Rural European Platform and EVC
One of the most interesting thing in founding the European Versatile Countryside movement is the meeting of committed people in the diverse corners of Europe. I have already told about the founding farmers of the Versatile Countryside. Very inspiring persons (VIP’s). Now I would like to tell something about the scientific people connected in the Rural European Network. In a intereg project of Farmers 4 nature I met mr. Herbert Diemont from Alterra Wageningen – a very broad oriented scientist with a lot of European connections. Via him I met on my Portugese trip to Alfredo Cunhal (my collegue founding farmer of the Veratile Farmers) Dr. Leonardo Costa of the Porto Catholic University – inspirator of the Porto meeting of this year.
In the week of 2&3 october there will be a meeting of the REP in Porto (Vairao – Portugal) about the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2014: shaping of a Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP) for Europe. Besides the CAP the development of the RAP and the rebalancing of the common en the regional specific elements of that policy.
I was invited to come to connect this meeting of the REP with the movement of the European Versatile Countryside. The REP transitional paper 2 will be used as a pre –advice for the EEConference with the EU commisar Mrs. Mariann Fischer Boel.
I could not go to Portugal because I have to focus now on the EEconference. But the material of the REP meeting is very relavant for the EEConference. The discussion of the direction of the Agricultural sector and broader the sustaining Landscape in Europe is very important. And this is not only a policy discussion, but a broader sector and domain transgressing movement.
Policy discussions by scientist can clarify some of the underlying forces of this transition process. On the REP meeting this analysis is taken up by scientist all over Europe. I would like to read the results. A good analysis can be the starting of a new policy agenda and the invention of new directions of the frameworks and actors operating in this field.
For me, the connection of the REP meeting in Porto and the European Versatile Countryside movement will contain the next few spearheads:
| A. | how can we rebalance the existing CAP (with its modifications in the reforms and health check) and the new developping RAP in the globalising and regionalising World? What are the plus and minus factors of the CAP which can be corrected by a more regional specific agriculture policy? |
| B. | How can we broaden our existing and narrowed concept of agriculture to a real and serious agri – culture? The culture of the agri in which the landscape, the environment, the care for animals, the multifunctionality of farming is really at stake. This mental shift, this operational formula, this contextual paradigm shift is necessary for our sustainable agriculture. I am curious to know if Porto can make proposals for this transforming concept of Agri- culture. |
| C. | How can a rebalanced CAP/RAP and a transformed concept of Agri-culture be new organising and mobilising factors in the EU arena for the coming period? How is REP positioning itself in the broader context of the European Versatile Countryside Movement which conceptual, organisational and even ‘spiritual’ (see ‘the spirit of Stresa and Eemland in my other blog) is presented on the EEConference the end of october? |
Enough questions, enough interesting stuff for my friends on the Porto meeting and I am curious to know some of the answers.
Posted: October 1st, 2008 under Blog messages.