ARCHE NOAH GESELLSCHAFT FUR DIE ERHALTUNG DER KULTURPFLANZENVIELFALT UND IHRE ENTWICKLUNG VEREIN

Their core work

Arche Noah ("Noah's Ark") is an Austrian NGO and one of Europe's most prominent civil-society organizations dedicated to preserving agricultural plant biodiversity. They maintain a living seed bank and collection of traditional, heritage, and threatened crop varieties — operating as a grassroots counterpart to formal gene banks — and distribute seeds to farmers, gardeners, and researchers. Their work connects conservation science with practical food production: they run variety trials, build farmer networks, and advocate for the right to save and exchange seeds. In H2020, they contributed as a civil-society and practitioner partner, bringing real-world agrobiodiversity knowledge and access to farming communities that academic partners typically cannot reach.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

With only two projects and no keyword-level data available, a precise shift in technical focus cannot be established. What can be read from the project titles is a progression from locally-framed food system diversity (DIVERSIFOOD, 2015) toward a broader European-scale framework for formal in situ conservation and institutional partnerships (Farmers Pride, 2017). This suggests a trajectory from "diversity as a food quality driver" toward "diversity as a conserved genetic heritage requiring dedicated policy tools and networks." Given the organisation's founding mission, this is likely a deepening and formalisation of long-standing work rather than a pivot.

Arche Noah appears to be moving from grassroots food system advocacy toward becoming a recognised partner in formal European plant genetic resource conservation policy and infrastructure — a direction that makes them increasingly relevant for Horizon Europe biodiversity and farm-to-fork calls.

How they like to work

Arche Noah has never coordinated an H2020 project, always joining as a specialist partner or third party — consistent with a civil-society organisation that contributes unique practitioner knowledge rather than scientific leadership. They appear in large, multi-country consortia (37 partners across 18 countries across just two projects), suggesting they are sought out as a credible civil-society voice and seed-network connector rather than as a technical research lead. Working with them likely means access to their farmer and gardener community, their seed collection, and their reputation as a trusted non-governmental actor in agrobiodiversity policy debates.

Across two projects Arche Noah has worked alongside 37 distinct partners spanning 18 countries, a broad European reach for an organisation of their size and budget. Their network is likely strongest in the German-speaking world and among civil-society seed-saving organisations, but their project participation demonstrates established links to academic and institutional partners across the EU.

What sets them apart

Arche Noah occupies a rare niche: they are a practitioner-led, civil-society seed bank rather than an academic or governmental institution, which makes them credible with farming communities in ways that universities and research institutes are not. They hold one of Europe's largest living collections of traditional and heritage crop varieties — a tangible resource, not just expertise — that consortium partners can access for trials, dissemination, and validation. For any project touching food sovereignty, agrobiodiversity policy, participatory plant breeding, or farmer engagement, they provide legitimacy and community reach that no other Austrian partner type can replicate.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Farmers Pride
  Their only funded participant role (EUR 57,050), this project directly matches Arche Noah's core mission — in situ conservation of European plant genetic resources — and placed them inside a large pan-European consortium developing practical tools for on-farm seed conservation.
• DIVERSIFOOD
  Their earliest H2020 involvement, as a third party in a project linking crop diversity to local food quality systems — an entry point that established their profile as a civil-society bridge between seed conservation and market-oriented food networks.