Toward RURAL societies - Carpathian villages' Lifestyle, The solution for an sustainable agriculture!

EarthOS Autarky Lab
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I have the pleasure to share with you a social phenomenon identified by many experts and promoted by  Prince Charles, the current Prince of Wales. This is the specific way of living in Villages in the Carpathian Mountains’ area, specifically in Romania’s’ region: Transylvania.

 

The ideas I will share with the community stems from the film “Wild Carpathia - Filming the Last Untouched European Wilderness” http://vimeo.com/31991188, sponsored by The European Nature Trust (TENT) created by ecological facilitator Paul Lister, to protect and restore threatened wilderness, wild habitats, and the wildlife living within them. Their objective is to have a large National Park created in this location, which would preserve its beauty and wildlife, redefine its importance as one of the great surviving wonders of the natural world heritage

 

There are many important issues being reflected in this initiative, but I would like to expose the one related with this Campaign: Sustainable “Food Getting” In Ex-Communist countries from Eastern Europe.

It`s obvious that Technological Innovation, R&D activities in all fields, “Tertiary Educated” population and a Developed Banking system will increase Industrial Production and so THE ECONOMICAL GORWTH. But as we can easily observe, this option crashes IN TERMS OF SUSTAINABILITY.

BUT,

 There is another alternative for the case of a country such as Romania, which accounts with, still, a great Natural Landscape, with agricultural culture and tradition: ECO-AGRICULTURE which can be complemented by the ECO-TURISM.

The specific way of COHABITATING and INTEGRATING the environment makes possible and sustainable the Small Scale Ecological Agriculture, at the same time respecting WILD FAUNA and FLORA. Actually in Transylvania there are coexisting rural settlements with more than 50% of the carnivore animals in Europe, and many unique bird and flower species.

There are many places in which Agriculture is realized with NATURAL FERTILIZER (manure, that helps preserving flower species, butterflies…) and where chattels graze freely during the day.

 

The GOOD NEWS

Is that many young Romanians are GOING FORWARD, BY RETURNING to their parental villages and running AGRO-TURISTIC activities, in many cases WITH THE SUPPORT OF EU’s FOUNDS. This is making possible to insure a living, to reduce unemployment, to increase salaries in URBAN environment (by reducing available workforce), increasing the mobility between regions (because of tourism, translations from one region seeking better jobs).

These is a great opportunity because is a matter of making people realize that what they were doing since generation IS TODAY APPRETIATED AND HAS FANCY NAME LIKE “BIO”, “ECO”, etc. and that can provide a good living again and not only subsistence.

 

What policies?

- EU policies for subsidizing this kind of agriculture and Agro-Tourism

- Marketing its products through all channels

- Campaigning FOR MITTIGATING HUMAN ACTIVITIES’ ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

- By REWARDING economically and socially those realizing these activities in order to create a PRIDE of living in Villages, working in eco-farms,

  “agro-eco-tourism”, and a PRIDE of protecting the Environment.

 

I’ll stop here for now. I hope that you’ll find interesting this vision.

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Great and difficult vision

Hello Alexandru, good to meet you!

Great vision, but difficult. Where I come from (Italy) rural communities are struggling: it is easy to fall below a certain threshold of population and just go extinct, because of a vicious cycle: there are not enough people to support a bookshop, so the bookshop closes. People who like bookshops leave. Now there are not enough people to support a post office, so that closes down too. Some people get tired of having to drive to the next town in order to use a post officem and leave. Now there are not enough people to support a school…

But you say that in Romania young people are going back to the villages. This is quite amazing! Do you have any examples, any story you could share?

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Ciao Alberto!

Hi Alberto, 
 
I'll try to briefly explain one example of an YOUNG who benefits from turning towards VILLAGE! 
I have a close friend who succeeded accessing an EU's found with which he set up a CATTLE FARM for milk production, and what its super interesting is the fact that this young entrepreneur (highly educated in Business Management) went one step forward in order to WIN the battle with supermarkets by transporting the milk (pasteurized) directly to clients' house (the majority from the closest city) for a more then reasonable price (To mention that that he doesn’t have STOCKAGE COSTS given that he sells all production). The most important fact in this story WAS NOT ONLY PRODUCING THE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT but also CREATING A CLIENTS PORTOFOLIO, clients more than satisfied with the quality of the product and with the idea of helping to region's economic development. 
 
This kind of initiatives would have the effect of attracting people back to villages, will create job opportunities in such disadvantaged regions. 
 
The BIG problem in countries as Romania is the GIGANTIC bureaucracy and so, obstacles that somebody willing to start such project will find on his way. Also, there is a lot of ignorance concerning EU's mechanism and application forms’ filling. “Specialist” benefit from this being excessively expensive to hire for elaborating the project, whose success is not guaranteed. I know many cases of competent farmers that got scared by local officials and “Specialists”. It`s such a shame! They have HUGE POTENTIAL.  
 
Now I will retake the Marketing issue. NOWADAYS, Market doesn't award the one producing; it awards the one SALING, the one PACKING!!! So, farmers need to get together in COOPERATIVES, Associations (as Spanish farmers do so EXTRORDINARY WELL) and invest in Packaging, Transporting, and Selling products with more ADDED VALUE. Also Agro-Tourism has to be supported BUT STARTING WITH US, young part of the population, because it seems that is an leisure activity dedicated to retired!!! There are even ways of transferring know-how from regions as TOSCANA to other European regions through a process of BENCHMARKING. WE HAVE AN ENORNMOUS AMOUNT OF YOUNG GRADUATED on MANAGEMENT, ECONOMICS, TURISM, MARKETING, COMUNICATION which should play a role in this process. 
 
I look forward to discuss with you other interesting issues and information I have regarding Agriculture and its future in Europe. 
 
See you on Thursday :)