Agroecologists gathered at the 5th biannual Agroecology Europe Forum in Malmö, Sweden from 2-4 October 2025 called for the creation of a Nordic Network for Agroecology to further develop agroecology in the Nordic countries.
Nordic participants have already begun to establish communications channels to share opportunities and experiences, to develop exchanges, and to engage collectively in efforts to guide international food and farming policy towards models that work in harmony with the environment. Through further networking across the Nordic countries, connections can be drawn between shared challenges and opportunities and connect local and national struggles to the European level.
While the legislative environment may vary across countries, the pressures imposed on farming communities through farm closures, decreasing profit margins, and the globalization of food markets pose common questions, to which a pooling of expertise across borders can serve to formulate answers.
With over 400 delegates, the Forum was the largest yet organised, testifying to the growing interest in agroecology across the continent. Agroecology Europe has earlier organised forums in France, Greece, Spain and Hungary. This was the first time the forum was organised in a Northern European country.
Having first been raised in a breakout session by Nordic activists, the idea of establishing a Nordic Network was made an official ambition in the Malmö Declaration, the document formulated by all 400 delegates to the Forum, and which was presented to the city of Malmö at the Forum´s conclusion.
Delegates in a workshop at the Agroecology Europe Forum, Malmö, October 2025.
Why now?
The international and EU policy framework needed to support agroecology is crumbling. The omnibus packages, or the “CAP simplification package”, appear to be less about simplicity and more about deregulation – the rolling back of environmental, social, and administrative safeguards. Token elements supporting small farmers only distract from deeper structural injustices that keep industrial agriculture dominant and small producers marginalised.
Public standards that protect soil, biodiversity, health and workers should be foundational to the future of farming, but by prioritising market convenience and speculative “nature credit” schemes over genuine regulation, the EU risks replacing public accountability with private profit, weakening the very foundations of a just and sustainable food system.
In this context, there has never been a greater need to create and strengthen networks to make the agroecological voice heard, and to build the conditions for a European Agroecological Food System from the ground up.
You can read Agroecology Europe´s response to the CAP deregulation here: Agroecology Europe’s response to the CAP deregulation.
What´s next?
The Nordic network is already taking shape as an online community, as the Nordic activists develop methods of shared communication and develop plans, which are anticipated to include raising public awareness and boosting organisational capacities aimed at helping the Nordic countries develop the most sustainable agricultural sector in the world.
Participants further envisaged securing the support necessary to establish a regular Nordic Forum to bring Nordic academics, farmers, chefs, and activists together, and to establish National Knowledge hubs that would be contact points for those with agroecological questions.
The next Agroecology Europe Forum will take place in Coimbra, Portugal, in 2027.
A farm visit in Sweden by delegates to the Agroecology Europe Forum, Malmö, October 2025.
What else is in the Malmö Declaration?
The 400 agroecologists from across Europe and beyond, united under the theme “Transformation in Action”, called for a profound shift towards a just, healthy, and sustainable food system rooted in agroecology.
As uncertainty surrounds the shape of the future of the European Common Agricultural Policy, the Malmö Declaration affirmed a shared commitment to replace industrial, pesticide and fossil fuel–based models of agriculture with equitable systems that respect planetary boundaries. Through the Declaration, the change-makers pledged to strengthen collaboration between farmers, researchers, policymakers, and social movements, and to uphold communities’ rights to a healthy environment, to land, seeds, and knowledge.
THE MALMÖ DECLARATION
October 4, 2025 – Malmö, Sweden
Under the theme Transformation in Action, 400 change-makers from across Europe and beyond gathered to drive systemic transformation of food systems. With contagious energy we share the Malmö Declaration that affirms our collective determination to:
Advance agroecology as the cornerstone of just, healthy, resilient, and sustainable food systems, following the already agreed principles of agroecology (FAO, HLPE 2019).
Foster systemic transformation towards an agroecological food system, through collaboration between practice, policy, science and movements; within and across sectors and regions.
Replace extractive, fossil fuel-based industrial agri-food systems, with socio-economic models designed to deliver equity and food sovereignty, grounded in human rights, including peasant rights, and respecting the planetary boundaries.
Support farmers’ and communities’ rights, including seeds and land, acknowledging their place-based knowledges’ role in building resilient agroecological food systems.
Grow a strong Nordic agroecology movement, building on knowledge and experience from Europe and beyond, as well as acknowledging the ongoing work of agroecological practices and policy, expanding the awareness of agroecology in the Nordic region.
Establish a framework of official collaboration to work jointly toward boosting agroecology in Malmö while also identifying the good practices that have already been implemented in Malmö and that can inspire others
Signatories: Agroecology Europe Association, SLU, Albaeco, MiljöMatematik
Press contact: Henriette Christensen, +32 473375671, henriette.christensen@aeeu.org
Photo credits: Agroecology Europe Association