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Common Agricultural Policy

Food Policies in the European Union (Lisbon)

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About the Event

Recent reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy may lead to progress in the building of sustainable food systems in Europe, but other actors are also driving this progress. Initiatives lead by civil society, non-governmental, local and private organisations are coordinating action on the ground and responding to increased demands for more sustainable food, reduced food waste, and local and fair production that respects both the environment and animal wellbeing.

Europe urgently needs food policies that reflect these demands. This conference will bring together key actors in the transition to a fair and sustainable food and agriculture system to discuss the way forward.

Speakers:

  • Maria José Ilhéu (Alimentar Cidades Sustentáveis)
  • Alexandra Azevedo (Quercus)
  • Cecília Delgado (Alimentar, Cidades Sustentáveis, CICS.NOVA – NOVA FCSH)
  • André Antunes (Chão Rico)
  • Denis Hickel (Quinta do Alecrim)

Programme

14.00 – Welcome tea and registration

14.20 – Introduction of the program and participants

14.50The Common Agricultural Policy: origins, limits and current challenges

Discussion and video presentation followed by discussion in groups

Presentation of the results

16.00 – Local responses to the challenges of sustainable food

Local solutions and products

16.30Innovation and challenges of food systems: examples from international experiences

Discussion and video presentation followed by discussion in groups

Presentation of the results

17.40 – 18.00“Wrap-up” and conclusions

Registration

Attendance to this event is free, please register your place via the form found here.

Please find the Facebook event page (in Portuguese) for this event here.

The language of this conference will be Portuguese.


 

Politics on the Plate – Visions and Demands for Urban Food of the Future (Vienna)

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Event background

As part of its thematic priority on food and agriculture, the Green European Foundation wants to bring together different actors of the food system to find alternative solutions to our current food supply which has negative impacts not only on us humans but more so on our environment. Furthermore, GEF’s activities aim to highlight and to support alternative proposals to the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union.

About the event

As part of a two-day symposium on urban agriculture with a particular focus on Vienna, GEF is organising, with the support of Grüne Bildungswerkstatt, a conference focusing on the political dimensions while fostering the exchange of best practices by inviting highlight projects from all over Europe to share their experiences with alternative urban food supply.

The objective is to get inspiration from each other as well as to formulate concrete recommendations for local politicians as well as citizens on how to ensure urban food supply of the future.

Programme

Friday, 18th October

10:00 Welcome and introduction – Rüdiger Maresch

10:30 – 12:30 European highlight projects of urban food policy

  • Dirk Holemans: Gent en Garde, Belgium
  • Emma Peyron: Copenhagen Food House, Denmark
  • tbc: Janet Sanz Cid: Barcelona, Catalonia-Spain

Q&A

12:30 – 13:15 Lunch break

13:15 – 14:45 Workshops: The political dimension of food

Workshop 1: Nutrition and social policies

  • Thomas Barborik: Food saving in Vienna
  • Melanie Oßberger, FIAN Austria: Human rights violation hunger – political causes, false solutions, and the right to food

Discussion in groups: How can the city contribute to improve the situation?

Workshop 2: Nutrition and environment

  • tbc, Global 2000: Environmental destruction through agriculture
  • Thomas Putzgruber, Verein RespekTiere: Insight the stables of the farmer next door

Discussion in groups: How can the city contribute to improve the situation?

Following the workshops, participants exchange in plenary and share input.

14:45 – 15:00 Coffee break

15:00 – 16:15 Panel debate: Urban food of the future – visions and demands for a modern food supply in Vienna

With: Felix Münster (Ernährungsrat Vienna), Marta Lopez Cifuentes, tbc, (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, department for sustainable agriculture), Martina Pluda (Vier Pfoten Austria), moderated by Dagmar Tutschek (Director Grüne Bildungswerkstatt)

17:00 – 19:00 Evening workshops

3 stations of interactive workshops, among others at the city farm Augarten

Saturday, 19th October

On Saturday, 19th October, the symposium is continued with at Nationalparkhaus Lobau in Vienna with a specific focus on the situation in Vienna, looking at the current food supply in Vienna and inspiring initiatives for alternative (self-)supply. The day will be completed with excursions that will bring participants together with urban farmers, beekeepers, food cooperatives and more. As of 20:00 the evening will be concluded with a joint dinner at Kleine Stadtfarm.


To register, please send an email to anmeldung@gbw.at

GEF at Brno Organic Food Fair (Brno)

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Event Background

GEF will take part in this local organic food fair as part of its transnational project Fair and Healthy Food, which aims to bring together different actors within the food system to find alternative solutions and support positive changes to the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union.

About the Event

This organic food festival is organised by NGOs local to Brno, who invite local organic farmers and environmental NGOs. You can find out more about the festival in general here. 

GEF will be present at the festival via its partner Institute for Active Citizenship holding a stall and offering information and resources to festival attendees, including local farmers, NGO representatives and Green politicians.

The festival will also be an opportunity to produce several promotional videos exploring how a local healthy food distribution system can be achieved.


Keep an eye on GEF’s social media for some exciting videos from this event! 

Towards a Local Healthy Food Distribution System (Brno)

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Event Background

This roundtable discussion will be held as part of the GEF transnational project Fair and Healthy Food, which aims to bring together different actors within the food system to find alternative solutions and support positive changes to the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union.

About the Event

The participants of this roundtable discussion will include important stakeholders in local food distribution systems, including local farmers, sellers, NGOs, politicians and community representatives.

The discussion will focus on how to promote the emergence of a sustainable system of production and distribution of healthy and organic local food in the southern Czech region of Moravia.

The experience of local farmers and producers and the barriers they face will be presented in the form of the results of a survey that GEF together with Institute for Active Citizenship has been conducting among them in Czech Republic throughout the past months. Furthermore, the roundtable will explore positive examples of food policies and systems elsewhere in Europe, such as in Ghent.

The outcomes of the debate will include a summary of recommendations for city authorities and politicians on how best to promote fair and healthy food in the Moravia region.

Programme

15:30 – 15:50 Introduction of event and participants

15:50 – 16:10 Results of the local farmer survey presented

16:10 – 16:40 Discussion on the barriers farmers face

16:40 – 16:50 Introduction to discussion on how cities can promote healthy local food

16:50 – 17:20 Discussion on recommendations for city authorities and politicians

17:20 – 17:30 Summary and closing remarks

The roundtable will be chaired by Martin Ander, Director of Institute for Active Citizenship.


The participation in this event is upon invitation only. 

Fair and Healthy Food

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This discussion paper, written by Kati Van de Velde & Dirk Holemans from GEF partner Oikos, has been published as part of the GEF transnational project Fair and Healthy Food.

The paper explores the failings of the current agricultural and food system, and the possibilities for a transition to a sustainable and fair system, one which revaluates food as a human right, a public good and a commons.

Download the publication in Turkish and Serbian.

Food as a Commons (Cork)

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Event Background

As part of the transnational project Fair and Healthy Food, GEF aims to reach different actors and bring them together to explore alternative solutions and reforms to the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy and how to redesign food systems around agroecological principles.

Alongside exploring examples of cities developing their own outstanding food policies, the project will also examine how regional sustainable food systems can revitalise rural communities.

About the Event

Rising public concern around climate change and biodiversity loss has led to increasing attention on our food system as both a cause but also a potential contributing solution to environmental breakdown. While efforts are underway to reform European food and agricultural policies in order to better protect nature and rural livelihoods, growing numbers of people are becoming actively involved in reshaping food systems at local level.

Such efforts are demonstrating a creative resurgence of ideas and practices of how we can recover the multidimensional values of food as a public good rather than allow it to remain as a means for private corporate profit, and to help reduce our own personal environmental footprint and retrieve some control over our food supply.

The event proposes that food is not only a vital source of personal well-being but offers a route toward greater citizen engagement. Growing food in cities offers numerous benefits for the urban environment and community resilience and can improve availability of fresh, nourishing produce especially for those for whom access is restricted by income. Above all, it enables us to re-establish the central purpose of a food system: to produce food sustainably to feed people adequately.

This day-long event is an opportunity to pool ideas, share experiences and celebrate the power of community in growing, cooking and eating food.

You are encouraged to book early for this event as we will restrict numbers in order to facilitate an engaged, constructive and convivial experience.

Programme

09:15 – 09:30
Gather in the Lecture Room of Nano Nagle Place

09:30 – 11:00
Two keynote presentations will address new thinking that is helping us to redesign civic food systems led by Henk Renting, Researcher and Lecturer in Urban Food Systems at AERES University of Applied Sciences, Almere, the Netherlands and Orla O’Donovan, Lecturer at the School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork. The session will be introduced and chaired by Colin Sage, Co-Founder and former Chair of the Cork Food Policy Council.

11:00 – 12:45
In order to enable full engagement by participants this session will be organised as a World Café, and convened by Klaus Harvey of Transition Town Kinsale. Coffee and nibbles will be available and there will be short presentations as inputs to deliberations from Food Historian Regina Sexton, GIS Expert Tomás Kelly and others.

12:45 – 13:30
Report back from table hosts, discussion and elaboration of final action points.

13:30 – 14:00
Walk to St. John’s Central College, Sawmill Street, Cork (a short 5 minute walk).

14:00 – 16:00
We will join the ‘street feast’ that is being hosted by La Cocina Pública, a Chilean theatre group that will be based in the Cork South Parish neighbourhood as part of the Cork Midsummer Festival. Please note that the registration fee will include lunch here.

Speakers

  • Henk Renting
    Researcher and Lecturer in Urban Food Systems,
    AERES University of Applied Sciences, Almere, The Netherlands
  • Orla O’Donovan
    Lecturer at the School of Applied Social Studies,
    University College Cork
  • Colin Sage
    Co-Founder and former Chair of the Cork Food Policy Council

La Cocina Pública / The Public Kitchen
Housed in a shipping container La Cocina Pública is a mobile kitchen that brings people together through theatre, food and dining.
Travelling from Chile through cities and neighbourhoods in Europe in search of local recipes, aromas, practices and customs, La Cocina Publica will work with Cork’s South Parish residents to share stories and food that will be enjoyed at delicious collective dining events – with Chilean and Cork artists, storytellers, singers and musicians providing you with memories and entertainment. Your ticket includes a meal, but to encourage a family-friendly atmosphere for all ages, no alcohol will be served at these events.

Tickets

This event costs €20 per person (plus booking fee), which covers entrance to all events on Saturday, including morning coffee as well as lunch during the Cocina Pública street feast.

Please secure your place by booking here – early booking is RECOMMENDED as numbers will be restricted in order to facilitate an engaged, constructive and convivial experience.