Dear Fleachta,
Something important is happening in European Networks working on Food, Agriculture and Environmental issues.
Various organizations are preparing a European Forum on Food Sovereignty – the Nyeleni Europe Forum.
The Nyeleni Europe process began almost a year ago, when groups which were already working together on Food Sovereignty issues in Europe began discussing the need to build a more coordinated food sovereignty movement in Europe. A "roadmap" for the Nyeleni Forum was developed, with the aim of ensuring a participatory process in the preparation of the Forum content.
The word "Nyeleni" comes from a previous forum held in Mali in 2007, which resulted in the "Nyeleni Declaration for Food Sovereignty" - more info is available here: www.nyelenieurope.net
The Forum will be limited in numbers to 550 participants – these should come in the form of "delegations" in order to ensure preparation and evaluation meetings before and after the Forum. These "delegations" are required to have a 50-50 gender balance, include 1/3 food producers, and 1/3 young people.
We are interested in forming an IRISH DELEGATION to participate in the Forum. We believe this is an important opportunity for organizations to see how they can better work together, both in Ireland and in Europe, on building a fairer and more sustainable food and agriculture system within a Food Sovereignty framework.
We would like to have 7 people in the Irish delegation. Of these 7, 1/3 must be farmers or brewers, 1/3 must be young people, and we need a 50:50 gender balance. These conditions exist to ensure a balanced group of people attend the Forum.
The Forum will follow 5 thematic axes, which will be discussed in detail – we will need to decide before we go which axis each person in the delegation wants to participate.
We will also need to contribute to the costs of lodging and accommodation at the Forum – this means paying 1000 euro for our delegation of 7 people (plus transport costs)
We will be meeting next June 29th at 14:00 in the Latin American Solidarity Centre offices (5 Merrion Row, Dublin 2). Please let us know if you are interested in coming along. Everyone is welcome!
More information is in the document attached.
Our contacts for the delegation in Ireland are:
John Brennan
Leitrim Organic Farming Cooperative 071-9640868
José Antonio Gutiérrez
Latin American Solidarity Centre 01-6760435
Our contact with the European organisers
Fergal Anderson
Via Campesina Europa 087-7806155
