Agriculture and pesticides

Pesticides are well-known and widespread chemicals that target and eliminate precise pests – insects, fungi, weeds, rodents and other animals. The conventional agricultural industry which represents the biggest part of our food supply relies heavily on the usage of manmade pesticides in order to secure the optimal crop productivity throughout the season. Some conventionally grown plant cultures require pest treatment of about 20 to 30 times per season, for instance, apples.

Pesticides are most common to be sprayed over land areas. However, over 96% of sprayed pesticides reach a destination other than their target, including non-targeted species, air, water and soil. This happens due to the fact that a big amount of the chemicals end up carried away by wind and water runoff, affecting the lives of numerous species along their way and contaminating the environment.
Once induced in the soil, pesticides harm the natural soil biodiversity and the organic matter. These practices, added to single-crop farming, lead to less fertility of the land and lower overall quality of the soil, which means less natural plant growth and increasing consumption of fertilizers for successful crop yields.
Pesticides are one of the main causes of water pollution. Furthermore, they reduce biodiversity, contribute to pollinator decline, destroy habitat – especially for birds and insects, and threaten endangered species.
Currently, the use of pesticides represents a very important burden for most farmers. For instance, in the Spanish rural region of Extremadura pesticides account for a quarter of their whole expenses (if we add fertilizers it represents half of all expenses). The globalization of supply chains has forced the majority of producers to use pesticides and fertilizers in order to address the increasing demand.

Many farmers nowadays are caught in the vicious logic of producing more and more to keep their wages stable and therefore they are forced to use more pesticides. Because of the lack of support of CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) for transitioning to no-pesticides farming, farmers willing to shift are left alone.
Farmers are the first concerned about the use of pesticides. They are the ones that have experienced the health consequences of glyphosate and other carcinogenic pesticides when there was no regulation. Their land is becoming less fertile because of pesticides. They have all the more interest to transition back to no-pesticides farming, but they need a suited framework to do so.

What we call for:

1. A further implementation of the peasant model which is based on the principles of agroecology and in harmony with biodiversity [1].

2. Instead of pesticides, natural preparation methods shall be encouraged. At this moment the application of such methods is still a bureaucratic hurdle and very costly. We wish from the Member States to actively support these methods that are harmless for the environment and health.

3. More natural alternative methods such as plant, fungi and bacteria association, and the enhanced financing on research in this area.

4. The European Union’s CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) should offer a framework to help farmers to shift from pesticide-intensive agriculture to agroecological farming by proposing expertise, financial support and fair prices for farmers and encouraging small and medium-scale farming so that the use of pesticides is no longer attractive for farmers.

We want to achieve that the EU Member states:

1. Agree on and implement policies which favor environmentally friendly agriculture, such as a Common Agricultural and Food Policy that respects farmers and environments.

2. Ensure fair prices for farmers and by that putting an end to the market-driven mindset, that enhances unfair commercial competition

3. Prohibit highly toxic substances : carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic (CMR) and endocrine disrupting pesticides (ED).

References :

Miller GT (2004). “Ch. 9. Biodiversity”. Sustaining the Earth (6th ed.).

Goulson, Dave; Nicholls, Elizabeth; Botías, Cristina; Rotheray, Ellen L. (27 March 2015). “Bee declines driven by combined stress from parasites, pesticides, and lack of flowers”.

Tosi, Simone; Costa, Cecilia; Vesco, Umberto; Quaglia, Giancarlo; Guido, Giovanni (2018). “A survey of honey bee-collected pollen reveals widespread contamination by agricultural pesticides”.

We are looking for 3 new members in our board this year!

The call is open to any member of our full member organizations.

Potential candidates can reach the board via board@mijarc.eu to express their will to candidate. They can send a video, visuals or anything they want to promote their candidacy before the 22nd of May, and we will share it with our members organizations.

The deadline to apply is the 4th of June, 1st day of the GA.

What is the role and the function of the board ?

To chair and to prepare the European Coordination (EC) and the General Assembly (GA)
To follow the objectives and projects planned in accordance with the GA
To represent MIJARC Europe before any civilian or religious institution
To materialize the decisions of the GA and the EC
To keep contact with the member organizations and partners
To preserve the identity of MIJARC
Having the legal signature of MIJARC Europe
Being responsible for the books, documents, and seals of MIJARC Europe
Being responsible for the registers, the minutes, the projects, and activity reports
Being responsible for the finances of MIJARC Europe, for the account’s books
To present the budget and the profit and loss accounts to the GA

What are the competences required ?

Have experience in organizing events at regional or national level in their organization
Be interested by youth rights, youth empowerment, advocacy work
Have experience in teamworking

Have any questions? Contact board@mijarc.eu

Youth Labs Summary Document.

After more than 1 year within the OFOF project, as part of the youth spaces for sharing, learning and discussing, more than 40 National Youth Labs and 5 International Youth labs have been implemented with the joined effort of all OFOF partners and the young participants. MIJARC Europe invited more than 150 participants to these events.

Within this events, European young participants have

Contributed to OFOF’s Manifesto
Contributed to the design of OFOF’s Campaign
Discussed and reflected on topics such as: Food industry and climate change / Migrants’ Workers, Rights/ Right to food and Food sovereignty/ Agricultural Policies/ etc.
Learned about action Planning
Created some concrete actions for the OFOF campaign

MIJARC Europe is now, together with other OFOF partners, preparing a Summary Document with the main results of all National and International YLs. Soon we will share it with you.

School of influencers

What it is going to happen during the 2nd Year? MIJARC Europe is organizing the School of Influencers (SOI).

SOI are young changemaker training and webinars for EU Youth who are interested in becoming Our Food. Our Future ambassadors, micro-influencers and activists.

These intensive trainings will: 1) Provide knowledge to understand what it means and implies a real transition to a social, economical and environmental, fair and sustainable food system. 2) Offer knowledge on lobbying and advocacy strategies: a) Provide knowledge and insight in specific policies (mHREDD and F2F) ; b) Provide skills to spread the insights; c) Provide tools to get active. 3) Provide tools for campaigning on social media on European and national level.

MIJARC Europe, together with its member Organizations (MOs) will implement 2 training Programs (the School of Influencers) to train young OFOF’s changemakers and ambassadors, divided in 4 weekends (2 days each)

Program 1_ Part 1: It will take place on 5th-6th March 2022 in online format. I will be co-hosted by UMBRELLA, Georgian MIJARC’s Member Organization

Program 1_ Part 2: It will take place 16th-17th April 2022 in offline format. I will be co-hosted by UMBRELLA, Georgian MIJARC’s Member Organization. The event will take place in Georgia.

Program 2_ Part 1: It will take place on 7th-8th May 2022 in online format. I will be co-hosted by MRJC, French MIJARC’s Member Organization

Program 2_Part 2: It will take place on 18th-19th June 2022 in offline format. I will be co-hosted by MRJC, French MIJARC’s Member Organization. The event will take place in France (Paris)

Challenging the broken global food system

The Our Food Our Future team have released their manifesto for you to have a look through and read! It is now available to download in English.

It has become evident that our global food system and supply chains have become unjust in every way possible: from worker exploitation to environmental degradation, we are truly facing an arduous challenge. While supermarkets and large food conglomerations are experiencing profits at record levels, smallholders and migrant workers have been left behind to struggle. Not only are they living under precarious and slave-like conditions, but the pandemic has further worsened the situation by enlarging their exposure to risks and increasing the probability of unemployment. Then, of course, we are faced with the ever-growing climate crisis.

We, alongside OFOF, will not accept these conditions anymore. We need to start envisioning a more socially just and sustainable food system, and start taking action now.

Want to know what OFOF is all about? Who are the profiteers of injustice? What are our messages and demands to these profiteers? Discover the answers to these questions and more by downloading the OFOF manifesto below!

ofof-manifesto_eng_final Download

“Thank you so much for organising the youth lab, it was by far the best online event I ever participated in.“
A Participant

The rollout of the fourth International Youth Lab (May 22^nd–23^rd) has come and gone, leaving the MIJARC Europe team thoroughly impressed and inspired by the passion-driven workshops and discussions from both the experts and the attendees alike. With topics ranging from the exploitation of migrant workers to questioning our powers of privilege, we can certainly say that we all left the event feeling more knowledgeable, empowered, and motivated to turn our ideas of action into concrete realities. Now you may be wondering, “What exactly did I miss?” Well, for those of you asking, here are the event’s discussions and exchanges in a nutshell.

Migrant Workers’ Rights in the Agri-Food Sector

The day opened with a talk by our expert on the topic, Gianluca Cesaro, from PICUM, an international network of organisations advocating for the rights of undocumented migrants. In this informative session, Gianluca explained the everyday realities of labourers with neither permits nor recognisable rights. Some of the potential solutions that sprouted from the ensuing discussions were:

The importance of problematising all foodstuffs, not just meat products;
A call to acknowledge that 1 purchase = 1 vote; and
The need to re-label our food products and to question why so few Fair-trade goods are made available in our grocery stores.

Migrant Workers’ Rights in Almería: Organising the Struggle

The first workshop was conducted by Johanna Moreno, Delia McGarth, and José García Cuevas from SOC-SAT Almería, a union aimed at defending and upholding the rights of rural workers from Andalusia to foster a fairer and democratic society. Here are some key takeaways from this session:

The south of Spain exports 85% of its fruits and veggies to Europe, yet consumers are blind to the fact that most of this agricultural produce is being cultivated by Moroccan migrants that have been brought into Spain by a system with racist, sexist, and patriarchal connotations (thus affecting women disproportionately);
The label “organic” does not guarantee fairness and equity; and
Excessive production has had knock-on effects on the local environment, in particular by drying up the aquifers and damaging national parks.

From East to West: EU Migrant Workers and the EU Protection

Ramona Duminicioiu from EcoRuralis and La Via Campesina facilitated the second workshop that discussed the roots of today’s East-West disparities. In brief, the Cold War period saw the capitalist system of the West overtake the then-Soviet controlled East. This enabled large corporations to take part in labour exploitation and land grabbing practices that led to extreme rightists scaling up the hierarchical ladder while leaving the poor behind. As Eastern governments were powerless and unable to support their local markets and food systems, Eastern workers were gradually becoming marginalised and underrepresented. Such inequalities continue to exist today. The educational talk was then followed by some stimulating questions, such as:

If being progressive is not enough, what can we do?
Would you say that harmonisation and common standards are problematic for Eastern European countries?
How has COVID-19 affected migrant workers in Romania?

Power, Mindfulness, Action!

The following day the participants were greeted by two familiar faces: Sheila and Kinga – our experts in action. During this productive morning, participants got to partake in virtual power exercises to better understand the different forms of power and their applicability in our day-to-day lives. This led to discussions revolving around privilege and how our unconscious usage of power has deepened imbalances and insecurities. This was followed by an intriguing discussion on the mind-body division and the need to recover from stress, trauma, and other invisible side effects that may arise from partaking in physical action (we are, after all, only humans). Questioning the bad rep that wellbeing and self-care frequently receive by the public was highlighted, emphasising that social change needs to happen by compassionate activists that realise that for change to happen, they themselves may need to change too.

A Very Fruitful (and Fun!) Event Indeed

One of course must not forget the usual “get-to-know-one-another” activities and events. The Welcome Evening and the National German Evening (on Friday and Saturday night respectively) truly helped strengthen relationships and nurture familiar and safe environments, serving as a platform to help people connect globally and make new (virtual) friends. At the end of the day, the participants left the Lab not only feeling like they had gained a better understanding of the pressing issues at hand, but were also able to take with them a memorable experience that helped create a supportive and kind community of like-minded and inspirational youths.

“I met a lot of wonderful people and learnt new things that will help me become a better person.”
A Participant

Missed the event? No worries! Check out the recap slideshow below drawn and written by the talented Alejandro Gil (@ale_listens_and_draws), which you can also find on our Youtube and Instagram pages. We also hope to see you in our fifth (and sadly final) International Youth Lab happening on June 26^th–27^th. Follow us on our social media accounts to keep up with any new updates and future events!

”MIJARC Europe Paths” – an annual work plan co-funded by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe and the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union.

The year 2021 will mark the end of the 4-year (2018-2021) strategic cycle of MIJARC Europe, led around the three thematic focus points and the four operational objectives adopted by the General Assembly in 2017.

Therefore, the main challenge lies on capitalising on the outcomes and the achievements of the activities implemented over the past three years and on transforming those into tools that will help build the capacities of our member organisations and nourish the next four-year strategic cycle. Our network is strong when its members are strong and our national organisations grow stronger when their young members are empowered to participate actively in society, to advocate for their needs and interest and for those of their organisations and when they are able to improve their own lives.

In 2021, through its annual work plan, MIJARC Europe will focus on the fundamental role young people play in building our network and on supporting them and their organisations to continue to work towards achieving MIJARC Europe’s vision of being a key actor in the development of rural areas in Europe.

The aim of the work plan 2021

The aim is pursued through the following objectives:

increase the awareness of the involved young people on the rights that they should be able to enjoy
in their rural communities
increase the ability of young people and of their organisations to claim their rights and to stand up for
them when their rights are violated
motivate and train young people from rural areas in ten different countries to take a more active role
in the management of their organisation and of MIJARC Europe
increase the capacity of MIJARC Europe to transfer knowledge to its member organisations and to
support them in strengthening their own capacity

The work plan includes 1 local and 2 international activities.

The first phase ”Rural footprints” takes place at local level and consists in a 2-day workshop with a double aim: firstly, to help the member organisations to self-assess their compliance with the CoE’s standard for youth work and quality in non-formal education, and the level of their organisational development; secondly to perform a situational analysis focusing on the barriers experienced by young people and their organisations in accessing their rights at local level. The visits should take place at local level or online, between May-October 2021.

The second phase ”Youth leader path” is a seminar for experienced youth workers, who want to take their competences to the next level and become more engaged in the management of their organisation and of MIJARC Europe. The methodological planning is based on the findings of the local visits and will guide participants towards developing minimum 5 concrete project proposals for improving the access to rights of young people, using a rights-based approach. The seminar is hosted by MRJC in France, between 29 October and 3 November 2021.

The third phase ”Steps to youth worker” is an international training course for entry-level participants, which brings them on the path from participant to youth worker with the purpose of preparing the future generation of youth workers and MIJARC Europe’s European Coordinators. The output of this activity will be an online training programme to be used as an induction training for those who join the executive bodies of MIJARC Europe. The training course is hosted by FYCA in Armenia, in December 2021.

MIJARC Europe is planning to organise the international activities face to face, using a very strict COVID-19 testing or vaccination proof procedure. Keep an eye on the news section for updates.

See you soon!

When MIJARC Europe participants travel to our activities, we ask for an additional fee: the carbon offset fee. We now want to reinvest the carbon offset fees into a project that aims to prevent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are therefore launching a contest for our local and regional groups to win an award of 240 EUR to be used for their project. The aim is to foster young people to address the danger of greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, we want to support the work of MIJARC Europe youth groups.

Eligibility criteria

The applicants must be a youth led group
The applicants must be from a MIJARC Europe member organization (local or regional groups included)
The project to be awarded needs to be mainly take place within the calendar year of 2021
The prize money must not exceed 50% of the total project costs
In order for us to evaluate the project, a transparent presentation on the use of the money needs to be handed in to the MIJARC office by June 2021

Award criteria

We want to evaluate the different projects in a transparent process. We will therefore assess the:

Number of people involved
Approximate amount of CO2 that is reduced
Sustainability of the project (if it is a long-term project, what materials and which resources are/were used)
Possibility to raise sponsorship by other donors
Visibility of the project in local/regional media
Quality of presentation.

We therefore call on you to either present your projects on greenhouse gas reduction or start a project on this topic and establish a presentation on it.

How to apply

You should send us by e-mail: office@mijarc.eu in a .pdf or .doc format, with maximum 5 A4-pages, your group’s presentation explaining as detailed as possible how your initiative fulfils the eligibility and award criteria explained above. Please, when sending your e-mail write in the subject line “Carbon Offset Price Application”. An email confirming the reception of your application will be sent to you as soon as possible. If you do not receive it within one week after you sent your application, please contact us

Deadline for receiving applications: 2 of April 2021 at 12:00 pm (CET time).

Timeline

2 March 2021 – Call for proposals
2 April 2021 – Deadline for applications
May 2021 – Communication of the award decision

If you are selected for the award, you will receive 50% of the amount immediately. The other 50% will be sent when MIJARC Europe will receive a final report. The report needs to include a transparent cost calculation and how you intend to do the follow-up of the project.

In case you have questions or need any further information, please contact us: office@mijarc.eu

The third and final activity included in our work plan on 2020, the international summer camp ”Cultivating youth participation” was carried out in a hybrid format, in February 2021, with participants meeting in national groups or connecting exclusively online. In spite of almost one year of continuous uncertainty, endless online meetings and fluctuating periods of hope and fear, the winter camp was a vibrant activity that brought a concrete and significant finality to the activities planned for 2021.

The hybrid winter camp „Cultivating youth participation” was the third activity included in the our work plan „Rock, paper, participation” which is co-funded by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe, Renovabis and the European Commission.

The winter camp was organised between 20-23 February 2021, after going through a significant risk of not being organised at all. Luckily the new Board members of MIJARC Europe decided to take the risk of postponing the activity for 2021 and made efforts to encourage our member movements to organise residential national groups or select participants to connect online. Our movements from Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia and Romania organised in person events, while the participanta in Belgium, Germany and Malta connected online. A group of 61 registered participants, representing 7 European countries joined the activity. 43 of them attended the winter camp for its entire duration.

The general aim was to increase participants’ knowledge on how to design, plan and manage participatory projects aimed at increasing the level of participation of their peers in decision-making and in policy development about sustainable agriculture at local level. The main tool was the participatory project methodlogy (PPM) proposed in the “Have your say” Manual. The PPM provided the backbone for designing real, concrete projects addresing at least one of the issues related to youth involvement in agriculture that had previously been identified during the local visits.

Almost 90% of the participants declared in the formal evaluation forms their satisfaction and increased motivation to ecourage the participation of their peers in decision-making and in policy development about sustainable agriculture at the local level. More than 80% of the participants felt that the activity had achieved all three of its major objectives, namely:

81% of the participants shared that they have participated and felt included during the activities. One of the factors that made this possible was the local facilitators’ presence and contribution. Another factor was the work in small groups in a virtual environment and instant feedback given by the team of educators and facilitators.

DAY 1

The first day of the activity started with a session in which the participants had the opportunity to get to know each other and the educational team, as well. The second session of the first day aimed to introduce the work done by MIJARC Europe and its member organisations until the moment and give an overview of the previous activities on the local level. The third session was an introductory session for the topics of Youth participation and the Revised European Charter On The Participation Of Young People In Local And Regional Life. As there were participants with different experience and background on youth work and youth empowerment, the session also aimed to ensure that all of the participants are on the same page and have the same understanding of the key concepts of participation and youth work. The participants were introduced to a couple of definitions of youth participation given in the Charter. After discussing and creating the « working definition », the participants were divided into two small groups and introduced to the six-step-model of using the Charter and the RMSOS approach, also provided in the “Have your say!” manual of the CoE. The fourth session was dedicated to the Participatory Project Methodology. Besides the questions of the participants, additional value to the session came from the first-hand experience and examples shared by the local facilitators and the educational team.

DAY 2

The first session of the second day introduced the Participatory Project Methodology (PPM) framework in details. The session was build based on the information shared on the “Have your say!” manual and T-Kit 3: Project Management of the CoE. The second session was dedicated to sustainable agriculture and youth empowerment, with Janna Herzig, a young expert, presenting two projects: La Bolina (Spain) and Solawi Köln (Germany). By presenting the projects, the expert emphasised the vital role of youth participation in the management and the CSA model as a positive alternative, too. The following two sessions were dedicated to the work of the national groups on creating project proposals and implementing the aspects of the PPM framework.

DAY 3

The third day started with deeper elaborating on the topic of youth participation in the context of sustainable agriculture. The participants had the possibility to learn more about MIJARC Europe’s best practices, policies developed during the years and fruitful partnerships. Next, the participants used the Kent Mcdonald’s Stakeholder Map graphic method, modified according to the project’s specifics and the session. The session helped the teams get a clear idea of their strengths and weaknesses in implementing future participatory projects and their interactions with different stakeholders. The third and fourth sessions were dedicated to sharing expertise and creating project proposals in national group work with the support of an external expert from KLJB Germany. At the end of the third day was the International evening of MIJARC Europe. The virtual cultural event was facilitated in an interactive and fun way by the facilitators. The national groups had to present 10 unknown fun facts about their countries and play their favourite song. At the end of every presentation, there was a time for questions and answers, so the participants could understand more about each country’s culture and traditions.

”It was a nice project! The hybrid method is really challenging and it’s not easy organizing such activity so all of your efforts are very appreciated 🙂 You did a really nice job after all and I’m looking forward to the next projects!!! Love you guys”
participant to the Winter Camp

DAY 4

The winter camp’s last day started with presenting the national groups’ projects proposals. Each group presented their proposals and received feedback with some ideas for implementation. Most of the groups had successfully applied the PPM framework and addressed the issues related to sustainable agriculture that could be beneficial for their societies. The following session was dedicated to a presentation on applying for grant opportunities and finance their project proposals. That session helped the participants increase their knowledge of the actual funding opportunities they can use to finance their project ideas, better understand fundraising at the European level, and be more confident in finding the resources for implementing their projects. The Winter camp ended with an evaluation and planning future steps session. The planning activity aimed to encourage the participants to foresee some possible deadlines, make a calendar with activities, and be more engaged with the two main topics of the Winter camp – Participatory Project Management and Sustainable agriculture.

The main outputs of the hybrid seminar are seven project proposals tackling the problems identified during the local visits and discussed during the Winter camp, including the examples of the experts. All the participants created action plans that are expected to be shared with their boards or executive bodies of the organisations. The resource pack with all the training materials, CoE manuals and detailed information for the EYF, the presentations and the materials as websites of the organisations and their projects, useful links to different institutions and contacts shared by the experts were sent to the participants after the activity. The participants also shared information and media content about the activity on different social platforms.

Main learning outcomes:

100% of the participants indicated they knew the participatory project methodology to a good or to a great extent
more than 90% felt they knew how to design a youth participatory project increased knowledge on sustainable agriculture and funding available for youth projects

I think everything was useful for all of us. I am sure that such programs will continue, at least locally. I was most interested in the involvement of young people in youth work, but the other topics were also very useful. Thanks for everything.
participant to the winter camp

Outputs:

Miro Board

Our second international activity of the year was carried out in a hybrid format with participants meeting in national groups or connecting exclusively online to create a diverse, joyful and motivated group of young people who managed to learn from and inspire each other despite the global pandemic.

”The topic is really actual. We have so many things to do to find right solutions. There are really a lot of similar problems connected to agriculture all over the world.”
– participant to the seminar

The hybrid seminar and youth lab „Youth Participating by a hectare” was the second activity included in the our work plan „Rock, paper, participation” which is co-funded by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe, and the first international youth lab of the #OurFoodOurFuture project, co-funded by the European Commission and Renovabis.

The seminar and youth lab took place between 3-6 December 2020, after it had been postponed from July to September and then postponed again to the end of the year, when the restrictions imposed by the pandemic across Europe, allowed some of the participating counties to organise face to face meetings. In Armenia, Bulgaria and Georgia our local movements were able to meet in national groups for 4 days and connected with their peers from Belgium, Germany, France, Malta and Romania via Zoom. A group of 44 registered participants, representing 8 European countries joined the activity. 37 of them attended the seminar and youth lab for its entire duration.

The general aim was for participants and their organisations to leave the seminar with concrete measures and practices that they could use in order to increase the extent to which young people get involved in agricultural policies at local level. It also focused on a transformation at individual level, as participants were expected to enter the activity as mere consumers and leave as informed people who know the problems and know where to act to contribute to change them.

With the help of many online tools such as Miro, Mentimeter, Genial.ly, Canva and a lot of creativity, the team of facilitators managed to create an effective hybrid educational activity that increased the participants’ knowledge on sustainable agriculture, its processes and activities (35 out of 37 participants) and on the Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life (30 participants).

The most useful thing I learnt was how to use the Charter to engage youth in agricultural policies.
participant to the seminar

The activity started with a warm-up evening during which get-to-know-each-other games, exercises and songs brightened the atmosphere and gave a nice introduction on how the hybrid seminar would be led. The facilitators explained the ground rules, helped the participants who had technical difficulties, clarified their roles and tested all the tools that would be used throughout the seminar. The group was happy to welcome Margit Barna from the European Youth Foundation who played a fun quiz about the EYF and the Council of Europe.

On the second day the participants were introduced into the topic of youth participation, food production and agriculture and started their day with a visit to a virtual museum where the priorities identified in each country during the local visits, within the first phase of the work plan, were displayed. Starting from there the participants went on to mapping the realities in their countries guided by questions such as:

What are the main agricultural productions in your country? Give 3 examples.
Point out 3 biggest problems in agriculture caused by climate change in your country and explain how the governments try to solve those problems.
What is the role of women and young people in agriculture?

The day ended with an offline guided tour and national work groups in which the participants started writing down priorities in their countries and formulating them as objectives in the National Action Plan template prepared by the team of facilitators on Miro. Last but not least, the evening programme took the participants through an escape room where they had to crack a code by working as a team and performing multiple challenges: such as calming a crying baby, playing memory games, signing songs and impressing a mad clown.

The third day was dedicated to three practical workshops on: soil, animal walfare and water and land grabbing. Each workshop was led either by one of the trainers or a guest speaker and oferred specific information, examples and reflection exercises on each of three topics. The day ended with a participatory workshop during which the participants summarised each topic in a mind map. Then the facilitators conducted a virtual world cafe in order to allow participants to discuss connections among the three workshop topics and a collection of European best practices.

Water talks to me, I speak for water. I didn’t get support and I was called crazy, but I never gave up. What I can always do is to continue with my determination and do whater is possible, whatever you are good at.
Ranjan Panda

The fourth and final day relied on emotions, engagement and inspiration to continue the work and take the results of the hybrid seminar a step further. A spiritual impulse created the perfect start for an imaginative exercise that took participants into the future and invited them to reflect about the seminar. Next, the participants had to prepare a 30-second elevator-pitch to deliver to the Commissioner for Agriculture, whom the meet by chance while taking the elevator to the MIJARc Europe office. Want to see or hear what our participants had to say? Here are their recordings: elevator pitches.

The main outputs of the hybrid seminar are the eight national action plans, focusing on increasing youth participation in agricultural policies and tackling the most stringent needs related to agriculture that the participants identified in their countries. The action plans are the basis for the development of the project proposal during the next international activity – the winter camp “Cultivating youth participation’.

Main learning outcomes:

increased knowledge on the Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People at local and regional level
increased awareness on the situation of women in agriculture
almost 90% of the participants declared that they knew more about sustainable agriculture, food supply chains and about agriculture in the other participant countries as a consequence of having attended the seminar

“I want to discover what offline MIJARC is! I want to travel outside my country to meet you! Online MIJARC seminar was the best you could have done considering the circumstances, big up for the organisation team!
participant to the seminar