This is a CTP of initiative: Red de Semillas (Spain)
This CTP describes the process how a working group inside a rural development platform formalized and set up their own association, named Red de Semillas. From 2002 to 2004 the predecessor of the current Red de Semillas acted as a working group inside an extended platform calleda Rural (with the same name, Red de Semillas “Resembrando e Intercambiando”). The platform is focusing on sustainable rural development issues: "inside the platform there are a union, organizations related to Christian movements, left rural movements, environmental movements and NGO-s which worked for food sovereignty." In the late nineties, a few people worked inside the group of the Red de Semillas’ association predecessor. As the time passed more people joined the working group. Simultaneously they wanted to have more autonomy as a group. "We were a working group inside a big association, so we were dependent." Therefore the idea of creating an independent association rose. In 2005 the working group seceded from the platform and set up an individual association.
The co-creator of this CTP was Plataforma Rural. In the beginning, this platform gave space, time and opportunity for that small group of people to deal with seed and biodiversity issues. "It was a natural process that we worked inside a big association as a working group because in the beginning, there were not enough people who were interested in these issues." In the end, there were 20-25 people in the working group: "they were working in different regions of the country, the "territorial representation" was big enough so we started to think about organizing ourselves regionally." In conclusion the cooperation with other actors of the platform was good, but Red de Semillas wanted to focus on their own development and their field.
These following events were crucial to the CTP to happen: From 2002 to 2004: They worked inside Plataforma Rural as a group dealing seed issues inside the platform. 2005: They set up their legal association.
In the beginning of the process some people thought that the secession was not a good idea: "in the moment of taking the decition there was tension but nobody got upset.... There were people from the working group and outside of the group who did not share our decision, our step." But in the end everybody respected the process. The interviewee felt that their process was not different from the evolution of other associations: "when you work at an association, you are in a group and you always try to reach consensus. But we felt that we needed to secede... In the end, even those people who said that we should have stayed, they are close to Red de Semillas."
"We felt that this is a CTP at that time when it happened. We started focusing on how to structure ourselves, how to cooperate with other organizations, how to create alliances etc." Setting up the individual legal association was not planned from the very beginning; it was the result of the development. "It was a natural process like when children grow up and live with their parents, then they would like to move to their own house, and start their own family."
The CTP presented important lessons for them, also it gave them opportunity to learn how to organize themselves, how to operate as an association. "Processes can be difficult and long; you have to work hard. […] You must be very clear and honest all the time. We felt the responsibility that we had our own association and we had to take care of each and every issue, including the finances. The organization only operates if we work hard so if we want the organisation to be active, we have to be active."
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