NORDPLUS ADULT project 01.09.2018.-30.04.2020.
The seed savers from the Baltic States and Denmark have launched an international project
“Growing Seed Savers: Baltic-Nordic Seed Savers' Education Innovation”,
which aims to create a local seed network as a support system for heritage varieties and their growers. The project is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers program NORDPLUS.
This project aims to share the knowledge that the Danish Seed Savers have built up over several decades of experience, and strengthen growing Baltic interest in issues of agrobiodiversity, seed-saving practices, and seed legislation.
The project is coordinated by Latvian Permaculture Association. Other participants ae Danish Seed Savers Frøsamlerne, Gamtinės Žemdirbystės Institutas (Natural Agriculture Institute) from Lithuania and Estonian seed saver organisation NGO Maadjas. The four organizations are combining the best innovative methods used by each to develop interactive training courses. The first project meeting was kept 22-23.9.2018 in Vilnius, Lithuania. The second project meeting was kept 19-21.1.2019 in Kuusalu, Estonia. The third project meeting was kept 15-17.11.2019 in Ambeli, Latvia.
We wish to achieve:
FIND HEIRLOOM SEEDS
Generate and disseminate information about seeds as bearers of our biological and cultural heritage, and facilitate seed-saving among Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, and Danish adult organic farmers and gardeners;
IMPROVE LEGISLATION
Raise awareness about relationships between seed legislation and climate change, food security, and food sovereignty as part of democratic participatory citizenship, and explain variations in seed legislation among the four countries;
EDUCATE ABOUT SEEDS
Share knowledge among organizations from Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia in order to develop training methods and materials for formal, informal, and nonformal learning about seed-saving, collection, management, and use in local seed networks.
MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT
Project Idea
On-farm biodiversity and associated knowledge are being lost in Europe due to industrialization of agriculture, climate change, and restrictive seed legislation that can hinder seed exchange practices.
This knowledge and these seeds are crucial for building diversified local food systems resilient to large scale environmental and socio-economic change. Old varieties may adapt to changing climactic conditions, as well as recreate culinary memories. The best way to preserve this agrobiodiversity is through cultivation, circulation, and use. Baltic farmers and gardeners still cultivate old varieties for subsistence, but may not value them or pass their knowledge on to future generations.
This Project Will Connect..
Baltic farmers with Danish seed savers who have decades of experience in sharing practical information and skills about agrobiodiversity and seed-saving practices.
This Project Will Train..
trainers in the Baltic countries to disseminate this knowledge further, and involve farmers, gardeners, chefs, and consumers in the collection, management, and sustainable use of heritage seed varieties.
This Project Will Empower..
participating civic organizations to sustainably manage local seed libraries and engage in discussions about European seed legislation reform.
Nordic/Baltic added value
This project aims to share the knowledge that Danish Seed Savers have built up over several decades of experience, and strengthen growing Baltic interest in issues of agrobiodiversity, seed-saving practices, and seed legislation. The four organizations will combine the best innovative methods used by each to develop interactive training courses. Each organization will also invite researchers, gene bank managers, and other stakeholders from their own countries to share experiences across cultural contexts.