SOLIDARISCHE LANDWIRTSCHAFT EV

Their core work

Solidarische Landwirtschaft eV is the German network for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), promoting direct partnerships between farmers and consumers where members share the costs and harvest of a farm. In H2020 projects, they contribute practical knowledge on short food supply chains, seed diversity management, and territorial food systems. Their role is typically as a civil society voice and practitioner network, bringing real-world experience from grassroots food initiatives into research consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their earliest involvement (DYNAVERSITY, 2017) focused on seed diversity and farmer-managed genetic resources. By 2018-2020, their focus shifted toward food supply chain innovation (SMARTCHAIN) and then broader territorial food system governance (COACH). The trajectory shows a move from biodiversity conservation toward systemic food chain transformation and regional food sovereignty.

They are moving from niche biodiversity topics toward broader food system redesign, suggesting future interest in regional food governance and collaborative agri-food chain projects.

How they like to work

They operate primarily as a third-party contributor or minor participant rather than a project leader — zero coordinator roles and minimal direct EC funding. Despite their small formal role, they connect into large consortia (76 unique partners across 16 countries), indicating they are valued for practitioner legitimacy and grassroots network access rather than research capacity. Working with them means gaining access to the German CSA community and credible civil society engagement for dissemination and multi-actor approaches.

Connected to 76 unique partners across 16 countries through their three projects, giving them a surprisingly broad European network for a small NGO. Their connections are concentrated in the agri-food research and civil society space.

What sets them apart

As the national CSA network for Germany, they offer something most research partners cannot: direct access to hundreds of community-supported farms and their consumer communities. For any project requiring multi-actor engagement, farmer participation, or real-world validation of alternative food models, they provide authentic grassroots credibility. They are not a research organization — they are the practitioners that research projects need to stay grounded.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SMARTCHAIN
  Their only project as a direct participant with EC funding, focused on short food supply chain innovation — the closest to their core CSA mission.
• COACH
  Most recent project (2020-2023), representing their evolution toward territorial food systems and collaborative agri-food chain governance.
• DYNAVERSITY
  Earliest H2020 involvement, connecting their CSA network to the broader European seed diversity conservation movement.