IFOAM OWC: Open call for participants

A great opportunity for the CSOs in EU IPA countries: TACSO (European Union's Tecnical Assistance for Civil Society Organisations) will cover all the costs of 5 OWC participants each from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. Interested applicants are requested to complete a form and send it to the e-mail address of the TACSO office in their country (see list below) with the subject heading: People to People: IFOAM Organic World Congress. The application deadline is 3 September 2014. The selection process should be completed by 10 September 2014.

CSOs (associations, foundations, cooperatives, unions), based in the IPA countries, can apply that are working on issues related to organic agriculture/animal husbandry, sustainable development/community supported agriculture, rural development, local food production, participatory guarantee systems, food security and related topics. Participants are expected to have experience in the field and act as resource people throughout the conference by sharing and discussing good practices and lessons learned.

Active members of networks of associations working with organic agriculture, farmers associations and unions are encouraged to apply. Applicants need to be fluent in English to the extent that they can actively participate in the conference. Additional selection criteria for participants include the connection of the goals and mission of the organisation with the theme of the conference, experience in managing activities in relation to the conference theme and the experience of the proposed CSO representative in relation to the theme of the conference. Further information can be obtained from TACSO .

The IFOAM Organic World Congress will bring together CSOs, practitioners, business people and academics from around the world in Istanbul on 13-15 October 2014. The varied levels of the conference will include: developing values and principles for concerted action, developing future action points for organic agriculture, sharing of experiences, building of solutions and exploring future collaboration. Some of the topics that will be covered by the congress are: organic visions and trends, food security; social and environmental challenges, organic agriculture for development, institution building, and innovations.More information on the congress is available from www.owc2014.org 

TACSO contacts:

Albania: info.al@tacso.org
Bosnia and Herzegovina: info.ba@tacso.org
Kosovo: info.ko@tacso.org
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: info.mk@tacso.org
Montenegro:  info.me@tacso.org
Serbia: info.rs@tacso.org
Turkey: info.tr@tacso.org