The International Committee of URGENCI is thrilled to announce the 9th URGENCI International Symposium, taking place from December 11-13, 2025, at the Bergerie de Villarceaux near Paris, France! This gathering will be a vibrant platform for sharing knowledge, fostering connections, and igniting action around the crucial theme: “Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Facing Challenges and Building Solidarity.”
URGENCI is a network of many national and regional networks worldwide, and represents around 3 million members. As a social movement, it is part of the global food sovereignty movement and the solidarity economy movement. The Symposium will demonstrate the impact of alternative food systems at both local and global levels.
Why are we meeting?
There are many burning issues within our communities. How can we build ever-greater mobilization to realize the right to food and nutrition? In the aftermath of the pandemic, where does the power of our partnerships lie in providing a resilient basis for disarticulated societies? What is the role of peasant agroecology in building local solidarity-based partnerships between producers and conscious eaters? How to ensure that our partnerships are contributing to building stronger social links? How can we ensure our efforts are collectivised and reflected in policy for genuinely sustainable food systems and nutrition for all?
During the 9th International Symposium of Local and Solidarity-based Partnerships for Agroecology, we will take a breath and look together at our success stories, our common vision, our experiences, lessons learnt and at our joint challenges. Farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk, conscious eaters, network representatives and supporters, advocates – all are going to converge for this meeting. Workshops, exchanges of practices: the actors coming from all corners of the world will have the opportunity to build a new chapter for the movement.
One of the key principles of CSA is building trust-based direct relationships between producers and eaters. CSA also enables millions of people around the world to access fresh, healthy and nutrient-rich food in an inclusive way, while ensuring decent livelihoods for thousands of farmers. It is also a powerful means of ensuring genuine urban-rural linkages.
Join us, and you will get a chance to:
- Exchange with seasoned practitioners.
- Hear from other CSA networks.
- Discover the strength of collective mobilization and social movements.
- Reflect on how to better articulate the support for agroecological farmers and social, economic and environmental justice.
- Harvest new ideas on how to develop your partnerships.
- Network around different roles: farmer-to-farmer, fisher-to-fisher, or cross sector.
- Meet new initiatives, with a focus on Women-Led Initiatives and LGBTQ+ intitiatives, highlighting the essential role of women and LGBTQ+ People in CSA and food sovereignty.
- Make the connection between CSA farming and how we can succeed in adapting to and mitigating climate change.
Why will this meeting be hosted in France?
In 2024, In France, as well as in many other countries in Europe, we’ve seen a rise in farmers’ protests. These movements, while somewhat diverse in their grievances, merge around some key demands, underscoring the urgent need for a meaningful food system transition.
Decent prices for small-scale farmers that allow them to make a living and environmental standards are not mutually exclusive, and we know that it is possible to produce food in an environmentally respectful manner through agroecology.
URGENCI is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its first international symposium: its initial purpose is still valid: we can and must reclaim democratic control of our food chains, emancipate ourselves as eaters and producers, and dismantle corporate power.
In this political and social context, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiatives and Local and Solidarity-based Partnerships (LSPA) emphasize sustainable territorial food systems, community solidarity, gender equality, economic resilience, and environmental sustainability.
How can we register?
Please fill in the form before the 25th of May 2025.
Registration form:
- English: https://questionnaires.urgenci.net/index.php/192362?lang=en
- Español: https://questionnaires.urgenci.net/index.php/192362?lang=es
- Français: https://questionnaires.urgenci.net/index.php/192362?lang=fr
We’re building a space that reflects the diversity of our movement—producers, eaters, members, coordinators, all voices welcome.
Due to limited capacity, this form is a pre-registration that we will confirm before the end of June. If there are more applications than available places, the criteria will be to seek a balance between producers and non-producers, regional balance, gender, and other diversities so that our meeting is as representative as possible of our network. There might therefore be a delegation selection process at national level if required.
We can’t wait to see you there!
