The European Coordination on Farmers’ Seeds – Let’s Liberate Diversity!
At the first European Forum Let’s Liberate Diversity! in Poitiers, France, the idea has emerged on the creation of a European network committed to the conservation and renewal of crop biodiversity in farms and gardens. First, an informal network has been established with the aim to organize exchanges among different countries / partners and develop joint strategies at the European level. The next meetings helped to crystallize the political foundations of the European network. The development of the charter containing the network?s political principles is underway.
The main objectives of the European Coordination for Farmers’ Seeds – Let’s Liberate Diversity! are:
- Exchanging information and experiences between member organizations at the European level as well as partners outside of Europe, particularly in the Mediterranean region.
- Strengthening initiatives at the national level through networking at the European level
- Developing common positions and advocacy directed towards the European Commission and various international institutions, including the secretariat of the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
- Informing the public
The European Coordination’s member organisations have been working on two main common activities :
- The organisation of a Regional European Workshop on Farmers’ Rights and the Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture on February 24, 2011 in Szeged, Hungary, prior to the European Forum Let’s Liberate Diversity! (for more information, visit the Coordination – Farmers’ Rights page)
- The drafting of a common position paper on the European Commission’s review of seed legislation in Europe under the framework of the Better Regulation process (for more information, visit the Coordination – Better Regulation page)