Imagine millions of small farmers across Europe trying to compete alone — they have no bargaining power, no voice in policy, and no way to share costs. BOND figured out what stops farmers from teaming up (trust issues, legal barriers, bad past experiences) and built a practical menu of methods to fix that. They tested these across 12 countries, from Romania to Norway, creating capacity-building materials, gaming techniques to practice negotiating with policymakers, and case studies of what actually works. Think of it as a "how-to guide for building a farmers' union that actually functions."
Millions of European farmers, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, operate in isolation — lacking bargaining power, policy influence, and the ability to share costs or knowledge. Previous attempts at collective action often fail due to trust deficits, legal barriers, cultural resistance, and poor organizational design. Without effective networks, individual farmers remain vulnerable to market pressures and invisible in policy discussions.
BOND built a web portal containing capacity-building materials for collective action, gaming techniques for engaging policymakers, a repository of case studies and solutions, legal constraint analysis, and 6 region-specific reference documents for building farmer networks across Europe.
If you are an agricultural consultancy helping farmer groups organize or merge — BOND developed a tested menu of capacity-building methods, case studies from 12 countries, and self-analysis tools that help you diagnose why a group isn't working and fix it. Their web portal gives you ready-made training materials instead of building them from scratch.
If you are a cooperative struggling with low member engagement or trying to bridge with other organizations — BOND created practical guides for building trust within groups (bonding capital) and connecting different organizations (bridging capital). Their methods were tested across countries with lower organization levels, directly relevant to cooperatives in Central and Eastern Europe.
If you are a farming association that needs to engage policymakers but lacks the tools — BOND developed gaming techniques as an interface with policymakers, plus region-specific reference documents for building collective action. Their 17-partner consortium produced recommendations and best practices for regulation across 12 European countries.
BOND's outputs — the web portal, capacity-building materials, case studies, and reference documents — were developed as public resources through EU funding. Access to the web portal and methodology toolkit should be available at no cost. Implementation costs would depend on your context: hiring facilitators, organizing workshops, and running training sessions.
The project was specifically designed for scale — tested across 12 countries with 17 partner organizations. The methods address both small group cohesion (bonding) and connecting organizations into larger networks (bridging). However, these are facilitation methods, not software products, so scaling requires trained people.
As a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) funded by the EU, BOND's outputs are generally openly accessible. The web portal, training materials, and reference documents were designed for broad dissemination. There are no technology patents involved — these are organizational methods and best practices.
BOND delivered a web portal with capacity-building materials, gaming techniques for engaging policymakers, a repository of solutions and case studies, analysis of legal constraints across regions, and 6 region-specific reference documents for building collective action in European farming.
The project ran over 3 years (2017-2020) across 12 countries. The methods involve trust-building and organizational change, which are inherently gradual processes. Based on available project data, expect months of facilitation work before measurable improvements in group cohesion or policy influence.
Yes — BOND specifically analyzed legal constraints that impede collective action by farmers and produced best practice recommendations for regulation. Their reference documents cover the legal landscape across European regions, which is valuable for cooperatives navigating compliance in different countries.
The BOND consortium of 17 partners across 12 countries is geographically broad, covering Western, Central, and Eastern Europe — including countries with historically lower farmer organization levels like Romania, Moldova, Hungary, and Poland. However, the consortium is heavily skewed toward non-commercial entities: only 1 industry partner (6% ratio), zero SMEs, and 12 partners classified as "Other" (likely NGOs, associations, and farming networks). Coventry University (UK) coordinated. This composition is typical for a policy-focused Coordination and Support Action but means limited direct commercial validation of the outputs.
Coventry University, United Kingdom — use SciTransfer's coordinator lookup service for direct contact details
Want to apply BOND's farmer organization methods in your region or cooperative? SciTransfer can connect you with the project team and help adapt the toolkit to your context.
