ASOCIATIA ECO RURALIS-IN SPRIJINULFERMIERIL OR ECOLOGICI SI TRADITIONALI

Their core work

Eco Ruralis is a Romanian grassroots association that advocates for smallholder, ecological, and traditional farmers. They work on strengthening farmer networks, promoting agroecological practices, and supporting new entrants into farming — particularly in rural Romania and across Central-Eastern Europe. Their practical focus is on building social capital among farming communities, improving access to land, and shaping agricultural policy through participatory methods like living labs. They bridge the gap between rural farming communities and EU-level policy discussions on sustainable agriculture.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their earlier H2020 work (2017-2019), Eco Ruralis focused on foundational social dynamics — building social capital, understanding collective action, and mapping cooperative networks across European farming communities. From 2020 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward applied agroecological transformation: multi-actor approaches, living labs, policy development tools, and education and training for sustainable food systems. The trajectory shows a move from studying how farmers organize to actively building the infrastructure and policy frameworks that support agroecological transition.

Eco Ruralis is positioning itself as a practitioner voice in the EU agroecology policy space, increasingly involved in participatory research infrastructure and farmer training frameworks.

How they like to work

Eco Ruralis operates exclusively as a partner or third party — never as a coordinator — which is typical for a civil society organization contributing grassroots knowledge and farmer community access to larger research consortia. With 65 unique partners across 20 countries from just 4 projects, they participate in large, pan-European consortia rather than small targeted teams. This means they are well-connected and experienced at contributing practitioner perspectives within complex multi-actor projects, but they are not the type of partner who will drive project management or technical work packages.

Despite only 4 projects, Eco Ruralis has built a remarkably wide network of 65 consortium partners spanning 20 countries, reflecting their participation in large-scale Coordination and Support Actions. Their reach is thoroughly pan-European with no apparent geographic concentration beyond their Romanian base.

What sets them apart

Eco Ruralis brings something rare to EU consortia: an authentic grassroots voice representing smallholder and traditional farmers in Central-Eastern Europe, a region often underrepresented in Western-led agri-food research. They provide direct access to farming communities and on-the-ground knowledge about land access barriers, rural depopulation, and agroecological adoption challenges that academic partners simply cannot replicate. For any consortium needing genuine farmer engagement — not just a token civil society partner — Eco Ruralis delivers credibility and practical community connections.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BOND
  Their largest funded project (EUR 190,500), focused on the foundational topic of farmer collective action and network development across Europe.
• AE4EU
  Positions them at the heart of the EU agroecology agenda with living labs, policy development, and multi-actor research infrastructure.
• RURALIZATION
  Large-scale project addressing the politically significant challenge of rural generational renewal and access to land for new farmers.