Our Governance and Internal Structure
Talamh Beo is a democratically organised, member-led movement. Our structure is designed to be horizontal and participatory, ensuring that the organisation remains rooted in the lived experience of farmers, landworkers, and citizens.
Origins and Foundation
Talamh Beo emerged from a series of Food Sovereignty Assemblies (2014–2015) and annual gatherings with allies (2017–2018). These events highlighted the critical need for an Irish farming organisation that could lead conversations on food systems from the perspective of practitioners: Talamh Beo was formally adopted as an organisation in 2018. We continue to evolve by reorganising and formalising our internal structures to build organisational capacity while staying true to our roots.
OVerview
Who does what?
Members – Inform the vision and contribute to through democratic participation via working groups.
Operational Group – Steers Talamh Beo ensuring that our primary activities align with our mission, priorities, long term strategy and goals.
Secretariat – Executes projects, manages finances, communications, administration & coordinates events and field activities.
Board of Directors – Provides legal oversight and strategic guidance.
Membership-Led Democracy
At the core of Talamh Beo are our Members. Our direction is guided by membership participation, annual gatherings and conferences where members identify common challenges and contribute to our project work & policy positions.
Internal Groups
To manage the organisation’s growing complexity and facilitate action, we have established three key structural layers:
- Board of Directors: The Board provides strategic oversight, ensuring legal compliance and financial transparency while upholding the organisation’s mission.
- Operational Group: This is the group that steers Talamh Beo. It consists of agroecological farmers who guide the organisation’s primary work streams, ensuring that what we invest our time & resources into is aligned with our long term strategic aims.
- Secretariat Group: The Secretariat handles the day-to-day running of the organization including finances, administration, communications & implementation of Talamh Beo’s strategic aims. This group develops funding applications, policy position papers, liaises with working groups, media & allies, organises events and leads on funded projects.
Thematic Working Groups & Articulations
Much of our policy work and community building happens within our Women’s & Youth Articulations as well as focused thematic Working Groups. These groups allow members to contribute their specific expertise to key areas. Focused groups can emerge based on identified areas of interest or need by our Operational Group or members – to see our current groups visit ‘Working Groups’ in our main menu.
International Alignment
Our internal processes are mirrored by our external solidarity. Talamh Beo is the Irish member of the European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC). This connection allows our local working groups to feed into international policy debates, ensuring Irish farmers have a voice in the wider global movement.
