4th Austrian Development Conference: "Environment – Growth – Development"

For the first time, the 4th Austrian Development Conference in Innsbruck (November 14-16, 2008) brought together actors from the environmental and the development sector to a common conference. Key-speakers came from the South and participants from Austria and some neighbouring countries; among them students, researchers, NGO-representatives, social entrepreneurs, politicians and official representatives from the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).

TRIALOG moderated the Forum "Down to Earth" on organic agriculture with speakers from Hungary, Uganda and Austria; it followed up on a related conference held last May in Kampala (Uganda). The Forum was strongly related with the Food (Price) Crisis and tried to answer the big question, if "organic farming could feed the world". The Forum was one of two fora with invited key speakers and took place in addition to 10 other topic-related workshops, ranging from the "theatre of the oppressed" to "political ecology" and the "Ilisu retaining dam in Turkey".

The African speaker Fred Kabuye (Africa 2000 Network) had in his "baggage" a "Message to Austria" from Ugandan small scale farmers, saying that they would like to produce for the world market. The concepts of organic farming in Hungary (presented by Agnés Gagyi, National Institute of Minority Rights), Austria and Ecuador (presented by Petra Koppensteiner, HORIZONT3000) showed a more "lifestyle oriented" approach of consumers - favoring seasonal orientation and concentration on local markets as a big value. The discussion was completed with bringing in the human right for food (presented by Gertrude Klaffenböck, FIAN) and a scientific approach, presented by Michael Hauser (Research on Development at the Austrian University of Agriculture), who underlined the necessity of intensifying the organic agri-"culture" systems with appropriated approaches, to be able to respond to the necessities of growing populations in the future.

At the end, the forum participants together with the 5 speakers, elaborated a "Message to Uganda", following the approach that the European NGOs should support the Southern small scale farmers in the participatory elaboration of own African concepts by providing best practises from other world regions. Additionally, the group was clear, that the European NGOs have to pressure their national governments with advocacy work to achieve structural changes in the relations between North and South.

More information and the conference documentation will become available on the website of the main organiser "Paulo Freire Zentrum": http://www.paulofreirezentrum.at/

Information provided by Petra Kreinecker, TRIALOG