An Áit Eile and The Growery are co-hosting a workshop about land co-operatives next Friday (23rd March) and Saturday (24th March) in the Westside Resource Centre, Galway City. Open to all, Friday’s workshop (Part I: Theory) will explore land commoning in a historical context, contemporary legal regulation and land markets and new commons models in a European context. Saturday’s workshop (Part II: Practice) will explore vision and direction, organizational options, challenges and the next steps.
The workshop will be presented by Dr. Titus Bahner, Executive Director of Kulturland Genossenschaft and representative of EU network Access to land. Dr. Titus Bahner is a freelance consultant and project developer from Northern Germany with areas of specialisation in agriculture, nature conservation and regional development.
Kulturland was established in 2013 to secure farmland and entrust it to community-connected organic farmers against the backdrop of rising land concentration and speculation in Europe. By 2017: seven organic farms, 51 hectares of land and 1.4 million euros from membership shares (http://www.accesstoland.eu/
Titus says that people are investing in this cooperative for its ecological and social benefits. Its community-connected organic farming involves farming organically at EU standards, converting 10% of farmland to land for conservation and delivering projects that benefit the local community e.g. open days on farms, work with schools and projects geared towards endangered plant species or animal breeds. Kulturland has partnered with other organisations across Europe e.g. Germany, Belgium, Spain, Romania and the Czech Republic.
We look forward to welcoming Dr. Titus Bahner and attracting participants with a range of experience in activism, policy, and practice to support sustainable land management and care of our environmental heritage and future.
Dates:
Friday March 23rd, 2pm – 6pm
Saturday, March 24th, 10am – 5pm
The workshop will be free and open to the public but places are limited so registration is necessary. To book your place email [email protected]
In association with The Growery and with thanks for the support of Westside Resource Centre, Gluaiseacht and Galway 2020.