Our celebration of Small is Beautiful continues this April as we focus on the theme of Reallocating Land: From Market to Commons. We are pleased to introduce the participants for April’s installment of our 2023 Schumacher Conversations, which is bringing together change-makers actively shaping a ‘small is beautiful’ future today.
The April Conversation takes place virtually on Thursday the 20th at 2PM (EST). Registration is free.
“…the land itself and its resources, which are earth-given and of limited supply, should be held in trust by the regional community and their use allocated on a limited basis for present and future generations.”–
Robert Swann in Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered: 25 Years Later
In 1980, three years after the passing of E.F. Schumacher, his spiritual descendants gathered in the Southern Berkshires, laying plans to carry out his vision for people, land and community. It was clear then that alternative models were needed to structure sustainable, place-based relationships to land and natural resources. Today, with social and ecological pressures on our environment greater than ever, reallocating land out of concentrated, private ownership into communities’ hands is an imperative for a just economic transition.
April’s panelists are those pioneering radical forms of land tenure that challenge the private property norm. Combined, their experience with voluntary land gifting and community trusteeship of working lands spans three continents. And at our current crossroads, their ongoing commitment to land access offers a deep reserve of inspiration. Their initiatives teach us how land reallocation may be led locally and in a spirit of generosity.
APRIL PARTICIPANTS
Severine Von Tscharner Fleming, organic farmer, young farmers’ advocate, publisher and organizer based in Downeast Maine. She is the founding Board President of Agrarian Trust, an innovative national land-access organization working to build a cooperatively-owned farmland commons. She runs Smithereen Farm, a certified organic farm.
Sjoerd Wartena, sustainable food systems advocate and Founder of Terre de Liens, a civil society organization devoted to ecologically-friendly agriculture and securing affordable access to farmland. Created in 2003, Terre de Liens addresses the difficulties faced by organic and peasant farmers in securing agricultural land. Terre de Liens now holds title to 350 farm estates, over 9,500 hectares.
Satish Kumar, peace-pilgrim, life-long activist, and former monk, has been inspiring global change for over 50 years. A world-renowned author and international speaker, Satish founded The Resurgence Trust, an educational charity that seeks to inform and inspire a just future for all. In 1991, Satish launched Schumacher College, an ecological education center in the U.K.
Natasha Hulst is the Schumacher Center’s Program Director for European Land Commons, raising awareness of Community Land Trusts as a proven vehicle to broaden access to land in a fair, place-based, democratic manner. Together with a group of organizations she recently founded the Dutch Land Trust Grond van Bestaan, working to secure arable urban land around Amsterdam into community trusteeship.
Each panelist is invited to reflect on themes in Small Is Beautiful that connect with their own thinking and activism. These reflections will then open up to a broader conversation on the topic of reallocating land. An audience Q&A will follow moderated by our host, Natasha.