BOND · Bringing Organisations and Network Development to higher levels in the farming sector in Europe

BOND acknowledges the fundamental role farmers and land managers play in the environmental and economic sustainability of the farming sector in Europe, as well as the importance of the way they organise, on Europe’s foods and landscapes. BOND contributes to unleash, strengthen, and organise, the great potential for collective action and networking of individuals, groups and entities of farmers and land managers, focusing on countries with lower organisation levels, with a view to creating strong, dynamic and effective organizations that have a voice and a place in policy design. More specifically, BOND investigates and addresses the constraints and disincentives, and reaches a higher level of participation of farmers as follows: (i) Draw up solutions and build bonding capital within groups, ensuring cohesiveness and trust among people; (ii) Enable organizations to come closer, building bridging capital to form larger networks, help overcome attitudes and constraints that impede collective action; (iii) Build linking capital, developing ties with entities with different interests and powers, including government, donors, academia, private sector, to reach a stronger position in decision-making, and (iv) Engage multi actors and policy makers throughout these processes. BOND’s approach relies on 3 pillars: SEE-learning from success (mobilisation, study tours), LEARN-overcoming constraints (self-analysis, capacity building), TELL-affirming a position in the policy landscape (gaming interface, best practice in regulation, lab experiment), and on involving the youth, women and men (designing a road map for the future), with training sessions and meeting events at every step of the project (interregional forum, national workshops, regional policy roundtables, youth forum). BOND’s legacy will be a menu a la carte of practical processes, user-friendly, with methods and tools to guide end-users when they decide to engage and benefit from the synergies of working with others.