We regularly organize training on agroecology for local leaders. Our program comprises 9 thematic modules. Dive in and get to know them all.
The curriculum is based on the training program and methodology of the training organization Schola Campesina. The first 10-day training program was conducted by Andrea Ferrante, a long-time activist of La Via Campesina, an experienced trainer from Schola Campesina, a practicing farmer in Italy, and a consultant for agricultural policy processes at the United Nations (Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO).
- Training Methodology and Participant Introduction
- Food Sovereignty, Agroecology, and Global Agricultural and Food Management
- Climate Change, Agroecological Methods, and Farm Autonomy
- Regional Collaboration Networks: Agricultural and Environmental Organizations
- Rights to Common Resources: Water, Land, Seeds
- Cooperation Planning for Agroecology: Polish Agroecology Declaration
- Education and Knowledge Transfer in Agroecology: New Generation of Farmers
- Social Economy, Food Distribution Networks, and Local Markets
- Agroecology and Politics: Strategies and Mechanisms of Influence
Training Program | Training Method | Schola Campesina Curriculum
External experts, activists, and representatives from various fields participated in the training, including:
- Food producers’ organizations
- Other social movements or NGOs
- The academic and legislative community
Different program segments were facilitated by the participants themselves, based on their areas of expertise.
Coordination: Joanna Bojczewska joanna@agropermalab.org
TRAINERS
Andrea Ferrante, Schola Campesina – Head Trainer and Educator
Andrea is an agroecologist and independent consultant in the field of agricultural policy and agroecology, with over twenty years of experience in agricultural and food policy planning, rural development, both at the national, regional, and international levels. He collaborates with international organizations like La Via Campesina that work to support small-scale farming and food production. For 20 years, he has managed a family organic farm and is a member of the social cooperative Bio, which owns a farm in the Italian province of Viterbo. Andrea is the coordinator of Schola Campesina Aps, an international agroecology school located in the Biodistretto della Via Amerina e delle Forre (Civita Castellana, Viterbo, Italy).
See: Film from the Agroecology Forum in Mali in 2015, “Voices from the Social Movement” (7min) i (20min)
Agnieszka Wróblewska, Academy of Process-Oriented Psychology
Agnieszka is a psychologist, facilitator for the International Association of Process-Oriented Psychology, trainer, and supervisor. Alongside Tomasz Teodorczyk, she has developed an original training and consulting program for trainers based on methods from social psychology and process psychology. This program draws from their extensive business experience and work with NGOs in Poland and abroad.
Tomasz Teodorczyk, Academy of Process-Oriented Psychology
Tomasz is a certified psychotherapist and a teacher of process work at the Research Society for Process-Oriented Psychology in Zurich. He conducts individual psychotherapy, workshops, training, and supervision. Tomasz is a translator of A. Mindell’s books and the author of articles on process work. He has been involved in therapy and education through art and has collaborated with the Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw and the International Society for Education through Art. He is also an organizer of social projects in Poland and abroad.
Marcin Gerwin
Marcin is a specialist in sustainable development and deliberative democracy, designing and coordinating citizen panels. He is the author of books such as “Food and Democracy,” “Climate-Friendly Food,” and a guide to citizen panels. He also conducts self-care workshops for activists as part of the Z Natury Rzeczy initiative. Marcin holds a degree in political science.
Aleksandra Bilewicz
Aleksandra is a sociologist and an adjunct at the Institute of Rural Development and Agriculture of the Polish Academy of Sciences in the Department of Rural Cultural Anthropology. She earned her Ph.D. from the Institute of Sociology at the University of Warsaw, focusing on new Polish food cooperatives from the perspective of economic anthropology. Her current research interests primarily revolve around the social history of cooperatives and agricultural sociology, including the social consequences of de-agrarianization. Together with Dr. Bartłomiej Błesznowski, she edits the publication series “Kooperatyzm,” aimed at bringing forgotten ideas and traditions of Polish cooperatives to the forefront.
Marta Łukowska – Coordinator for Research Tool Design and Case Studies
Marta holds a Ph.D. in psychology and was a student at the Ecological Folk University in Grzybów. She is also an activist in the Nyeleni Polska Food Sovereignty Movement. She is on her way to becoming an ecopsychologist, beekeeper, and ecological farmer.
Bogdan Chara, farmer at EKORAB farm
Bogdan is a trained locksmith but by choice and passion, he is a farmer. Since 1980, he has independently managed a farm, which has been certified organic since 2004. The farm focuses on self-sufficiency and independence, and all activities are carried out with consideration for the well-being of the environment and nature.
Dr Hab. Zbigniew Karaczun, SGGW
Dr. Hab. Eng. Zbigniew M. Karaczun is a professor in the Department of Environmental Protection at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW). He conducts research in the areas of environmental management, sustainable development policy, Europeanization of Poland’s environmental policy, and the impact of industry on the environment, with a particular focus on agroecosystems. As a representative of the Polish Ecological Club (PKE), in 1994 he co-founded a network of environmental organizations operating in Central and Eastern Europe in the field of climate protection: Climate Action Network Central and Eastern Europe. From 1994 to 1999, he served as the director of this network, and then from 1999 to 2004, he was the chairman of the Advisory Board of CAN CEE.
Denise Dostatny, Domestic Seed Bank
Denise has been working at the National Center for Plant Genetic Resources of the Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute (KCRZG-IHAR-PIB) in Radzików since 2004. She is involved in various activities aimed at promoting the conservation of biological diversity in rural areas. She curates collections of wild species related to cultivated plants and is the curator of the KCRZG herbarium. Denise conducts lectures and training sessions for students, farmers, hobbyists, and agricultural advisory center staff, both at the Institute’s headquarters in Radzików and throughout the country. She has published dozens of scientific and popular science papers.
Edyta Jaroszewska-Nowak, Ecoland Western Pomerania, Solidarity NSZZRI
Edyta is a farmer and activist who runs a 10-hectare organic farm in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. She serves as the vice-chair of the West Pomeranian branch of the Solidarity of Individual Farmers and is a member of the Ekoland Association and Nyeleni Polska. For many years, she has been involved in advocating for agriculture against GMOs and promoting the protection of biodiversity and the rights of farmers to land and seeds.
Agnieszka Makowska, Żywa Ziemia Coalition, Nyeleni Polska
Agnieszka is an eco-gardener who supplies vegetables to cooperatives in Płock and Warsaw. She is a co-founder and member of the Nyeleni Polska Food Sovereignty Movement associated with the Ecological Folk University and serves as the coordinator of the Żywa Ziemia (Living Earth) Coalition. Before the farming season, she spent many years working in Central Asia, where she worked, among other things, to improve access to clean drinking water in rural areas.
Ewa Smuk-Stratenwerth, Ecological Folk University
Ewa has a background in biology and anthropology. She also completed postgraduate studies in philosophy under the guidance of Professor Michał Heller in the field of Religion and Science. She founded and runs the Ecological Folk University in Grzybów. She is a co-founder and director of the Ecological-Cultural Association ZIARNO. Along with her husband Peter, for over 20 years, she has been running an organic farm in Grzybów, Mazovia, which includes an organic bakery and cheesery. She is one of the initiators of the nationwide campaign “Giving Birth in a Humane Way.” She is a member of Ashoka – Innovators for the Public Good.
Peter Stratenwerth, farmer, Hruby cheesery and traditional bakery
Peter is an organic farmer and experienced educator. Since 1989, he has been running an organic farm in Grzybów, Mazovia. He also bakes bread in the HRUBY bakery and produces matured yellow cheese according to a recipe he learned in the Swiss Alps.
Marcin Wójcik
Marcin is a farmer, cattle raiser, president of the “Pastwisko” Cattle Raisers Association, and the owner of a company specializing in the sale of organic meat. His passion is agroforestry. He has a background in forestry, animal husbandry, and beekeeping. He is also a member of Nyeleni Poland.
Monika Onyszkiewicz, Ekorozwoj Foundation
Monika has been conducting workshops on sustainable development for adults in Poland and abroad since 2006. Since 2013, she has been involved in creating and conducting educational activities for a wide range of audiences at EkoCentrum Wrocław. From 2003 to 2016, she coordinated and contributed to Organic Fairs – a cyclical event held in the center of Wrocław, which aimed to combine the theory of sustainable living and responsible consumption with practical access to local, organic products. Since 2014, she has been actively working within the international network URGENCI with activists from all over Europe on developing cooperation between consumers and local producers through so-called CSA (community supported agriculture) groups.
Marcin Migała, organic farmer in Marianka CSA
Justyna Zwolińska, Żywa Ziemia Coalition
Justyna is a lawyer and legislator specializing in issues related to quality policy in agriculture. She is the author and originator of the law on regional and traditional products. She was a negotiator in the “Quality Policy” area in agriculture during Poland’s accession to the European Union. She represents Poland in the Working Group of the EU Council and the Managing Committee of the European Commission for regional and traditional products. She is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Food Sciences and Nutrition at Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) and a lecturer in postgraduate studies on “Food Law” at the University of Social Sciences. She is also a member of the “Lawyers for Animals” Association. Additionally, she is a radio and television journalist specializing in agriculture, ecology, and animal topics and serves as a spokesperson for the Good Food Good Farming European citizen initiative as part of the Living Earth Coalition.
Ramona Dominiciou, La Via Campesina
Ms. Ramona Ioana Duminicioiu is a peasant from Transylvania region in Romania and one of the founders (2009) and a member of the of Eco Ruralis – a national peasant association, member of La Via Campesina Europe. She is involved in Eastern European peasant articulation, processes and actions, in the Nyeleni Europe movement for Food Sovereignty. In 2016 she was elected as member in the Coordination Committee of the European Coordination Via Campesina. At international level, she is a member of the Civil Society Mechanism for the relations with the UN Committee on World Food Security (CSM-CFS) – representing food producers on behalf of La Via Campesina. Since 2016, she has been coordinating La Via Campesina Europe’s work on the implementation of the UN “Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and other people working in rural areas” in the European region.
Ewa Sufin-Jacquemart, Strefa Zieleni Foundation
Ewa is the president of the Strefa Zieleni (Green Zone) Foundation, a member of the board and coordinator of the “Green Center” of the Congress of Women, a columnist for the “Green News” magazine, and one of the leaders of the Living Earth Coalition for agroecology and alternative agricultural policies. She holds degrees in sociology from the University of Warsaw and the Sorbonne in Paris, as well as studies in France in the fields of Economics and Territory Management, and Strategic Environmental Forecasting, Environment, and Sustainable Development. Since 2012, she has been working and volunteering in Poland, where she builds ecological cooperation platforms and promotes ecological awareness among Polish citizens.
The Agro-Perma-Lab 2019 project is finansed by the LUSH Permaculture & Agroecology FUND.
Project partners: Schola Campesina, Ekologiczny Uniwersytet Ludowy, Permakultura.edu.pl