The World Organic Forum is a development policy conference at Kirchberg Castle, which takes place over several days in Kirchberg an der Jagst in Germany. In addition to development policy aspects, the Kirchberg Castle Academy (Academy for Organic Agriculture and Food) is increasingly concerned with agricultural and agro-cultural aspects within the framework of Agenda 2030.
The VII World Organic Forum 2024 will focus on the triad of organic farming, regenerative agriculture and agroecology. We will focus on the question “Future Food Systems: Organic – Regenerative – Agroecological?”
The conference is intended to provide a platform to examine all three agricultural concepts globally in terms of their potential and their contribution to increasing climate resilience. The aim is to take into account the contribution “the markets”, i.e. economic actors and companies, can make to the (climate-resilient) transformation of value chains and networks within the various concepts. In addition, questions of measurement, certification and evaluation of (agricultural) economic, social and ecological services will also play a role. It will be critically questioned what contribution the three agricultural concepts mentioned can make in this context and where their limits lie or where there are bright and dark areas – e.g. in terms of combating poverty and hunger in the regions where food is produced as well as in the area of other “raw materials” such as cotton.
A deeper look into the cultural and socio-ethical foundations of agricultural concepts is intended to determine which social values and which understandings of nature and landscape design underlie the concepts and whether these can be represented or added value with the help of certifications. In addition to Germany’s membership in the Agroecology Coalition and the coalition’s leverage, lighthouse projects such as “Arms-to-Farms” in the Municipality of Kauswagan in the Philippines are also presented, where, with the strong involvement of committed protagonists such as Mayor Rommel Arnado, it was possible to bring peace to a region torn apart by civil war through organic farming.
It is particularly important to the Akademie Schloss Kirchberg to enable new synergies and partnerships in its field of activity at the interface between small-scale farming, organic food production, rural regional development and global development cooperation. The aim is to create meeting spaces characterized by openness and appreciation for indigenous and western cultures, agricultural practices and approaches to holistic ecological, economic, social, cultural and political value creation.