Actionline 2: Economy
We are developing a regional community economy.
If you look closely, you’ll see that the Watershed is already full of pioneering enterprises and collaborations working toward a healthy regional economy in which residents are actively involved, such as Community Supported Agriculture. We are eager to contribute to building a regional community-based economy. In a field lab with the Province of Gelderland, the StreekWaar association, Wageningen Research, Land & Co, Mas Newen, Cultivate!, and others, we facilitate collaboration in agroecological production, processing, distribution, and financing, in order to create and retain more value for a resilient and autonomous Watershed. Through this, we enhance biodiversity and improve the soil’s sponge function in the Watershed, weaving together nature and agriculture.
Actions
Agroecological production and distribution of food and materials
In collaboration with members of the agroecological association StreekWaar, we stimulate the strengthening of regional production and distribution of food, raw materials, and high-quality components. We do this by working with farmers to plant more native species in the area, alongside food crops, from which we can harvest high-value components such as proteins, fibers, and fatty acids. These are distributed both locally and more widely, for example to the hospitality sector.
Cooperative for regional processing
We are increasing the regional processing capacity for agricultural products, allowing farmers to capture more value from what they produce. Examples include pressing oils (fatty acids) such as Omega-3 from berry seeds or linseed, freeze-drying fruit pulp into powders with high levels of antioxidants, and drying and distilling herbs and flowers for essential oils and natural dyes. These semi-finished products can be used in cosmetics, natural medicines, the clothing industry, and superfoods, and several potential buyers have already been identified.
Together with processors in the region, we are establishing a shared ‘Factory Without a Boss’, equipped with machines that are collectively managed. There, we process high-quality components and produce semi-finished products, which we either sell to third parties or further process into our own end products, such as power bars, teas, or skin oils. Renting out machines to third parties is also possible. A percentage of the profit generated through processing will ultimately flow into the regional fund.
A bioregional land fund based on the commons
Because access to land is becoming increasingly out of reach for agroecological farmers, we are developing a regional fund to purchase land in the watershed and make it available to (young) farmers. The fund is also intended to finance nature education, cultural celebrations, support for young entrepreneurs, and other initiatives that help keep the watershed lively and healthy. The fund will be built through blended finance, a mix of donations (crowdfunding, grants), loans, and impact investments. A new legal entity, such as a foundation, will be established to manage the fund, involving various stakeholders from the region. In this work, we collaborate with Grond van Bestaan.
A Participatory Guarantee System as the bearer of bioregional values
Together with farmers and other entrepreneurs, we facilitate agreements on the ecological, social, and political values that guide the production of food and raw materials in our region. The baseline for this is ‘no toxins’. This is called a Participatory Guarantee System (PGS), a form of quality assurance based on collaboration, transparency, regional specificities, and mutual support among producers in the area. Through this system, producers jointly ensure that production in the Watershed contributes to a healthy region and a living community. We build on the existing PGS of the StreekWaar Association.
By communicating this clearly and transparently to residents and involving them in the process, the PGS strengthens not only the relationship between farmers and the region, but also the relationship between farmer and consumer, and between the consumer and the region itself. Ultimately, we are working toward a Geographical Indication for products from the South Veluwe Watershed, serving as a quality and identity mark.