INFO KIT
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR COURSE PARTICIPANTS:
Degrowth & Agriculture
– A GROWL Course in Walewice/Bogoria, PL
PRACTICAL INFO KIT
Dear Participants, Learners and Trainers alike,
We are delighted to welcome you to the GROWL course “Degrowth & Agriculture – Resilient food production and distribution” which will take place in Walewice and Bogoria Górna in rural Poland.
We have chosen the more challenging option of meeting in a rural environment to be closer to the farmers and the issues they are facing. Also the time of the course is more challenging as March is known in Poland for very unstable weather (hence the old Polish proverb: “In March as in a melting pot”) but this is the time when farmers still have some time to meet and they are planning and preparing for the season.
The focus of the course will be:
a degrowth critique of industrial agriculture and the regional and international policies connected to it
a critical analysis of the functioning and results of possible alternatives such as local and organic production, cooperatives, CSAs
Community Supported Agriculture – pros and cons, establishing a new project
reflection upon the methodology of sharing knowledge and engaging people
We are looking very much forward to meeting you here in person and having a wonderful and inspiring time,
Wojtek, Agata and the rest of our team
In this document you will find the following information:
Practical Contacts
What to bring with you
Contact Meeting in Warsaw – Wed / 18.03. / 15:00
How to get to WALEWICE by yourself?
The programme schedule
Programme in detail
The People behind
Accomodation & Food
The Place, background, rules
Practical Contacts
Wojtek Mejor – wojtekmejor@gmail.com / +48 606 673 047
[coordinator]
Agata Hummel – agata@hummel.it.pl / +48 694 560 062
[coordinator and trainer]
Maggie – park.bogoria@gmail.com / +48 605 991 364
[trainer and local coordinator in Bogoria]
Pyzia Szeniawska – magdalena.szeniawska@gmail.com / +48 501 792 448
[volunteer]
What to bring with you
Please bring along warm and water resistant clothes/shoes especially for the Friday study visit in farms and evening fireplace. We will spend most of that day outside and weather in March in Poland can be quite unpredictable.
If it is not a problem for you please consider bringing a sleeping bag and mattress because we might not have enough beds for all the participants.
For further and updated info please check the GROWL platform before the beginning of the course: https://co-munity.net/growl/courses/degrowth-agriculture
For bibliography, theoretical texts and materials to read and prepare before the course please check the GROWL platform: https://co-munity.net/degrowth-agriculture-resilient-food-production-and-distribution-poland/materials
Please email the organisers if you have any special food-related or other requirements!
Contact Meeting in Warsaw – Wed / 18.03. / 15:00
Come to this meeting and you will get to know the Syrena Squat and Food Coop DOBRZE that supplies part of our food and we will guide you directly to Walewice, the location of the course.
Time: 15:00 CET
Place: Syrena Squat
Address: Wilcza 30, Warszawa
Around 17:15 we will leave towards the Central Railway Station to catch the 18:00 train to Łowicz – you can also meet us at the Central Station before that time
Location on map: http://goo.gl/maps/hFhDH
How to get to the Contact Meeting from the CENTRUM METRO Station (not the railway station):
How to get to WALEWICE by yourself?
If you miss the Contact Meeting in Warsaw you can also meet us at the Central Railway Station before 18:00 on 18.03. or follow the instructions below.
IMPORTANT – there’s no public transport all the way to Walewice, so to pick you up from Łowicz we need to know beforehand when exactly you are arriving, make sure to keep us informed!
Recommended option is to come to the Contact Meeting.
The address:
Walewice 13, 99-423 Poland
Location on the map:
From Frederic Chopin Airport (WAW):
Take a bus/train/taxi to the Warsaw Central Railway Station
(WARSZAWA CENTRALNA)Take a train to ŁOWICZ GŁÓWNY – there are direct trains every hour or so, the trip should take a bit less than an hour
We will pick you up from the ŁOWICZ GŁÓWNY station – wait inside by the ticket counters
IMPORTANT – to pick you up we need to know beforehand when exactly you are arriving, make sure to keep us informed!!
From Warsaw Central Railway Station (WARSZAWA CENTRALNA)
Take a train to ŁOWICZ GŁÓWNY – there are direct trains every hour or so, the trip should take a bit less than an hour
We will pick you up from the ŁOWICZ GŁÓWNY station – wait inside by the ticket counters
IMPORTANT – to pick you up we need to know beforehand when exactly you are arriving, make sure to keep us informed!!
Other Means
If you come by other means to Warsaw please contact us or get to the Central Railway Station (WARSZAWA CENTRALNA) and follow the instructions above
The programme schedule
Wed 18:03. | Thu 19.03. | Fri 20.03. | Sat 21.03. | Sun 22.03. | |
8:00 | breakfast | breakfast | breakfast | breakfast | |
9:00 | 1. Intro | 10:00 – 14:00 | Critical approach to food alternatives – workshop | Closing Round | |
13:00 | LUNCH | 14:00 – 15:30 LUNCH | LUNCH | Departure | |
14:30 | 15:00 Contact Meeting | 1. Intro to Degrowth 2. Food Policies | 1. About CS Bogoria 2. Reflecting on morning farm visits | TTT: reflections, exercise, future trainers presentations | |
19:00 | 18:00 Departure from Central Station | DINNER | DINNER | DINNER | |
20:00 | DINNER | About GROWL | Equinox Celebration | ||
21:00 | Welcome | Film screening | Transport back |
Programme in detail
Wed 18:03. |
15:00 – Contact Meeting @ Syrena Squat (look above for details on how to get there) We will get to know about the squat Syrena and the Food Coop Dobrze which will supply the organic products for our Friday lunch and evening fireplace 18:00 – Departure from Central Railway Station 20:00 – Dinner at Walewice 21:00 – Welcome gathering, getting to know eachother and the place and integration activities, conducted by Czapka |
Thu 19.03. |
8:00 – Breakfast 9:00 – Introduction to the course, participants’ expectations and needs, formulating ground rules of the meeting, introducing the Train-The-Trainer module, conducted by Czapka 11:00 – The River of Changes: an exercise to see the intertwining of our own stories with degrowth and the GROWL project, conducted by Czapka 13:00 – Lunch 14:30 – Introduction to Degrowth, a presentation and workshop by François Schneider 17:00 – Food Policies, a presentation and workshop by Ladislav Jelinek 1. Modern agricultural economy through the lens of de-growth principles. 2. Land (food) policies on the edge of 21st century – what they aims at, what are the achievements, how much does it cost, actors. 3. Practical part (in teams): formulation and preparation of the policy measures for sustainable agriculture in de-growth economy. 19:00 – Dinner 20:00 – What is GROWL? – presentation by Gualter Baptista 21:00 – Film screening “Native America before European Colonisation” |
Fri 20.03. |
8:00 – Breakfast 10:00 – Study visits in 4 local farms by Maggie & Łukasz Nowacki of Fundacja Transformacja 14:00 – Lunch – will be prepared as a group effort under the guidance of Marek Golonko, member of Margines Social Cooperative with products from Dobrze Food Coop 15:30 – CSA Bogoria – introduction to the new project and to similar alternatives by Maggie & Łukasz Nowacki 17:30 – Summing up of the morning visits, reflections, discussion, by Maggie & Łukasz Nowacki 19:00 – Dinner at the fireplace under the guidance of Marek Golonko with products from Dobrze Food Coop |
Sat 21.03. |
8:00 – Breakfast 9:00 – Critical Approach to Food Alternatives – etnographic exercise and workshop by Agata Hummel and Czapka 13:00 – Lunch 14:30 – Train The Trainer – reflections, exercise, future trainers presentations, information about tools to maintain the network and create/exchange training materials (GROWL platform) conducted by Czapka 19:00 – Dinner 20:00 – Goodbye party / spring equinox celebration – if the weather allows we will try to introduce some elements of traditional (pagan) slavic spring celebrations. |
Sun 22.03. |
8:00 – Breakfast 9:00 – Closing Round / Goodbye, conducted by Czapka 13:00 – Transport to Warsaw |
The People behind
Agata Hummel
Is responsible for coordinating GROWL in Poland and will also lead a workshop on Saturday morning. She has been involved in GROWL since the early days. She’s teaching anthropology at the Poznań University in Poland.
Wojtek Mejor
Member of GROWL since the early days, resposible for coordinating in Poland. He’s involved in food activism, cooperativism and the promotion of degrowth and community supported agriculture.
Czapka
Trainer and activist. The main topics of her workshops are public participation, team building, communication skills and combating and preventing discrimination. Works on a daily basis in the Association of Antidiscriminatory Education where she follows educational policy of public institutions and schools in Poland. Czapka lives in a tiny straw-bale house in a small masovian vilage.
Maggie
Is coordinating the activities in Bogoria Górna and helping out with general logistics. Together with Łukasz Nowacki she will lead the activities on Friday and introduce us to their CSA project.
Łukasz Nowacki
Is an expert and practitioner in permaculture and organic agriculture. Together with Maggie he will lead the activities on Friday.
Marek Golonko
Activist and member of the Margines vegan catering cooperative. Will lead the group cooking on Friday.
Ladislav Jelinek
A researcher in the area of agricultural policies, renewable energy resources and sustainability. He was involved in several European research projects, currently he is working on the project in Siberian steppe (Kulunda) that aims at the mitigation of the land use degradation processes and developing the sustainable policy options. He was a member of the team that designed the rural and agricultural development program for 2014 – 2020 in the Czech Republic. He is a member of the International Society of the Ecological Economists and Czech Society of Agricultural Science.
François Schneider
A degrowth researcher and activist. Since 2001, he is active in the development of the degrowth concept and debate in France and Europe with publications, speeches, marches, organisation of events. Founding the research group Research and Degrowth in 2006, he initiated and organised the first and second scientific conference on degrowth for Sustainability and Equity in Paris in 2008 and Barcelona in 2010. He is involved in the project Can Decreix, a degrowth relay at the french-spanish border putting into practice ideas around degrowth where volunteers are welcome.
Gualter Baptista
An activist-researcher and project manager at Transition Town Witzenhausen, Förderverein Wachstumswende and Research & Degrowth. He is currently coordinating the EU education project “GROWL - Learning More, Growing Less” and organising the Fourth International Conference on Degrowth for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity. He holds a degree in Environmental Engineering and a doctoral degree in Environmental Sciences, specialised in Ecological Economics and Political Ecology. He has been engaged in civil society movements on environment, climate justice, food and economics since over 15 years. He teaches at the University of Kassel on the limits of growth and degrowth perspectives for agriculture and is a member of the Editorial board of the journal "Ecología Política".
Accomodation & Food
The hostel where we will stay used to be once a coach house. There are rooms of 2 and 3. Some are with twin beds. We will sort out on the spot what are the needs of individual participants. There will be almost 40 of us so we will have to squeeze a little bit in the available space. We hope this will be ok with you.
The food will be prepared by a local catering service. They use predominantly local products without preservatives or enhancers and have experience cooking vegan and vegetarian dishes. On Friday 20.03. we will eat a meal prepared in a group effort by the course participants themselves under the guidance of Marek from the Margines vegan catering coop. Most of the food served during the course will be vegan (with some vegetarian exeptions).
Please email the organisers separately if you have any special food-related requirements!
The Place, background, rules
We are staying at a former coach house of a 18th century palace complex in Walewice (http://www.walewice.pl/). There’s is also a stud farm on the premises and an administrative/restaurant building where we will dine. We will work in the excessively pompous interiors of the palace.
The choice of place is by necessity (there are not many places in Masovia ready to host 40 people, which are not hotels or fancy conference centres) but we can use it as an opportunity to reflect on its feudal past in the context of our agricultural theme.
For those interested in royal gossip: Napoleon notably had a love affair with Maria Walewska in this palace;) Here’s more information about her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Walewska
On Friday 20.03. we will spend the day visiting agricultural sites and getting to know a new eco-project run by our collaborator Fundacja Transformacja in Bogoria Górna where they plan to set up a CSA based on permacultural agriculture.
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