Bioacademy history and archives
Archives of the 2009
Archives of the past years: http://www.pro-bio.cz/bioak/cesky.htm
Brief history:
European as well as Czech ecological agriculture has asserted itself especially owing to practising farmers, who have proved that it is possible to farm without the use of modern agrochemical substances and with regard to natural resources and animal welfare. Research institutes and agricultural schools come second after the practising pioneers, which is regrettable. Among the pioneers there is Dr. Michael Piatti, an Austrian farmer, who runs a farm in Moravia as well and at the same time is a member of the Bio Austria (originally Ernte - Austria) and PRO-BIO (Czech Republic) associations. It was Michael Piatti who was the father of the idea of educating ecological farmers in the academia as well. His experience with ecological farming in the EU and the CEE countries lead him to the idea of holding regular international courses in the picturesque town of Lednice situated close to the Austrian and Slovak borders. His original broad-minded idea of founding a European university of ecological agriculture still seems far from being realized; however, the PRO-BIO and Bio Austria associations, together with the Austrian and Czech Ministers of Agriculture and Environment, have come somewhat closer to it: we have organized eight years of the “European Summer Academy of Ecological Farming”. The academy takes place on the boundary between Eastern and Western Europe and has become a traditional place of encounters between ecological farmers and experts in the field. The main objective of the Bioacademy is to exchange professional information but the personal encounters on an international level are no less important either. Negotiations were held between ministers, politicians, university and research experts, advisors, inspectors and ecological farmers from the whole Europe , both at the University, during field trips, in the Lednice chateau and its adjacent park, as well as during the social events. Each year representatives of 20 European countries take part in the Conference.
