Jan Huijgen

I was invite to participate in a symposium at Wageningen University with the title: ‘The new rural idyll’.

I have learned from philosophy the old reaction patterns of European thinking: after the dark middle ages we have the Enlightement with reasonable people developing science and technology. Modern culture was developing, modern farming systems were the practical outcome. But within Europe we get a strong reaction to this rationalistic approach: the romantic movement with drew attention to emotional, artistic, community and even religious aspects. Within European culture we are ever and ever confronted with these two way of approaching reality. We see this also reflected in agriculture with the classical modernistic approach and the opposing alternatives in biological farming, nostalgic forms of local /regional agriculture and so on.

But now, a new rural paradigm is ermerging as a reaction on and as a strategic alternative route for modernist farming systems. This ‘third way’ of farming – above the dilemma modernist/nostalgic farming – is getting more and more support from different perspectives:
- regional food strategies of cities
- versatile countryside developments ( ‘the countryside has so much more to offer ‘)
- slow food culture movements
- new entrepreneurial frameworks in multifunctionality (new businessmodels)
- innovation programm’s of regional, national and international government/knowledge bodies
- sustainability measurements (blended value concepts).

For a rebalancing of our food culture, a more integral policy framework (from region to European) and scharpening of our knowledge- and innovation agenda we need to rediscover the meaning of agri – culture as culture of the agri.
Beyond the modern/idyllic dialectic we need to be passioned for caring soil, animals and products, we are in need of integral visions on the urban/rural frameworks and need courageous examples of the realising future of agriculture.
The Eemlandhoeve case serves as example of such a Cityside Oasis of the European Versatile Countryside.
(see www.eemlandhoeve.nl;blog www.janhuijgen.nl; www.versatilecountryside.eu, book: Cityside Oasis; Movie European Versatile Farmers)

Jan Huijgen (Demonstration Farm Multifunctional Agriculture ‘Eemlandhoeve’), pioneer new City/Countryside relationships *
Jan Huijgen is farmer and philosopher, involved in different initiatives around multifunctional agriculture, versatile countryside and rural transformation processes. His is rural entrepreneur at demonstration farm ‘Eemlandhoeve’ and winner of the Mansholtprize 2007