"It is time for our forces to come to the fore and build a new way of organizing our food systems."

The Forum will be developed by participating organizations, individuals and initiatives from all over Europe in an inclusive bottom up process. This process prioritizes the involvement of new groups and organizations from civil society, particularly in Eastern Europe.

European working groups consisting of different members coming from different backgrounds (farmers, environmental and consumer groups, local initiatives etc.) and from different European countries as well as Europe-wide Networks will develop and facilitate the process towards the Forum on Food Sovereignty. The working groups will work on content proposals, methodology and structure of the Forum as well as mobilization. The developed proposals will be fed back with other groups in several steps of consultations.

Working Groups

The initiators of the Forum have established a number of working groups - on Communications, Methodology, Finances and Logistics. Groups and organizations interested in attending the Forum can participate in these groups if they can offer time to help in the organization.

The mailing list which you can join above will be used to communicate with all the groups attending the forum, updating them on the latest developments.

Regional Meetings

As one of the key objectives of the Forum is to build and stregnthen a movement for Food Sovereignty in Europe, we encourage organizations and groups who want to attend the Forum to first get in contact with local actors for Food Sovereignty in your country or region. The discussions that can take place in the regional meetings should lead to the development of content for the Forum itself, and also help build stronger working links fr the future.

Ensuring Participation of relevant constituents

We want to ensure that all voices are heard in the Forum, so there will be a system which ensures participation of all the relevant actors (farmers, fisherfolk, local and urban organizations, environmental organizations and so on) The methodology group is working on a proposal which will be posted on this website.

Key features and guidelines for the Forum

Besides creating spaces for discussion and sharing of experiences around core issues of food and agriculture, several transversal axis across themes will be organized, such as a women's day on the first day of the forum or specific spaces for youth participation. In order to also connect with local farmers, on day of the Forum will be dedicated to this, e.g. by working with farmers.

The Forum itself will be organized with participatory methods and approaches, using various methodologies and facilitation systems for it's workshops. Practical as well as theoretical work will be undertaken on different levels using diverse levels of participation.

As food is the key topic of the meeting also the provision of food for the participants will be part of the whole concept. All food will be grown in the Region of Krems by local farmers who support the Forum and it will be prepared and cooked by young people and peasants together in people's-kitchens to feed the participants.

A local cinema will organize a film festival on Food Sovereignty during the Forum and the local institute for film studies in will be embedded in the documentary-making process.

A market will be held in the City of Krems which will bring together participants in the Forum and local initiatives and farmers in order to present the work they do and the products they produce.