Olivier Studer & Alexandra Baumgartner for our Swiss immersion 🙏 Discover part 1 of our reflection here:
www.arc2020.eu/re-sowing-th...
#Seeds4All

Op-Ed | Europe Must End The Double Standards In Toxic Pesticides Exports | Agricultural and Rural Convention A number of hazardous pesticides which are banned in the EU are freely manufactured and exported to other countries with weaker regulations, putting human health and the environment at risk. The EU al...

Just published an op-ed on this issue by Marcos Orellana and Olivier De Schutter www.arc2020.eu/europe-must-...