This is a CTP of initiative: Red de Semillas (Spain)
The CTP consists of the momentum of changing in the coordination of the organization, which can be dated to 2013. Previously the association was coordinated by one and after two people only. After the change, when possible, one representative of each local seed network got involved to the coordination. They took over more responsibility so engagement of the local seed networks to the national level has been established. This change was a very a process, took some years. ‘We started to talk about that we need to become a federation, we need to involve more people in the coordination of the organisation.’ For many years only two people were involved to the daily work of the national level with numerous responsibilities. The more people joined the national coordination. ‘From 2 to 5: three new colleagues were working with us for 2 years, after that it was easier to change to 10 people, and motivate the rest of them to join.’ Currently 10 people are involved in the coordination of the organisation. However not all the people are working on the same concrete issues, but they all follow the current issues and inform the local networks. They are the link between the national level and their local level. According to the interviewee the change of coordination structure had positive impact on the engagement of the local seed networks to the national network.
Circumstances and stakeholders that made the CTP happen are multiple. The most significant driving force of this CTP was the way how the leaders of the RdS wanted to operate the organization: "for us that was very important to decentralize the structure, because the representatives of the local seed networks - who can involve in the work of the coordination group - are the link between the national level and their local level. These people can tell the others at the local level what is happening at the national level." In order to motivate local seed networks to participate in the national work, they organized annual meetings and events. Also RdS attemtps to get in touch with the important stakeholders (farmers, hobby gardeners, Farmers' Union, Ministry of Agriculture, other NGOs which connect to this topic etc.) of the seed issues by holding seminars, events, meetings. RdS would like to reflect on real social, agroecological problems that is why they draw attention to meet and communicate with the stakeholders.
In 2000 the first National Biodiversity Fair took place. It provided a great chance to introduce biodiversity not only to the experts but also to the broader public. In public mind biodiversity was only related to gene banks and researches that time. Previously there were no events which would have the presence of farmers. Red de Semillas organises a national biodiversity fair each year in different settlements of Spain. It is very important to arrange the event in different places of the country in order to promote the produce and grow of local varieties. As an impact of this touring activity more and more local seed networks have been established. Participation in these events is open and free of charge to everyone. Currently there are regions, where local seed networks organize their own events. Participants of these events are farmers, both professionals and hobby gardeners, consumers, technicians, reserarchers, politicians and civil society. Hobby gardeners also intend to plant local varieties due to the fairs. Besides the Biodiversity Fair, they also hold events which target experts, politicians, farmers and the local seed networks annually. In 2016 Red de Semillas and the farmers union COAG organised a National Seminar on public policies. Numerous people participated. A seminar for experts was held on public policies with the participation of the Farmers’ Union and the representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture. For the members of the seed network the seminar provided an excellent opportunity to introduce and explain the participants the threats and challenges of the dynamic use of local varieties. All together 60 experts from the government and civil society exchanged their point of view. This seminar was organized for the second time, the first one was held in 2014, which was also successful. For these network the lobby work is crucial, therefore such event could provide a forum to show the importance of the sustainable use of plant genetic resources in the hands of consumers and producers. Politicians can note the cooperation of the local networks. Every year an internal annual meeting is organized in Madrid. In 2016 it has been organized for the eleventh time. Last year, vivid discussions took place in different working groups about diverse topics, for instance about the strategy of the organization for 2016. It was obviously outlined, that issues on national and local levels cannot be separated from each other. For example several, regional working groups are working on a protocol to manage community seed banks at the local level, but on an annual meeting they can bring together these experts and they can brainstorm together. Elaboration of common protocols would be desirable and useful. In these meetings other national issues are discussed as legislative changes, political strategy and building alliances. Every annual meeting is very well-organized, and every detail of the programme is planned precisely. "We prepared a lot on the methodology of the work and the points that we will talk about. The more you work on that previously, the best gathering you have."
Inside the organization there was no tension related to this CTP. Widening the national coordination group was a natural process of the organization as they thought that they had to increase the participation of the regional level in the national level in order to work in an efficient way, in order to connect strongly the two levels.
The change of the coordination was the part of a conscious, anticipated process. The change of the structure of the coordination was necessary in order to get more people involved and to manage the organization in a decentralized way which gave them an opportunity to offer solutions to the real problems of the society. All of the related events contributed the CTP to happen.
The CTP presented important lessons for the organisation. "Inside the organization you need to have more people involved in the process otherwise in the end it is not a civil society association, it becomes your advisor team but not an association... This decentralized form has its weaknesses and strengthens." On a decentralized level it is more difficult to make decisions, as some people have less information at hand when they make the decisions. To get informed about daily issues on regional and national level is a continuous learning process. On the other hand more people can have a louder voice to stand up for what they believe in and face wrong policies and legislations. More people mean more varieties to be used, produced and consumed.
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