2nd NYÉLÉNI EUROPE FORUM FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY
Thank you and Next Steps!
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πισυνάπτεται η επιστολή στην ελληνική γλώσσα
Dear participants of the 2nd NYÉLÉNI EUROPE FORUM for Food Sovereignty,
We all travelled back a long way, to our fields, to our homes, and we can now consider what an intense and inspiring journey this Nyéléni Europe Forum has been.
More than 500 participants, 30 volunteers, 60 interpreters-volunteer, 38 countries, 42 workshops, 16 self-organized meetings, 7 constituencies, 6 thematic axes, 4 field trips, thousands of conversations, dozens of controversies, 247 cumulated kilometers of walking back and forth from Tent 2 to Venue 2, 1,756 shots of palinka...
As the organizing team, we owe you all, contributors to the 2nd Nyéléni Europe Forum, a huge collective thanks! Thank you, multumesc, köszönöm for your patience and your trust! This Forum was all about you and your own contribution. You played the game. You made the Forum.
It was sometimes a challenging process: we had to listen to contradictory points of view, to show mutual understanding, to co-build common statements.
These were the conditions for a creative, fully participatory process: this forum turned out to be an enormous seedbed for projects, campaigns, actions, Food Sovereignty platforms to grow. In this fertile soil, our struggles were nourished and our souls inspired. Even poems, songs and music were crafted...
For a couple of days, we were the largest seed swap in Europe, and we can reasonably think we were equally the largest idea swaps across the continent.
We came back home inspired, with news points of view, found new allies in our struggles. We now feel part of something larger, a strong movement, the European Food Sovereignty movement. We are all part of this growing Nyéléni movement.
blog/solidarity-war-and-peasants-rights-solidarity-statements-nyeleni-forum.
Eastern Europe and Central Asia countries meeting inspired many participants. The meeting felt the need for cooperation and agreed consensually to exchange, to communicate and open up to international civil society movements and mechanism. Nyéléni was seen as the platform to facilitate the first steps, strengthening Food Sovereignty in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
The event “Towards a Food Sovereign Europe? A dialogue between civil society and policymakers” gave opportunity to participants to share and debate with representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) the problems they experience in their regions and discuss ideas on how the FAO can support the creation of local sustainable oriented practices in Europe. The event emphasised the importance of structured dialogue between policy makers and civil society organisations.
We worked, discussed and created actWe had a colorful journey together, but hold on: this was just the initial walk. We now are settling ourselves on a future common path. Here is the map.
What is behind us, what we achieved:
We hopefully managed to foster Food Sovereignty dynamics in several European countries – especially in Eastern Europe;
We went to a level of discussions, which address the HOW? (How do we want to change the food systems, what actions and strategies do we need?), beyond the WHAT? which means we are ready for the next steps to realise some of those ideas;
We created a lot of dynamics on social media through Twitter and Facebook, as well as videos and blogs;
Several solidarity statements were signed by delegations. They can be found here:
http://www.nyelenieurope.net/ions around 6 main areas:
1. Land, water and fisheries in the hands of people
2. Migrant, agricultural and food workers’ rights
3. Peasant agroecology (including seeds)
4. Alternative trade systems versus global corporate power
5. Territorial markets and food distribution systems
6. Common Food and Farming Policy (Common Agricultural policy, public procurement, hygiene regulation, energy)
What is ahead of us, where to go:
The Nyéléni Europe Coordination Committee will write up a final report;
A mindful evaluation will be conducted leading to a written guide;
A Farming Matters issue dedicated to Food Sovereignty will be released in March 2017;
We already have 2 dates to tick on our next year’s calendar:
*25th of March: 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which marked the birth of the European Economic Community. We are planning to use this date as a moment to raise the issue of the next Common Agricultural Policy.
*17th of April: the Day of Peasants' struggles will be combined with a European campaign on the “Story behind the Food Relationship”, where we will highlight the role of producers-consumers' alliances in the fight for peasants' rights.
New constituencies spontaneously emerged during the Forum. They highlighted the role of specific groups of actors within our movement, and will give them a voice. The Marginalized constituency is eager to tackle our contradictions and remind us of the spirit of Nyéléni. Researchers are paving the way for an assessment and improvement of our skills and practices, and for supporting our advocacy strategies. Food retailers and processors are adding a missing link to our movement. All these emerging constituencies will focus on building and strengthening their members. Through their contact persons, they will cooperate with the Nyéléni Europe Coordination Committee and contribute to the follow-up process
We now have a map on which we can add all the organisations and experiences that came together at the Forum:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mi ... 999703&z=5 (it will be transferred to a different operating system soon);
How to keep in touch?
During the next months, there will be 3 main levels of communication with you:
Level 1) All participants: the detailed report from the Forum as well as some events will be announced through the full participants list;
Level 2) National delegations: please look for the contact person in your own or other countries here:
http://www.nyelenieurope.net/map
Level 3) To update us on action discussions you are participating in or to ask questions, please write to
info@nyelenieurope.net or the Nyéléni Europe Coordination Committee members you know.
If you would like to contribute to the newsletter, please write to:
communication@nyelenieurope.net.
We will come back to you with more information and a proposal of how to continue on the discussions we started in Cluj.
Please check for the pictures, blogs, videos, twitter entries, facebook posts from the links below:
pictures:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nyelenieurope
blogs:
http://nyelenieurope.net/blog
videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X73r2Ew ... v05-kVo8o5
twitter:
https://twitter.com/nyeleni_europe
facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/NyeleniEurope
Best regards,
The Nyéléni Europe Coordination Committee:
Ramona Duminicioiu Eco Ruralis Association
Ludwig Rumetshofer ÖBV-Via Campesina Austria
Jyoti Fernandes / Paula Gioia European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC)
Natalia Laino / Maria Pombal World Forum of Fisher People
Polina Shulbaeva The Resource Center for Indigenous People
Judith Hitchman / Jocelyn Parot Urgenci Community Supported Agriculture Network
Mariam Jorjadze / Elene Shatberashvili The Biological Farming Association Elkana
Stanka Becheva Friends of the Earth Europe
Brigitte Reisenberger FIAN European Sections and Coordinations
Carla Weinzierl European Attac Network
Sylvia Kay Transnational Institute (TNI)
Fernando Garcia Dory European Shepherds’ Network