initiatives and movements who dare
to act. When I was Commissioner for
Agriculture and Rural Development
in the European Commission I had
the privilege of being backed up
in my work by people like that and
networks like Forum Synergies and
PREPARE. I was happy to support
a travelling workshop through EU
neighbourhood countries and in
the Western Balkans. The method
of bringing people from all levels of
responsibilities together in a travelling
workshop had been organised
much earlier by Forum Synergies
during the CAP reform process of
Agenda 2000, and PREPARE had
made it their golden tool of creating
partnerships between civil society
and government.
When it comes to designing EU
policies - and rural development is
one of them – we need to develop
further the methods, ideas, and tools
to empower citizens, stakeholders
“This travel guide to rural Europe, with its very
personal stories of people from across the
continent, is a highlight of the potential of local
rural initiatives and movements who dare to act.”
and governments, to create a climate I am now a new Member of the
of trust. Farmers, entrepreneurs, European Parliament in the legislative
NGOs, village communities need to period 2019-2024. The new Parliament
be involved, to participate, allowing will have to deal with the future of
decision makers to have a clear rural regions, the Common Agricultural
view of realities and needs on the Policy and many other challenges the
ground. For this to happen we must European Union and its Institutions
find better ways to listen, we need must solve. I recommend you to
to be more inclusive in our dialogue read the stories of European citizens
with society, and to continue long and their projects gathered in this
term investments in our agriculture book. They show that it is worth and
and rural areas. Moreover, citizens contagious to feel European at home,
understand that food and rural even in sometimes remote places,
areas are public goods and that for because they are connected through
preserving and developing these their will to make change happen. I
public goods we are all responsible. In believe that this is where everything
this regard, most often, solutions and starts: The spirit of a more democratic
ideas come from the field and less and sustainable Europe grows with
from policy laboratories. connecting people.
5
III. Rural Europe -
a journey through time
E urope has fundamentally changed
since we started travelling
through its highly diverse countryside
twenty-five years ago. We were keen
to discover what sustainable rural
development might be. We were very
lucky that our funders shared this
curiosity.
Back then, climate change was
not seen as an issue - people rarely
talked or worried about it. The world
wide web was only just beginning
to emerge. We travelled using maps
and we still used faxes to exchange
information.
It took much time and effort to
find and meet the people who had
started working on more sustainable
practices in rural places.
Today’s communication tools allow
us to connect with data and people
quickly. Our access to data seems
unlimited. But that does not mean
that we can solve the many problems
we face today faster and better. In the
face of climate change, environmental
crisis and fractious global politics,
our way of life, our farming practices,
food choices and land use will have
to fundamentally change in a short
time. We will have to work out how to
work together, to collectively make
the transition.
When we started travelling, Europe
had its doors and windows wide open.
With the fall of the iron curtain, the
European Community was an invitation
to enlarge our spirit and perspectives.
European Institutions had to deal
with many changes at a time, such as
formerly ignored social and ecological
challenges and the inclusion of new
people into the European Community
from Eastern Europe. We could feel
in our workshops that formerly stable
conditions and convictions had
virtually dissolved and that people
working with us were puzzled by the
rapid change.
Today change comes even faster.
Europeans are evermore perplexed
by global concerns. In rural areas
many people feel marginalised and
forgotten and are the prey of new
nationalism and Euroscepticism. Even
ethnic borders are back in people’s
minds - also in parts of rural Europe.
And today our children are in the
streets calling upon us to act fast
against climate breakdown and
biodiversity collapse. We must indeed
mobilise momentum to change our
economies and lifestyles.
Rural Europe - its people, farming,
land-use, and forestry - has huge
potential and also real responsibilities
to play its active part in the necessary
transition.
This book is not a handbook on
rural success stories. Those stories
“Rural Europe - its
people, farming, land-
use, and forestry - has
huge potential and also
real responsibilities to
play its active part in the
necessary transition.”
can be found in the resource center
on our website. Our authors have
instead told their story of working
with Forum Synergies and its
networks over the years. We take you
to the rural people and places where
change is happening. The places
and people you will meet have taken
their destiny into their hands. Through
Forum Synergies and the many
partners we work with, people and
places are increasingly connected,
and slowly we are reaching the
critical mass needed for large-scale
change.
With this book we share our
experience of encounters, successful
methods of collective action. These
are not recipes or recommendations
for your own journey through rural
Europe. But we believe that in the
coming 25 years we need to get our
act together for a radical transition
towards resilient rural economies and
communities.
7
 CHAPTER 2

Cooperation of this movement, building on the supporting projects of our local

The spirit of cooperation has its
roots in the local tradition. Each village
in Karditsa had its own cooperative.
This network of cooperatives had
been built after the 2nd World War in
order to cope with the poverty and
the shortage of food and cereals.
These cooperatives played a very
significant role in the training of
farmers and in the modernisation
of agriculture. But, over the years,
this wave of cooperatives became
weak, some were corrupted and
many disappeared. Karditsa’s new
experiment was born from the ashes
previous experiences and learning economy. With these principles the
how to avoid getting stuck in a rut. bank doubled its loans to local firms
We meet Panagiotis Tournavitis, and farmers in just five years. Today, we
the director of Karditsa’s Cooperative are well known in Greece and abroad
Bank just around the corner from as a success story. With this principle
ANKA’s offices. “During the crisis”, he of trust, we give 400 loans a year to
explains, “we played a very significant our members and have a default rate
role, only accepting deposits from of 0,2% while in Greece the average
cooperative members and only default rate is 40%.”
“We only accepted deposits from
cooperative members and only supported
projects of our local economy.”
Panagiotis Tournavitis

New energy
In the era of crisis, Karditsa’s
Cooperative Bank in cooperation with
other local agents (Municipalities,
Chamber of Commerce etc) strongly
supported the establishment of an
Energy Cooperative Company of
Karditsa. The idea was that this could
contribute to the effective use of
bountiful biomass waste product,
producing energy and creating
employment.
Now, this cooperative, with
more than 400 members, runs
a unit producing wood pellets,
using the residues of the local
sawmills. Farmers’ and new forestry
cooperatives were established, aimed
at innovation through cooperation
in production and processing.
Like Karditsa’s bank, the energy
cooperative has become a success
story which cooperative banks and
European institutions proudly use as
a place for mentoring and learning
about good practice.

24
Learning to listen

Bottom-up LEADERship
“LEADER and methods of participation
are quite new in Poland,” Elzbieta tells
me. “Unfortunately, a number of groups
are mainly controlled by politicians or
municipalities as LEADER projects are
perceived as a source of power.”
That sounds familiar to me: I have
witnessed a similar situation in my region
of Valencia, during the programming
period of LEADER + (2007-2013).
Some LAGs were controlled by local
mayors, often in a paternalistic way and
sometimes on the verge of cronyism,
leaving almost no space for civil society
participation. “We know what is good
for the territory, leave it in our hands”
I remember one of them saying in a
meeting. Under such circumstances
LEADER principles are more of a token
action. The public is informed when main
decisions are already made, or consulted
through narrow, closed questions with no
real debate.
These readymade projects undermine
the spirit of LEADER. The EU clearly
demands participation of stakeholders
in rural programmes and projects. But
what we see is that in many cases these
democratic principles are not yet part of
the public administrative practices. Often
simply training of civil servants and civil
society is what’s needed. And that is what
we offer in our Forum Synergies training
workshops.

“Readymade projects
undermine the spirit
of LEADER.”

14. Knyszyńska Primaeval Forest

53

Wildfires spread fast
When Artur and I meet again in
2019, we have the notorious forest
fire summers of 2017 and 2018 just
behind us. Fires and devastating
storms plagued Europe in those
years. The Algarve in particular
was seriously hit. “The fires were
catastrophic,” Artur remembers, “up
north, many people died and entire
regions burnt down. I remember what
62
CHAPTER 5
Drennan Watson from Highland and
Islands Forum in Scotland said back
in 1998, when the Sustainable Mystery
Tour ended here. He said our forests
were evidence of absentee landlords
from Lisbon, far away bureaucrats
from Brussels and a very unsustainable
forestry policy. The bureaucrats
believed that eucalyptus would help
by boosting the Portuguese paper
industry. But instead it boosted fires.
Drennan was right.”
Experts connect the devastation
of the forest fires to Portugal’s very
limited forestry policy. Though there is
no common EU policy for forestry (as
there is for agriculture), EU support was
given for the planting of eucalyptus
trees to supply paper industries with
raw material. Eucalyptus grows very
quickly, ideal for the paper industry.
It is also a highly flammable wood,
meaning that eucalyptus forest
fires spread quickly and have the
potential to be incredibly destructive.
Additionally, these forests have very
low biodiversity because insects
and birds avoid them. Traditional dry
orchard systems on the limestone area
- joining olive, almond, fig, carob and
cork trees - in the shale mountains, by
contrast, grow very slowly. They tend to
produce highly biodiverse ecosystems,
preserve soil and water and are
resilient to climate change. Local cork
and olive processing industries also
offer much better income for farmers
and small industries.
Resilient forests
grow slowly
IN LOCO argues that a much-
needed forest reform must be
integrated into the Portuguese
Forest Development Policy, which
in turn is closely interrelated to a
Rural Development Policy. These two
policies have suffered a progressive
disinvestment in recent decades.
This has meant that the ability to
detect, implement and evaluate
how the forest may contribute to the
sustainable development of the rural
world in which it resides, has also

Knowledge - rural,
popular, scientific -
what counts?
The first European Herb Gathering
was a resounding success and I left
with real energy to follow this path of
herbs further. I began to identify the
key people in my region who still hold
traditional knowledge of medicinal
and aromatic plants. These are usually
elderly women who we found did not
even really consider themselves as
knowledge-holders. Their knowledge
was experientially gained, handed
down from generation to generation.
This cycle has been disrupted; the
traditional ways no longer believed.
With the passing away of these
women, we feared we would also lose
the knowledge they hold.
I made a film with a friend called
‘Traditional Herb Therapy in Odorhei
Region’ to try and hold on to this.
We wanted to bring this rural, folk,
supposedly non-scientific way of
76
CHAPTER 6
knowing out of obscurity and into the
attention of the public. Not only was
this a way to preserve this knowledge,
it also proved to be evidence to
the women themselves that their
knowledge was culturally valuable.
We won the audience award at
Mediawave International Film Festival
in 2014. People were interested.
Traditional
knowledge
I began to host herb workshops
to hand this herbal knowledge
onto others. We tried in particular
to attract and support low-income
families who cannot afford health
insurance. Sharing this knowledge
about collecting and using medicinal
plants would help reconnect them
with nature and be active in their
own healthcare provision. This is the
important thing: traditional knowledge
is free. It does not require payment
to large pharmaceutical companies
or the state, it is not something that
only those with more money can have
access to. No, it allows people to act
autonomously; communities can care
for themselves. This does not need to
operate outside of health insurance
but can work alongside it. Others who
came along were young mothers,
keen to ensure the health of their
children, and rural women interested
in starting small herbal businesses to
increase the family income.
We began to see how herbs are
related to bottom-up sustainable rural
development: harnessing traditional
herbal knowledge can increase
the health and wellbeing of often
disenfranchised rural communities
as well as supplementing the income
of individual households. Knowledge
is stable, it cannot be taken away,
despite political changes. It does
not need top-down funding or
permissions. It allows people to look
after themselves and each other.

The fault
of national
governments,
not the EU
The problem, therefore, is not
the rigidity of European regulations,
but their application in member
states and candidate countries.
Even the European Commission by
now recognises that the flexibility
provisions in the so-called ‘Hygiene
Package’ have not been adequately
implemented on national level.
This is why the over 60 participants,
each representing European and
national institutions or civil society
organisations, jointly released a
declaration asking the European
Commission to remedy matters as
soon as possible:
Local Food Matters!
“The participants of the workshop chains. These intermediate bodies shall
invite the European Commission facilitate the communication between
to actively promote and support competent authorities and producers
an exchange of best practices and should be open for interested civil
between the competent authorities society organisations.”
of the member states and accession
countries (through cooperation
programmes, training etc.). In addition,
OPPOSITE
a food safety help desk / mediation 7. Christian Jochum presents
body should be made available at EU the Austrian experience
8. Participants exchange before writing the
and at national level, providing support
collective declaration “Local Food Matters!”
and advice to national, regional or local
THIS PAGE
administrations, targeting practicable 9. Group photo from the workshop
solutions, especially for local food Local Food Matters 2014
“The EU hygiene regulation gives member
states the power to interpret the rules, taking
into account the specific local processing and
marketing conditions and shelf life of products.”
Michele Rumiz
87

Enjoying success
- legalised food
production
“Since the workshop in Bitola we
have grown out of the defensive
corner,” says Nikolce Nikolovski of
Slow Food Bitola, co-organiser of the
‘Local Food Matters!’ workshop, as he
meets up with Hannes Lorenzen at
the European Parliament in Brussels
five years after the workshop we
organised in Trnovo, Bitola. “Now we
have established Slow Food North
Macedonia, we have a much more
professional approach to our work,
especially for advocacy and lobbying
for small-scale producers in the front of
institutions for changing and bringing
new regulations to improve and
legalise their production.”
Local Food Matters!
10. Slow Food Macedonia national congress April 14th, 2018
“The North Macedonian Food and
Veterinary Agency has taken the
initiative to elaborate hygiene rules that
are more flexible, and marketing rules
for small-scale farmers and processing
companies which give fair income to
farmers,” he adds. Nikolce attributes
much of this change to the initial 2014
‘Local Food Matters!’ workshop.
“Before that, everyone was looking
into scale, big business and export
orientation. Now also the Ministry is
more interested in the high value of
local and diversified local food, which
is an important asset for rural tourism,
and the creation of local jobs in rural
areas, which North Macedonia and
the entire West Balkan region need
so much. Our typical products which
were about to disappear due to a
misunderstanding of what consumers
want, are back in the shelves, at least
in the smaller shops, and people are
proud of them: honey, cheese, fish,
meat, herbs etc.”
The workshop produced important
European knowledge-sharing and
experience but also had more tangible
outcomes including a draft food
regulation, which the Food Agency
published in the North Macedonian
press some years later. “We would not
have dreamed of it back then,” Nikolce
says. “The conclusions of the workshop
had been shared with all relevant local
authorities. Some members of the
Ministry and respective agencies were
also present at the workshop and saw
first-hand how other countries, like
Austria, had allowed for a more flexible
interpretation of hygiene rules. They saw
for themselves how it could be done.”
89
 Surviving below sea level

queue of sheep trot by. They are our

“We used the spirit of opposition against
lifeguards on duty, as they keep the
grass short so that the roots get deep
the regional authorities to prepare for marrying
enough and the sea cannot easily tear wildlife protection with sustainable farming
holes in the dike. Behind the dikes and renewable energies."
we grab our bikes and say goodbye.
Good to see youngsters who feel so
should become a National Park, ‘No Wirtschaften! means ‘Ecological
attached to this remote place. “We
National Park – freedom for Frisians!’ Economy!’. It carries the exclamation
love this life of freedom in nature” still
stickers were found on every shop mark as a call to action and transition
resonates, when I cycle back to our
and car. Farmers and fishermen feared from rather unsustainable farming
farm.
restrictions and mobilised against the practices, depopulation and mainland
government’s proposal. dependence, towards a decent

Making change
despite headwind
Biking on Pellworm, no matter
which way you go, is a struggle
against the wind. Maybe this climate
has formed our stubborn Frisian DNA
having to stand up against gusts
and sea. It may therefore come as
no surprise that in the late 1980s,
when the Regional Government of
Schleswig-Holstein suggested that
the entire mud flat of the Wadden Sea
For us, a group of islanders from
all walks of life, this conflict was like
an ‘energiser’ for a civic movement
towards more sustainable island
development. Just as seagulls take
off best by running against the wind,
we used the spirit of opposition
against the regional authorities
to prepare for marrying wildlife
protection with sustainable farming
and renewable energies. In 1989 we
founded our non-profit organisation
‘Ökologisch Wirtschaften!’. Ökologisch
livelihood for all islanders gained from
renewable energies, organic farming
and soft on-farm tourism within a
unique and vulnerable ecosystem.
We had support from many
islanders and from our tourists. But
the process of transformation was not
a ride with backwind. In the beginning
the mayor and local government saw
us as troublemakers and dreamers,
and they placed many hurdles and
barriers to our ambitions. But stubborn
as we are, we pushed on.

107

“Pellworm would be the ideal place
to experiment with practices for a
climate-friendly farming on a small scale.”
Bernhard Osterburg
Bernhard Osterburg, special adviser
to the German Federal Government at
the Thünen Institut in Braunschweig
working on adaptation of farming
practices to climate change.
“Pellworm would be the ideal place to
experiment with practices for a climate-
friendly farming on a small scale,” he
says.
Osterburg suggests working on a
full accounting of all nutrients, which
circulate on the island, including
imported feed, fertilisers as well as
green, liquid and solid manure. That
would lift our thinking above the
fences of our individual farms. Based
on this balance of nutrients we might
be able to reconsider stocking density
112
CHAPTER 9
of animals, improved crop rotation,
and better protection of soils against
erosion and loss of humus. In 2019,
we start this exercise and might have
sufficient data to consider improved
agronomic practices including
conventional and organic farms. At
the end of the day we sit on this soup
plate island together.
Other participants at the round
tables suggest work on breeding
special organic and climate resistant
seeds and farm animals and to
become another ARK together
with Süderoog. We could revitalise
contacts with the European Small
Islands Network (ESIN), which Camille
is currently heading as president.
Knowledge
sharing with DRÔME
in France
Jochen Haug from Die in the French
Drôme region, visits Pellworm to share
his experience of local slaughter
options. He has founded a farmers’
cooperative in order to save a small
slaughterhouse in his region that was
about to be closed by the authorities.
We discuss possibilities of mobile
slaughter facilities on farms to avoid
the long and exhausting transport of
our cattle to the mainland.
All these reflections and
suggestions could be the ingredients
for what many on the island would like
to see emerge in the future, namely
‘the Pellworm trade mark’. It could
create a new common ground for all.
It could become another ’Pellover‘
narrative of connecting within our
local economy, between farmers,
local restaurants, the school, the
energy cooperative, the dairy, a new
slaughterhouse … and friends across
Europe.
I close the west doors of the barn
and the farmhouse. A severe storm is
announced. If it carries rain it would
be welcome, but it turns out to just be
violent wind with not a drop of water
for our fields.
THIS PAGE
11. Pellworm’s lighthouse and
traditionally thatched houses
OPPOSITE
12. Wild geese pecking
in Pellworm meadows
Planting the seeds
for new projects
and movement
We have done this in many ways.
Sometimes we helped newcomers
and start-ups with training or seed
money, or provided scholarships
and exchanges to get young people
into rural development work. Our
workshops and gatherings have
birthed many new ideas and
collaborations, conversation and
shared experience planting the seeds
for new projects. Remember Jenny
from chapter 2 of this book? She
discovered Forum Synergies during
the Karditsa meeting in Greece. There
she met the Transnational Institute Nurturing new ideas “My horizon opened
(TNI) of the Netherlands with whom and harvesting at that one meeting”
she published a report a year later on
the fruit Jenny Gkiougki
the Greek financial crisis and right to
food. “My horizon opened at that one You can see how projects have their are keen to sow and breed for a new
meeting,” she says. beginnings at Forum Synergies and rural life and help resilient initiatives
Or think of Eimhin Shortt, for whom then grow out into the world beyond and projects to find their feet. But we
the Karditsa event was a turning point. us. But being an incubator does not also need their feedback, inspiration
“When I came to Karditsa I was involved come without a risk. By providing and creativity so that we can stay on
with agroecology and land practices support to individuals, groups and top of what rural movements need. It
but had no idea about access to land other organisations to get active in is not easy to keep a balance between
questions. It was the conversations I rural development, we risked losing collecting knowledge about good
had with Jenny, and Titus Bahner from the necessary energies for our own practices, seeding and nurturing
Germany that sparked the idea of an core activities when we engaged in new ideas and methods and then
Irish Land Trust,” he remembers. That many new fields and networks at the harvesting the fruits of these common
organisation is very much up and same time. efforts we make for a new lively and
running just a year later in Ireland. Sometimes we even felt the risk sustainable rural Europe. This is a call
Before Karditsa, Ireland had no of becoming superfluous, in the way to all to keep in touch!
significant involvement with Forum that good teachers see their students
Synergies. We see the continuing learn to flourish without further
expansion of FS sphere of activities help. Good parents let their children
from Georgia in the East to Donegal fly when they are fledged. Forum OPPOSITE
1. FS logo
in the Irish – and European – far North Synergies has learnt to let its offspring
2. Rural Ukraine
West. In 2019 we have found five new run when their time has come.
THIS PAGE
Irish hosts for the 2019 scholarships, However teachers, parents and civic 3. Eimhin (with cap) in the
including Eimhin’s own ‘Growery’. organisations are not the same. We ERSG 2017 in Greece

127
 CHAPTER 13

management experts, agro-ecologists

and sustainable development experts.
“We believe transitional practices
that work toward profound social
transformation should not be limited to
the cities. Rural areas can be dynamic,
progressive and experimental,”
Federico shares. Listening to him and
the friends he brought to dinner –
Carlotta, Michele and others – I am
left with a real warmth. They really
‘care’ about environmental protection,
rural sustainability and more just
and healthier futures. It is a care that
bubbles over and flows into you at
the dinner table, motivates you to
question your own work and get
stuck in.

Cultivating a new moving to the country for the first on the condition that you look after

rural reality
It is a care that also leaves me
hopeful. Sifting through these
chapters, you get a picture of rural
Europe: its beauty and vibrancy, its
complex history and its current and
future challenges. Time and again,
our writers lamented the loss of the
young from rural areas. Seeking better
opportunities, across the continent,
many young people have moved to
cities and abroad.
But the story does not end there.
Some have stayed, some have
returned and some urbanites are
time. Several are friends of mine,
keen to get their hands in the soil
and ensure healthier air and wild play
for the children they hope to have.
Porto di Terra is one such space that
connects and supports these people
and their projects. As we have seen
in Karditsa, in Beaufortain and in
Transylvania, access to land is often
one of the key reasons young people
move out of the countryside.
“We rent the land here, in formal
and informal loans from local, elderly
landowners,” Carlotta Ebbreo tells
me. “They say: “Here you can have it
for five years to try out your projects
the land, maintain it from fire hazard.””
This land is often cheap or free and
allows young people to get their foot
in the door, put into practice their
ideas and see if they work without
too much financial loss. Again, a
simple but powerful idea. It has its
limitations though, since it does
not provide the stability for those
leasing the land to make the kind of
long-term plans that make peasant
agriculture viable. Nonetheless, at
least for the time being, it creates a
kind of intergenerational cohesion
and ensures careful stewardship of
the land.

LINKS AND NOTES
Here are the links from organisations, publications or initiatives
mentioned in the text, in chronological order. References to other
organisations have been added in some cases. In some chapters,
notes’ references have been added too.
Clicking on the QR code you will access to this on-line list of links.
Foreword,
Aknowledgements,
Rural Europe - a journey through
time
Fondation de France:
www.fondationdefrance.org
Fondation Charles Léopold Mayer pour le
Progrès de l’Homme: www.fph.ch
German Schweissfurt Stiftung:
https://schweisfurth-stiftung.de
Heinrich Boell Foundation: www.boell.de
Fundación La Caixa:
https://obrasociallacaixa.org
European Commission:
https://ec.europa.eu
Forum Synergies resource center: http://
forum-synergies.eu/rubrique27.html
Chapter 1
London Freedom Seed Bank: https://
londonfreedomseedbank.wordpress.com
The Agricultural and Rural Convention
2020 (ARC 2020): www.arc2020.eu
GEYSER: www.geyser.asso.fr
European Parliament:
www.europarl.europa.eu
Latvian Rural Forum:
https://llf.partneribas.lv
PREPARE: www.preparenetwork.org
AGROECOPOLIS: www.agroecopolis.org
URGENCI: https://urgenci.net
European Access To Land network:
www.accesstoland.eu
EXTRA:
Mediterannean Network for Local
160
Appendices
Solidarity Partnerships for Agroecology
(MedNet LSPA): https://urgenci.net/the-
mediterranean-csa-project/
Nyeleni Europe:
http://www.nyelenieurope.net/
Via Campesina: https://viacampesina.org
Chapter 2
“I will survive”- Farmers’version lyrics:
http://forum-synergies.eu/IMG/pdf/
the_festive_dinner.pdf
European Rural Sustainability Gathering
2017: http://forum-synergies.eu/article1.
html
AGROECOPOLIS: www.agroecopolis.org
URGENCI: https://urgenci.net
ANKA: www.anka.gr
Educational material for the Social and
Solidarity Economy Open Access for All:
www.kalomathe.gr
LEADER / CLLD: https://enrd.ec.europa.
eu/leader-clld_en
Social Cooperative Enterprises (KoinSEp):
www.social-economy.com/genisea-
koinsep.html
Video of the field trips visits (ERSG2017):
http://www.forum-synergies.eu/article1.
html
Transnational Institute: www.tni.org
European Social Economy Regions: https://
ec.europa.eu/growth/content/european-
social-economy-regions-2019_en
EXTRA:
Peliti: www.peliti.gr
When tomatoes met Wagner: https://
cineuropa.org/en/video/rdid/370502/
ARC 2020 articles on ERSG 2017 and Rural
Greece: www.arc2020.eu/tag/karditsa/
Chapter 3
Isle of Eigg: www.isleofeigg.org
Foula Island: www.forum-synergies.eu/
bdf_fiche-experience-2_en.html
European Small Islands Network: https://
europeansmallislands.com
Scottish Rural Parliament: www.
scottishruralparliament.org.uk
European Rural Parliament:
https://europeanruralparliament.com/
EXTRA:
DAFNI: www.dafni.net.gr
Chapter 4
Ten examples of processes and practices
in Europe - “When citizens, stakeholders
and decision makers work together”: http://
forum-synergies.eu/rubrique94.html
PLANED: www.planed.org.uk
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park:
www.pembrokeshirecoast.wales
PLANED Success story: http://www.forum-
synergies.eu/bdf_fiche-experience-53_
en.html
LEADER / CLLD: https://enrd.ec.europa.
eu/leader-clld_en
Open space method:
http://www.kstoolkit.org/open_space
Natura 2000: https://ec.europa.eu/
environment/nature/natura2000/
Water framework directive: http://
ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-
framework/
LAG Puszcza Knyszynska:
www.puszczaknyszynska.org
Knyszyńska Forest Landscape Park:
www.pkpk.wrotapodlasia.pl
EXTRA:
COMEDIE: www.comedie.org
Institut de la Concertation et de la

Participation Citoyenne: https://i-cpc.org
NOTES
Quotes from the Wildfire group and Planed
staff have been transcribed from the author
recorder.
Quote on Trust: North Macedonia report :
Lessons Learnt from the Integrated Rural
Development Programme (ALKA) and
the Albanian North Macedonia People’s
Empowerment Programme (AMPEP) Sida
Evaluation 2008:48)
Chapter 5
IN LOCO: www.in-loco.pt
Mas de Noguera:
www.masdenoguera.coop
Agenda 2000: https://ec.europa.eu/
agriculture/sites/agriculture/files/cap-
history/agenda-2000/com97-2000_en.pdf
Forum Synergies Project “Sustainable
Development in Lake Areas”:
http://forum-synergies.eu/rubrique15.html
EuCAN: www.eucan.org.uk
Forums Synergies Forestry programme:
http://forum-synergies.eu/rubrique18.html
Mediterranean Diet Route:
dietamediterranica.net
Slow Food: www.slowfood.com
The Agricultural and Rural Convention
2020 (ARC2020): www.arc2020.eu
Minha Terra: www.minhaterra.pt
Animar: www.animar-dl.pt
Chapter 6
European Herb Gathering 2018:
http://forum-synergies.eu/article415.html
Foundation for Life Quality:
https://eletminosegert.ro
Farmers’ Ecology:
http://forum-synergies.eu/rubrique17.html
Traditionelle Europäische Heilkunde:
www.teh.at
Rural Actors for Health:
http://forum-synergies.eu/rubrique19.html
LINKS AND NOTES
Herb documentary “Traditional Herb
therapy in Odorhei Region”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ-
c1gpBhWw&t=57s
Florémonts: floremonts.over-blog.com
NOTES
“Land grabbing and land concentration
in Europe- A Research Brief” ;
Transnational Institute, 2017: www.
tni.org/files/publication-downloads/
landgrabbingeurope_a5-2.pdf
Chapter 7
Villa Dihovo: villadihovo.com
Terra Madre Balkan: www.essedra.com/
biodiversity/terra-madre-balkans/
ESSEDRA: www.essedra.com
SWG: http://seerural.org
PREPARE: www.preparenetwork.org
Slow Food: www.slowfood.com
Austrian Chamber of Agriculture:
www.lko.at
Hygiene Package: https://ec.europa.eu/
food/safety/biosafety/food_hygiene_en
Local food matters! Statement of
participants in the workshop – 2014:
www.forum-synergies.eu/docs/lfm_
statement_participants_scores.pdf
“Locals Food Matters” workshop: http://
forum-synergies.eu/rubrique97.html
Declaration from the 1st national congress
of Slow Food Macedonia: http://mleko.org.
mk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/SF.MK-
Our-Food-Our-Future-declaration.pdf
Balkan Rural Development Network:
www.brdnetwork.org
ARC2020 interview with Boban Ilic: www.
arc2020.eu/interview-with-boban-ilic/
NOTES
Quote from Michele Rumiz’ article “When
hygiene constraints quality” published in
Slow food magazine 04 April 2014) -
www.essedra.com/hygiene-package
Chapter 8
European Rural Sustainability Gathering
2014:
http://forum-synergies.eu/article303.html
Cooperative laitière de Beaufort:
www.cooperative-de-beaufort.com
Protected geographical label of origin
(PDO): https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-
farming-fisheries/food-safety-and-quality/
certification/quality-labels/quality-
schemes-explained_en
Association d’animation du Beaufortain:
www.aabeaufortain.org
Mairie de Beaufort (mediation sponsor):
www.mairie-beaufort73.com
DIALTER (mediation facilitator):
www.dialter.fr
Arlysere: www.arlysere.fr
AGATE: https://agate-territoires.fr
AMAP Beaufort: www.amap-savoie.fr
Ferme des Paysans voyageurs:
www.facebook.com/
lafermedespaysansvoyageurs
Terre de Liens: https://terredeliens.org
Le grand bivouac: www.grandbivouac.com
European Network Access to Land:
www.accesstoland.eu
NOTES
Quote from from Pierre Gachet, Jocelyne
Viart and Valerie Geslin from FS Beaufort
video:
www.dailymotion.com/video/x29slu5
Chapter 9
ARK PARK: www.g-e-h.de/index.php/
das-arche-projekt-106/70-kriterienkatalog-
fuer-die-ernennung-zum-arche-park
Ökologisch Wirtschaften!:
https://oeko-verein-pellworm.de
Fishbowl method:
www.kstoolkit.org/fish_bowl
Brochure “Überleben unter dem
Meeresspiegel”:
www.forum-synergies.eu/docs/pellworm-
161

2018-broschuere-web_final_190418_pdf.pdf
Court case:
www.greenpeace.de/presse/
publikationen/klageschrift-klimaklage
Thünen Institut: www.thuenen.de
European Small Islands Network:
www.europeansmallislands.com
EXTRA:
European network for community-
led initiatives on climate change and
sustainability (ECOLISE): www.ecolise.eu
Chapter 10
Lesachtal: www.lesachtal.com
Wulkow: www.oekospeicher.de
UNESCO inventory of ‘Intangible Heritage’:
www.unesco.at/kultur/immaterielles-
kulturerbe/oesterreichisches-verzeichnis/
detail/article/lesachtaler-brotherstellung/
Bread Lesachtal: www.lesachtalerbrot.at/
Slow Food Travel destinations:
www.slowfood.travel/en
NATURSCHATZ Kräutermanufaktur:
www.lesachtal.com/de/sommer/aktiv/
wanderparadies/themenwandern/
kraeuterfuehrung/111.html
Lesachtaler Bergheu (mountain hay):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eZM9XyZUl0
Heilsame Landschaft Lesachtal:
www.lesachtal.com/de/aktuelles/news/
heilsame-landschaft/717.html
hepi lodge: www.hepilodge.at
Chapter 11
Transnational Institute: www.tni.org
Kulturland (Titus Bahner):
https://kulturland.de
Hela Sverige Ska Leva:
https://helasverige.se
European Council for the Village and Small
Town: www.ecovast.org
Federation of Swedish Rural Economy and
Agriculture Societies:
http://hushallningssallskapet.se
162
LINKS AND NOTES
Kodukant: https://kodukant.ee
Carpathian Foundation:
www.carpathianfoundation.org
Lebensgarten Steyerberg e.V.:
www.lebensgarten.de
Creating Partnerships for Pre-Accession
report: www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/
etudes/etudes/join/1999/168643/DG-4-
AGRI_ET(1999)168643_EN.pdf
PREPARE: www.preparenetwork.org
CS Mott Foundation: www.mott.org
Latvian Rural Forum: http://llf.partneribas.lv
Polish Rural Forum: http://faow.org.pl
Czech National Rural Observatory:
http://nsmascr.cz
Lithuanian Union of Rural Communities:
www.lkbs.lt
Empowering rural stakeholders in the
Western Balkans: https://ec.europa.
eu/agriculture/sites/agriculture/files/
enlargement/publications/western-
balkans-report-2014_en.pdf
ERCA: www.ruralcommunities.eu
European Rural Parliament:
https://europeanruralparliament.com
ELARD: www.elard.eu
Chapter 12
Sementes vivas: www.sementesvivas.bio
Warmonderhof School Farm:
https://aereswarmonderhof.nl
Future Farmers in the Spotlight:
https://future-farmers.net
Soil farmers film: http://lsff.cz/joris-van-
der-kamp-farmari-pudy/?lang=en)
Arche Noah: www.arche-noah.at
Latvian Rural Forum: http://llf.partneribas.lv
School “Wings and roots”:
http://brukna.lv/saknes-un-sparni
Abgunste manor: www.abgunste.lv
Kodukant: https://kodukant.ee
ERSG 2014 in Beaufortain:
http://forum-synergies.eu/article303.html
Inspiring Latvian Youth stories: Tuesi.lv
European Rural Parliament:
https://europeanruralparliament.com
Forum Synergies Scholarship Programme:
http://forum-synergies.eu/article154.html
PREPARE: www.preparenetwork.org
EXTRA:
Solutions for processing so-far unused
seaweed by research in LAG Laukiem jūrai:
www.plj.lv/petijumi/jjuras-algu-sanesumu-
izvertesanas-un-apsaimniekosanas-plans-
latvijas-piekraste?pp=
Opening new possibilities for access to
land by providing land in community
for farming and permaculture
experimentation by Elgars:
www.permakultura.lv/lpb.html
Creation of a community art centre and
social entrepreneurship for locals to work
and to create art, organise events and
overall in a 200 people village without
public services nor shops:
www.udenszimes.lv/cms
NOTES
Eurostat – Statistics on farmers in the EU:
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-
explained/index.php/Farmers_in_the_
EU_-_statistics
Survey on Youth:
www.europarl.europa.eu/latvia/resource/
static/files/eurobarometr-survey-youth.pdf
Chapter 13
Libera Terra: www.liberaterra.it
Centro di Educazione Ambientale Serra
Guarneri: www.serraguarneri.it/
Madonie Regional Park:
www.parcodellemadonie.it
Permacultura Sicily:
https://permaculturasicilia.blogspot.com
Porto di Terra: www.portoditerra.com
London Freedom Seed Bank: https://
londonfreedomseedbank.wordpress.com
EXTRA:
Le Galline Felici (Michele Russo):
www.legallinefelici.it

GLOSSARY
Agroecology:Agroecological farming
systems are based on ecological inputs and
processes and the provision of ecosystem
services. Acroecology also is an
interdisciplinary, holistic scientific approach
towards agricultural ecosystems and a
social movement (www.arc2020.eu)
Brain Drain: the emigration of highly trained
or educated people from a given country or
region
Community-led local development (CLLD):
Participative methodology for management
of EU funds, based on public-private
partnerships in community-led local action
groups. Integrated and multi-sectoral local
development strategies shall take into
account local potential and needs; see
textbox page 50
Common good: the good of a community
(alternative see wiki_common_good_
(economics))
Cooperative (organisation): autonomous
association of persons united voluntarily to
meet their common economic, social and
cultural needs and aspirations through a
jointly-owned and democratically-
controlled enterprise (wiki)
Erasmus: Student exchange programme
(EuRopean Community Acton Scheme for
the Mobility of University Students)
Food justice: “Food justice is communities
exercising their right to grow, sell and eat
healthy food” (quoted from foodforward.org)
Food Sovereignty: Food sovereignty is the
right of peoples to heathy and culturally
appropriate food produced through
ecologically sound and sustainable
methods, and their right to define their own
food and agriculture systems. It puts those
who produce, distribute and consume food
at the heart of the food systems and
GLOSSARY
policies rather than the demands of
markets and corporations. (Nyéléni
declaration)
HACCP: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control
Points: systematic risk prevention and
management approach for food safety
(from biological, chemical or physical
hazards)
Polder: an area of low land that was once
under the sea but that has been separated
from it by dykes (= walls or channels built to
prevent water covering an area) (Cambridge
Dictionary)
Resilience: the capacity (of an ecosystem, a
social system or an individual) to recover
from perturbations (and to adapt to
changed or adverse conditions)
Social Solidarity Economy (SSE): SSE refers
to enterprises and organisations which
produce goods, services and knowledge
that meet the needs of the community they
serve, through the pursuit of specific social
and environmental objectives and the
fostering of solidarity (source: ILO)
Stewardship: an ethical concept that
embodies the responsible planning and
management of resources
Trademarking: attribute with a recognisable
sign or design which identifies products or
services of a particular source from others
Warft: artificial mounds or hills created to
provide safe ground during high tides or
storms
FORUM SYNERGIES'
VOCABULARY
Art session: see textbox page 141
European Rural Sustainability Gathering
(ERSG): see textbox page 20
Field visits / rural reality check: see
textbox page 96
Fishbowl session: see textbox page 110
FS Farmers’ Ecology programme: The
Farmers’ Ecology programme works on the
collection, transmission and promotion of
(traditional) local knowledge related to
agro-ecosystem management
FS Forestry programme: see textbox page 64
FS Scholarships: see textbox page 146
FS training sessions: see textbox page 50
Lifeshop: Forum Synergies’ Lifeshops are
specific workshops designed to share
personal visions and discover sustainable
lifestyle of local rural communities
Market of Initiatives: see textbox page 77
Open Space method: A participant-driven
method for organising a meeting, based on
self-organisation, bottom-up offer of topics
and with open outcome. Participants can
move freely between several proposed
discussions (the “Law of Two Feet”).
Resource centre: Forum Synergies’
Resource Centre on Sustainable Rural
Development compiles success stories,
organisations and documents related to
rural sustainability
Rural Actors for Health: see textbox page 75
Sustainable Development in Lake Areas: A
(completed) Forum Synergies project
focussing on participation of civil society in
the implementation of EU environmental
legislation
Sustainable Mystery Tour: see textbox
page 61
163

INDEX
Keywords and pages
access to land: 15, 19, 33, 41, 71, 73, 100, 101,
127, 154
added value: 66, 95, 109, 130
advocacy: 89, 133, 144
agroecology: 19, 66, 127, 139, 154
animal transport: 112
art session: 129, 138, 141
biodiversity: 62, 104, 112, 116, 155
biomass: 24
brain drain: 2 , 122
breeding: 104, 112, 140
Brexit: 55, 151
capital: 21, 65, 96
celebration: 33, 51, 74
climate change: 27, 63, 64, 111, 123
cohesion: 40, 122, 154
collective intelligence: 10, 59, 126, 129, 153
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP): 37, 48,
61, 65
common goods: 41, 77
communication : 45, 46, 88
Communities Right to Buy Act: 33
community ownership: 31, 33, 40, 109, 122
community spirit: 35, 109, 135
Community supported agriculture (CSA):
19, 38, 100
Community-led local development (CLLD):
40, 48, 90
competition, competitiveness: 23
connection / building bridges: 36, 64, 67,
90, 108, 129, 135, 141
constructive dialogue: 45, 85, 110, 118, 126
cooperation: 24, 65, 66, 77, 91, 109, 130, 152
cooperative: 21, 22, 24, 95, 96
creativity: 64, 123, 127, 129, 141, 143, 153
crisis, financial: 19, 21, 65
depopulation: 12, 19, 31, 141
energy, renewable: 39, 96, 109
entrepreneurship: 58, 143
INDEX
EU legislation (herbs, food): 75, 86, 87, 122
European buffet: 14, 25
European Rural Parliament : 41, 132, 133, 145
European Rural Sustainability Gathering
(ERSG): 18, 20, 94, 144
European Rural Youth Parliament: 145
exchange of best practices: 67, 75, 87, 88,
95, 131, 135, 142, 152, 156
experience: 16, 118, 151, 156
fairness / fair trade: 65, 108
field visits: 85, 96, 129, 138
fishbowl session: 110, 129
food (local): 38, 64, 82, 99, 120, 152
food quality: 65, 83, 85, 94
food sovereignty: 15, 19, 66, 72
forest, forestry: 24, 52, 54, 62, 63, 64, 152
forest gardening: 77
governance: 38, 88
health: 75, 76, 121, 122
herbs: 67, 75, 121
heritage: 76, 120, 155
hospitality: 14, 32, 74, 79, 119
incubator: 22, 60, 127, 139
innovation: 21, 94, 109, 120, 126, 141
integration: 35, 60, 123, 144
iron curtain : 72, 118, 128, 143
islands (eco-islands): 39, 40, 108
land grabbing: 73
land tenure: 31, 33, 62, 71, 73
LEADER: 22, 38, 48, 91, 122, 131
Lifeshop: 84
lifestyle: 66, 73, 142
lobbying: 89
Local Action Group: 22, 47, 48
local economy: 22, 59, 96, 107, 109, 112
local identity: 55
Market of Initiatives: 77, 138
mediation: 45, 98
medical plants: 13, 67, 74, 78
motivation: 142, 146, 154
newcomers: 100, 123, 142, 143
non-violent communication: 45
Open Space method: 52, 77
organic farming: 107, 109, 139
ownership: 31, 33, 51, 62
participation: 52, 60, 97
partnership: 47, 48, 90, 97
pioneer: 108, 121, 139
refugees: 26
resilience: 40, 62, 66, 109, 147, 150
restructuring (administration): 99, 119
restructuring (agriculture): 95
scholarships: 127, 146
science: 117
seeds: 13, 49, 120, 127, 140, 152, 155
self-confidence: 36, 90, 91, 119
slaughter (local): 85, 112
social economy: 19, 21, 26
solidarity: 80, 100
stereotypes: 70, 117, 141
stewardship: 35, 153, 154
Structural Funds (EU): 37, 48
sustainable farming: 101, 109, 139
Sustainable Mystery Tour: 60, 61, 108, 119,
128, 143
territorial dialogue: 46, 98
time: 31, 62, 155, 156
tourism: 64, 107, 122
trademarking: 58, 120
tradition, traditional knowledge: 34, 66, 73,
76, 120, 121, 140, 143
transition: 128, 130, 134, 144, 150, 154
trust: 55, 65, 91, 119, 135
unemployment: 20, 141
valuation: 36, 78
wildfires: 49, 62
wool (-connection): 108
youth / generations: 97, 100, 122, 138, 144
165
 PHOTOS'CREDITS

PHOTOS'CREDITS

CONTENTS 1b: Photo 0046 João Mariano-Puro Algarve Chapter 10

Cover: © Nikolaus Lanner jun (2) 1a, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13: IN LOCO
Chapter cover: © Franz GERDL_TVB
Village: Marina Guédon (Forum Synergies) 5: Simone Matouch (Forum Synergies)
Lesachtal_1 (75)
Lake: Andriy Halyas 7: Image ID: 95502708 © Armando Frazão |
1: © Franz GERDL_TVB Lesachtal_1 (54)
Dreamstime. com
5: © Daniel ZUPANC_TVB Lesachtal (121)
People: Gwil Wren
FOREWORD 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b: Simone Matouch (Forum
Dacian Ciolos Synergies)
Chapter 6 4: Hans Guggenberger
Chapter cover, 1b, 1c: Marina Guédon
Chapter 1 6a, 6b: Manfred Guggenberger
(Forum Synergies) 7: uncredited
Chapter cover, 1, 2: Marina Guédon (Forum
1a, 9: Anastasia Vasileiadou People: Helene Windbichler
Synergies)
2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10: Mónika Pakot
3, 12: Hannes Lorenzen (Forum Synergies)
4: Simone Matouch (Forum Synergies)
4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 14, 15: Uncredited
People: uncredited Chapter 11
8: Christian Unterguggenberger Chapter cover, 1, 11a, 11b, 12a, 12b, 13: Marina
11, 13: Matthias Barret Guédon (Forum Synergies)
Chapter 7
3: Matthias Barret
Chapter cover of Galichnik village, 4, 6, 7, 8,
Chapter 2 4a, 4b : Forum Synergies
9, 12: Photo credit © Slow Food Macedonia
Chapter cover: Jenny Gkioukji 5, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 9a, 15: PREPARE Network
archive
1, 2, 11, 12: Oliver Emmes (Forum Synergies) 9b, 9c: Goran Šoster (PREPARE Network)
1a : Photo credit © Katerina Mavrovska
3, 5: Andriy Halyas 10a: Serbian Rural Development Network
1b, 3b: Marina Guédon (Forum Synergies)
People, 6, 7a, 7b, 10: Matthias Barret 10b: Anita Selicka (LRF)
2, 3a, 5: Photo credit © The Recipe Hunters
4, 15: Jenny Gkioukji
10: Photo credit © Oliver Manev , Different
8, 9: Marina Guédon (Forum Synergies)
Photography Chapter 12
13, 14: ANKA
11: Photo credit © Ivo Danchev Chapter cover, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8a, 8b, 8c : Latvian
People: SWG Rural Forum
Chapter 3
1, 2: Mar ja Tomic
Chapter cover: Simone Matouch (Forum Chapter 8 6: Oliver Emmes (Forum Synergies)
Synergies) 9a, 9b, People: Joris van der Kamp
Chapter cover, 3, 4 : Marina Guédon (Forum
1, 2, 5, 6, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20: Camille People: Olga Huemer
Synergies)
Dressler/ Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust
1, 5b: Oliver Emmes (Forum Synergies)
3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 21, 22, 23: Simone
Matouch (Forum Synergies)
2, 7, 10a: Alexandar Gvozdic Chapter 13
5a: Mar ja Trpevska Chapter cover, 1, 10: Marina Guédon (Forum
People: uncredited 6 : Malena Bendelin Synergies)
8: Association d’Animation du Beaufortain 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11: Hannes Lorenzen (Forum
Chapter 4 9a: Philippe Barret Synergies)
Chapter cover: Foel Drygarn site, 4, 6 - 9b: Geraldine Gallice (Commune de Beaufort) 7a: Porto di Terra
PLANED 10b: Slobodan Ocokoljic 5b: Carlotta Ebbreo (Porto di Terra)
1: © Bergwaldoffensive 11a, 11b, 12, 13, 14: Jeanine Sochas 6, 5a, 7b: Federico Coppola (Porto di Terra)
2, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17: Marina Guédon People: copyright Terre de Liens 12: Anastasia Vasileiadou
(Forum Synergies)
14: Image ID: 25510169. Copyright Jacek Chapter 9
Kadaj | Dreamstime.com Epilogue
Chapter cover: photo rights by Ökologisch
3, 15: Anneli Kana Cover: Oliver Emmes (Forum Synergies)
Wirtschaften, Walter Rabe
7: Oliver Emmes (Forum Synergies) Editors’ photo: Simone Matouch (Forum
1, 2, 4, 5, People: Hannes Lorenzen (Forum
8, 9: Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Synergies)
Synergies)
People: Simone Matouch (Forum Synergies) 7: Robert Douillet
3: photo rights by Torsten Paris Fotografie Appendices
Chapter 5 Meyenberg Acronyms: Fas Khan on Unsplash
Chapter cover: Photo 0814: João Mariano- 8, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11, 12: Ökologisch Photo’s credits: 0891puro_algarve(photo
Puro Algarve Wirtschaften João Mariano-Puro Algarve)

166