This French-speaking hub develops replicable open source based convivial tools, ecologically sound farm-buildings and machinery for small scale farming and organic agriculture. It combines collective farmer-led design, on farm innovation and engineering expertise.
Faire marcher les cerveaux avant les serveurs. (Make the brains work before the servers.)
Logo. source
At Atelier Paysan, engineers and equipment are available to help farmers design, test and distribute tools and machines, which are reproducable locally and adaptable to local circumstances (machines are adapted to the soil and the fields, and not the other way round).
We believe that agronomic practices need to be elaborated with, by, and for farmers.
The plastic rolling machine developed in 2014. This type of tool has been tested and researched on farms within the Atelier Paysan network through a participatory and collective design process.
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# Aspirational Goals
...tools and self-built machinery adapted to small-scale farming ... can provide a significant impact on the growth of organic farming and contribute to improving organic farming practices.
Atelier Paysan aspires to collaboratively research and develop methods and practices to reclaim farming skills and to achieve self-sufficiency (1) in relation to the tools and (2) in relation to the machinery used in organic farming. On could say: it strives for technology-sovereignty (of small scale farmers).
Technology-sovereignty is considered key to reassert ownership of the system-wide design of small scale farms.
We want to develop agricultural machinery which supports small scale organic farming, and which can be appropriated and modified by farmers.
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# Legal Status & Location
cooperative, Rhône-Alpes region of south east France, with a branch in Brittany and transnational impact.
We have three trucks equipped with the machinery and materials we need to run practical training courses on farms and workshops across France.
# When did they start?
Atelier Paysan has been created by small-scale farmers, engineers, employees and agricultural development organisations and set up in 2011 as a staffed organisation.
In 2015, an architect joined the team to support farmers in their projects constructing and renovating agricultural buildings.
Atelier Paysan has emerged from a movement which promotes an alternative vision to the modernisation of agriculture carried out since the Second World War. Agriculture in France and elsewhere is dotted with countless public bodies and organisations who work to "improve technical expertise" through research programmes and advisory from experts for farmers. The majority of public funding is tied to this approach of agricultural development.
# How do they work?
Atelier Paysan's approach is to Share Knowledge Often & Widely and to Honor Situated Knowing. It provides advice and guidance for small-scale farmers on agricultural tools tailored to their needs. It accompanies farmers through their trials and tribulations in their farming journey, individually or collectively, whatever their area of production.
This includes implements for tractors, two wheeled tractors and horses, as well as ergonomic tools and practices, hand tools, equipment for drying, sorting, preserving, etc.
Atelier Paysan is not a service-provider, but uses a needs based approach. It is more like a steward, coordinator and care-taker for regular contact with local networks of farmers. They Honor Care & Decommodified Work. Their work begins when a well-defined group of farmers ask for Atelier Paysans' support and guidance. It is not:
a design office offering technical solutions based on the scientific calculations of our engineers" (see html).
If a support request has been accepted, Atelier Paysan begins to promote the creation of working groups. The groups should ideally live in a small geographical area, as they will need to meet regularly. This helps to design and build and test tools together, but also to Ritualize Togetherness.
The methodology:
- “Use” and “User” (needs) are the starting point of all innovations. Creatively Adapt & Renew - At any point in the process Atelier Paysan makes sure to Assure Commoner's Consent in Decisionmaking. - Atelier Paysan works only with groups of farmers, individual requests are not accepted -> cf: Strengthen the Nested-I - Atelier Paysan staff writes up a set of specifications with the group, so that each step and the tools developed are according the the farmers needs and context. - An initial design is put forward to the group followed by a series of feedback sessions and modifications. - Prototyping together with the group - Prototype testing on the participating farms, which takes a week and the presence of the whole group. - If a consensus is reached, the design for the tool or machinery is published and can be used by others or in training courses. Produce Cosmo-Locally
# How are they financed?
List of Partners, html
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# Which Core Dimensions of Commoning are enacted?
- Cultivate Shared Purpose & Values - Strengthen the Nested-I - Contribute Freely - Practice Gentle Reciprocity "No. We neither make nor sell machinery. With Atelier Paysan, farmers build and design their own tools, independently or with our assistance, depending on their abilities. Through the work we do, we aim to re-examine the place of tools and machines in the world of farming. Matthieu Dunand, a market gardener in the Haute-Savoie (from the GAEC La Pensée Sauvage), shares his experience: « At first , I couldn’t imagine making my own tools. Today on the farm, our perspective has really changed: in the past we felt we had no choice but to work with the machinery available on the market, but we’re now continually working towards more ergonomic systems, better cultivation practices, and using less petrol. We have unleashed the engineers within us! Deepen Communion with Nature. For us, organic and small-scale agriculture go hand in hand. We cannot promote a model of organic farming which does not have a wider social vision behind it. Similarly, we believe that the principles of small-scale farming lead naturally to a chemical free approach. - Trust Situated Knowing & Be Creatively Adaptive - Preserve Relationships in Addressing Conflicts - Reflect on Your Peer-Governance
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# Peer-Governance in the Commons
See the excellente FAQ here: html
- Relationalize Property. Atelier Paysan would not patent any innovation as patenting is contrary to their aims of promoting the production and dissemination of common goods.
- The cooperative does Declare Shared Purpose & Values explicitely and refers back to it each time a process starts. Some of the core principles are: organic farming, Creative Commons licensing, collective dynamics and ongoing commitment.
- Set Semi-Permeable Boundaries. The boundary of the group is clear but easy to overcome. People are encouraged to get in touch with a staff member, so that they can get an update about ongoing projects and start cooperating if they see fit.
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We believe inventions are born out of a multitude of ideas and influences, encounters and gleanings, and that creativity is in its very essence a collective human wealth. All our inventions are therefore licensed under Creative Commons, where they can be freely adapted, developed and appropriated.
- Separate Commons & Commerce - Develop Shared Purpose & Values - Set Semi-Permeable Boundaries - Relationalize Property. Patenting is contrary to our aims of promoting the production and dissemination of common goods. We believe inventions are born out of a multitude of ideas and influences, encounters and gleanings, and that creativity is in its very essence a collective human wealth. All our inventions are therefore licensed under Creative Commons, where they can be freely adapted, developed and appropriated. We believe that agronomic practices need to be elaborated with, by, and for farmers. More generally, we think that Technology is a collective asset which should serve the interests of those who use it. Farming skills and expertise are common goods of the organic farming movement. We would like bring these together to compile a open source encyclopaedia (modelled on initiatives like Wikipedia and open source computer programmes and designs). As well as ensuring our tools do not get patented, the Creative Commons label clearly articulates our approach and vision: to create and disseminate farm innovations which can be modified, distributed and appropriated by all. Atelier Paysan promotes open innovation, based on the idea that users benefit from being involved in the process of creation and development. The collective production of common goods in physical and digital spaces has been developed by urban open-source communities such as Hackspaces or Fab-Lab, where skills and expertise are re-appropriated through the design, creation or repair of everyday objects. These initiatives include both community education and technical innovation. Atelier Paysan is developing rural versions of these community-operated communities, which we have named “Farm Labs”. - Ritualize Togetherness - Honor Transparency in a Sphere of Trust - [Respect Human Dimensions] - Direct Capital to Commons Provisioning - Self-Monitor, Mediate & Sanction All inventions are therefore licensed under Creative Commons and can be freely adapted, developed and appropriated. x More generally, we think that Technology is a collective asset which should serve the interests of those who use it. Farming skills and expertise are common goods of the organic farming movement. We would like bring these together to compile a open source encyclopaedia (modelled on initiatives like Wikipedia and open source computer programmes and designs). As well as ensuring our tools do not get patented, the Creative Commons label clearly articulates our approach and vision: to create and disseminate farm innovations which can be modified, distributed and appropriated by all. Atelier Paysan promotes open innovation, based on the idea that users benefit from being involved in the process of creation and development. The collective production of common goods in physical and digital spaces has been developed by urban open-source communities such as Hackspaces or Fab-Lab, where skills and expertise are re-appropriated through the design, creation or repair of everyday objects. These initiatives include both community education and technical innovation. Atelier Paysan is developing rural versions of these community-operated communities, which we have named “Farm Labs”. - Ritualize Togetherness - Honor Transparency in a Sphere of Trust - [Respect Human Dimensions] - Direct Capital to Commons Provisioning
Self-Monitor & Apply Graduated Sanctions. There is a nice way of "monitoring", called "Tournées de Recensement des Innovations Paysannes (TRIP)". These "censoring tours on Atelier Paysan farms" help to make a quality assessment of the tools developed and come up with further adaptions, based on experiences of tool manufacturing the participating farmers Pool & Share online. On a platform accessible for everybody. It is monitoring combined with Ritualize Togetherness rencontres des paysan-nes sur leurs fermes, et peuvent aussi s’avérer être un premier pas en vue de mobiliser un groupe local autour d’une thématique : certains outils aujourd’hui diffusés par l’Atelier Paysan sont issus notamment issus de ces tournées de recensement (tels que le semoir viticole à engrais verts, ou la bineuse guidable, par exemple
FAQ: I am a conventional farmer. Can I take part?
Atelier Paysan: We encourage you to do so! We know our collective projects also lead to individual reflection. The group can support you in considering a possible conversion to organic farming.
ontological ground and political culture
# Inner Kernel
- Relational categories. name them - Epistemology. - Ubuntu-Rationality.
Proceed the same way selecting from the following dimensions
- Beat the Bounds - Protect & Extend Value Sovereignty - Why do you not patent your inventions ? Patenting is contrary to our aims of promoting the production and dissemination of common goods. We believe inventions are born out of a multitude of ideas and influences, encounters and gleanings, and that creativity is in its very essence a collective human wealth. All our inventions are therefore licensed under Creative Commons, where they can be freely adapted, developed and appropriated. We believe that agronomic practices need to be elaborated with, by, and for farmers. More generally, we think that Technology is a collective asset which should serve the interests of those who use it. Farming skills and expertise are common goods of the organic farming movement. We would like bring these together to compile a open source encyclopaedia (modelled on initiatives like Wikipedia and open source computer programmes and designs). As well as ensuring our tools do not get patented, the Creative Commons label clearly articulates our approach and vision: to create and disseminate farm innovations which can be modified, distributed and appropriated by all. Atelier Paysan promotes open innovation, based on the idea that users benefit from being involved in the process of creation and development. The collective production of common goods in physical and digital spaces has been developed by urban open-source communities such as Hackspaces or Fab-Lab, where skills and expertise are re-appropriated through the design, creation or repair of everyday objects. These initiatives include both community education and technical innovation. Atelier Paysan is developing rural versions of these community-operated communities, which we have named “Farm Labs”. - Use or Establish Discrimination-Free Infrastructures - Strengthen Commons-Public-Circuits - Accept State Mediation & Support if Needed - Emulate & Then Federate
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# Realms of Commoning
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Air&Atmosphere, Art&Culture, Communication, Energy, Food, Forests, Health, Housing, Knowledge, Land, Learning, Mobility, Spaces for Commoning
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# Sources
# See also