European agriculture is experiencing a major crisis due to the decline of family farming and the trend towards industrialisation. Paradoxically, while farms are getting bigger, consumers, environmental groups, local authorities and others are increasingly supporting local food and sustainable farming systems. European agriculture urgently needs to find and train a new generation of farmers, particularly agroecological farmers. Based on various studies carried out at national and EU level, access to land is the number one obstacle faced by a new generation seeking to enter the farming profession. All organisations collaborating in this partnership are grassroots organisations training, advising and supporting farmers and future farmers in agroecology. We focus in particular on helping them to find and secure farmland to start or develop their farming activity. * Rationale of the project * Our organisations are largely isolated in their respective national contexts, as very few organisations and public institutions focus on farmland for farmers. Besides, most are rather recent and are seeking inspiration from other organisations to build up their activities, competences and tools. Following three prior Erasmus + adult education partnerships to promote experience sharing and innovation, we have now identified the need to systematise a Learning Platform, to share key materials (including very operational documents) as well as to develop a joint program for learning activities. * Objectives of the project * The overall objective of the project is to build the capacity - knowledge, know-how, and practical tools - of initiatives supporting farmers’ access to land. Our specific goals: - Compile and organise materials to make them available through an on-line database to project partners and beyond; - Create new materials as “learning packs” to compile key resources about essential topics - Provide mentoring and peer-to-peer learning to emerging and established partner organisations. * Our approach * Methodologically, our approach rests on the following pillars: - practice-oriented, - peer-to-peer learning, - supporting start-up organisations, - added-value of European experience-sharing, - creating an open and lasting access to key professional resources. *Participants and beneficiaries* - Primary group: staff and volunteers of our organisations, engaged in running the organisation, training and educating farmers and citizens, and collaborating with public and private landowners. They will gain professional skills, as well as a wider understanding of their role and missions, through European comparison/ inspiration. - We will have particular attention, within this primary group, for staff and volunteers of start-up organisations (from Czech Republic, Romania, Greece). - Other direct beneficiaries are start-up land trusts from Scotland, Ireland, Poland, etc.: while not partners of the project, they will be invited to participate in activities and events. - Key groups who will indirectly benefit from the partnership, through being trained, advised and supported by better skilled, and more strategic organisations are: farmers and future farmers; citizens and consumers interested in supporting land for local farmers; private land owners; local authorities; and environmental organisations. *Expected results* Tangible results of the project will be: 1- A survey and analysis of the needs of access to land initiatives and key existing resources; 2- A on-line database of key materials, accessible to project partners and other land initiatives from Europe and beyond. 3- A beginners’ kit to help land trusts/initiatives develop in more secure and faster way; 4- A series of “learning packs” to help land initiatives build or consolidate their approaches and tools in various areas of work 5- A mentoring and peer-learning programme, consisting of direct mentoring, training events, and webinars. 6- Public on-line communication to share the project’s outputs to a broader circle (newsletters, websites, social media) 7- New or consolidated action plans, strategic plans, and tools in partners’ organisations In the longer run, we expect the following results: - more efficient and impactful organisations, with better skilled, experienced and networked staff and volunteers, and more solid and new tools, approaches or areas of work - faster development of emerging land initiatives/ land trusts in countries such as the Czech Republic, Romania, Greece, Ireland, Denmark, Portugal, etc. - Increased recognition of land trusts/ initiatives from public authorities and funders,. - More agroecological farmers able to start/ maintain their farming business in secure and and beneficial land tenure conditions. - More stakeholders involved in local dynamics to develop local food systems, i.e. citizens, environmental groups, local authorities, etc.
European agriculture is experiencing a major crisis due to the decline of family farming and the trend towards industrialisation. Paradoxically, while farms are getting bigger, consumers, environmental groups, local authorities and others are increasingly supporting local food and sustainable farming systems. European agriculture urgently needs to find and train a new generation of farmers, particularly agroecological farmers. Based on various studies carried out at national and EU level, access to land is the number one obstacle faced by new farmers. All organisations collaborating in this partnership are grassroots organisations training and supporting farmers and future farmers in agroecology. We focus on helping them to secure farmland to start or develop their farming activity. Rationale European exchanges are key for us as in each country very few organisations and public institutions focus on land for farmers. Besides, most of us are recent and seek inspiration from others to build up their activities and the capacity of our staff and volunteers. Objectives - create materials to document and analyse ways of doing on our core activities (e.g. acquiring land, advising farmers…). These materials are both practice-oriented and based on the experience of grassroots organisations and comparison between their approaches - Make these materials fit for the needs of grassroots organisations beyond the project partners and make them widely available - structure an educational programme for peer-to-peer learning, around our core activities To reach these goals, it was particularly important to bring together experienced organisations with younger startup organisations. Our approach has rested on the following pillars: - practice-oriented, - peer-to-peer learning, - supporting start-up organisations, - added-value of European experience-sharing, - creating an open and lasting access to key professional resources. Participants and beneficiaries - Staff and volunteers of our organisations, engaged in supporting farmers, mobilising citizens and advising public and private landowners. They gained professional skills, as well as a wider understanding of their role, through European exchange and inspiration. Within this group, we had special attention for start-up organisations (Czech Republic, Romania, Greece). - Other grassroots land initiatives who invited to participate in our activities (webinar, on-line training, publications) - Key groups who indirectly benefited from the partnership, through being trained and supported by better skilled and more strategic organisations are: farmers and future farmers; citizens interested in food and farming; private land owners; and local authorities. Tangible outcomes - An analysis of the needs of land initiatives in terms of skills, tools and resources. Based on answers from 40 organisations, it offers a state of the art of existing organisations and their needs - A “Beginners’ Kit” on how to start a land initiative in 2 parts: how to set up an organisation and how to develop core land activities. - Series of advanced learning packs on core land activities, including: * 4 advanced European packs on Public Engagement, Impact Assessment, Land Matching Platforms and Land Acquisition. Various formats, depending on the audience: print, digital, videos. Our highlight publication is “The Guardians of the Land” published in 6 languages to be widely available to interested citizens * 8 country packs on topics such as future farmers’ needs, fundraising strategies, farm succession, private landowners, etc. Various content and formats: policy analysis, guidebooks, toolkits, educational videos, etc. – 6 webinars, including "How to assess the impacts of agroecological farms?", "Buying Farmland" or "Managing farm donations" – 5 mentoring in groups of 2 or 3 enabled us to gain new skills and consolidate approaches in new areas of work – 2 Trainings: 1 on “Business Models”; 1 on “Fundraising” decisively helped consolidate our professional skills – 7 Multiplier Events enabled us to share our results with about 250 participants: rural organisations, farmers and aspiring farmers, public institutions, citizens - On-line communication, notably on www.accesstoland.eu Key intangible outcomes include (see impacts): - consolidated skills, tools and strategies of partners in various areas: fundraising, public engagement, capacity to advise farmers... - new work areas and added legitimacy to work on them: farm succession, acquiring land buildings, etc. - quality of the group as a support network (e.g. in covid times) and a key resource for inspiration, tools, contacts, etc. - improved networking with other rural development organisations and public institutions in our own country -improved understanding of the needs of our stakeholders: farmers, future farmers, private landowners, etc. and capacity to turn these into both practical action and policy recommendations