IFLA Europe and its Agricultural Landscapes Working Group launched in April 2024 a photo competition entitled ‘People in Rural Landscapes’!

Rural Landscapes present a palimpsest of elements, being the first frontier of urban sprawl development and the intermediate zone between natural and manmade landscapes. They are very important for food and ecosystem services production and the development of cities as they exhibit the first fundamental elements of anthropogenic system organisation. The EU’s rural areas cover 83% of the EU territory and almost 1 out of 3 Europeans live in rural areas (source: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_1727).

Land uses like agriculture mobility networks, nature pockets, villages and dispersed settlements, conventional tourism and agro-tourism create a unique, multifunctional pattern and people in rural landscapes are of various categories; farmers, shepherds, loggers, simple citizens living in small cities and towns, tourists, travelers etc. Agricultural landscapes have shaped Europe for centuries, yet there is a continuous shift from the primary sector to the secondary and tertiary one. With agricultural landscape and numbers of farmers declining in rural landscapes, small farms disappearing and other target groups and land uses actively entering the rural zone, how can one maintain a healthy, active and vibrant character of rural landscape

In reference and as a continuation to the successful ‘Rural Landscapes Photo Competition of 2022’, IFLA Europe and its Agricultural Landscapes Working Group are proud to launch the second photo competition entitled ‘People in Traditional Agricultural Landscapes’ which emphasizes on the value, the fundamental and formative role of people in rural and agricultural landscapes.

IFLA Europe Agricultural Landscape Working group invites professionals and non-professionals to submit images on that theme in an attempt to emphasize on the fundamental role of man in rural traditional agricultural landscapes.

Background information
IFLA EUROPE Agricultural Landscapes Working Group launched an open call for images aiming at exploring functional agricultural landscapes in Europe, with an emphasis on organic and traditional agricultural practices. This competition aims at a) raising awareness of the public on the strong connection between man and agriculture, man being the designer, carer of rural landscapes, b) the importance and value of agricultural and rural landscapes in everyday life c) creating records of threatened systems, traditional small farms that are endangered, d) environmentally friendly uses in rural landscapes i.e. agrotourism, social farming, farmhouse pre-school /nursery, i.e. activity contributes to the goal of adding to efforts at the European level to create a European inventory of agricultural heritage systems ( i.e. GIAHS* guidelines, EUCALAND Atlas of Agricultural Systems).

Who can participate
The competition is open to the citizens of IFLA Europe Members (https://iflaeurope.eu/index.php/site/national-associations), to the citizens of the EU 27 Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Türkiye and citizens under the Stabilization and Association agreements: North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

· The photos must be taken in the countries mentioned above.
· All participants must be 18 or older.
· You must have full copyrights to the submitted material.
· You must submit Rights Release
· By submitting an entry, you will be presumed to have agreed to accept the Competition rules and the Terms and Conditions.

How to participate?
Participants are asked to submit an image/ photograph (at least 300 dpi) with a person/people in the traditional agricultural landscape. Traditional system, is meant as a sustainable, productive landscape of special identity, an expression of the coevolution between people and environment, nature-culture. The cultivating/producing technique and eventual other activities (agrotourism, i.e.) must be briefly described, and the exhibition of the relation between local community and landscape is strongly encouraged.

The applicants need to send the following material:
1. Filled in APPLICATION FORM in word format with required information (Annex A)
2. RELEASE OF RIGHTS DECLARATION duly signed (Annex B)
3. ONE PHOTO (in two formats: minimum 300 dpi, one photo 800px for website and one photo 4000px for printed version.
4. Your entry (photo) in A5 POSTCARD format in ppt and pdf format (Annex C).

1. Filled in Application form (Annex A) in Word with the following information (please scroll to the bottom of the text to download the form):
Which of the following criteria are satisfied? Flag the answers. Please provide a short description of the characteristics (300 words). Please ensure the high quality of English.

The explanation of DIFFERENT CRITERIA is given below:

– Food and livelihood security
The proposed agricultural system contributes to food and/or livelihood security of local communities. This includes a wide variety of agricultural types such as self-sufficient and semi-subsistence agriculture where provisioning and exchanges take place among local communities, which contributes to rural economy.

– Agro-biodiversity
Agricultural biodiversity, as defined by UN FAO (*) as the variety of animals, plants and micro-organisms that are used directly or indirectly for food and agriculture, including crops, livestock, forestry and fisheries. The system should be endowed with globally significant biodiversity and genetic resources for food and agriculture (e.g., endemic, domesticated, rare, endangered species of crops and animals).

– Local and Traditional Knowledge systems
The system should maintain local and invaluable traditional knowledge and practices, ingenious adaptive technology and management systems of natural resources, including biota, land, water which have supported agricultural, forestry and/or fishery activities.

– Cultures, Value systems, Recreational Values and Social Organisations
Cultural identity and sense of place are embedded in and belong to specific agricultural sites. Social organisations, value systems and cultural practices associated with resource management and food production may ensure conservation of and promote equity in the use and access to natural resources. Such social organisations and practices may take the form of customary laws and practices as well as ceremonial, religious and/or spiritual experiences.