What 140 seed savers, seed librarians and Community Seed Bank managers told us about what they need to learn – and what that means for the next phase of Seeds of Growth.
Between October and December 2025, the Erasmus+ project Seeds of Growth ran a survey across Europe to find out where the real capacity gaps sit for people running seed libraries and Community Seed Banks (CSBs). The survey went out in four languages (English, Czech, German and French – and collected 140 completed responses, mainly from the two project focus countries, the Czech Republic (76) and Luxembourg (48), with a further 16 from other European countries.
The resulting Capacity Gap Analysis is now available on the Seed Knowledge Hub.
The gap is not awareness
The first finding is that most respondents are already doing the work. Saving seed for their own use and exchanging it with others are the most commonly reported practices. The question facing the project is therefore not how to raise awareness, but how to support the step from individual or informal practice towards more documented, collective and durable forms of seed stewardship.
That step is where confidence drops. Asked to rate their own knowledge across seven areas, respondents reported no knowledge at all in:
- 66% — funding and sustainability of CSBs
- 63% — starting and managing a CSB
- 59% — collaboration with research or academic institutions
- 42% — understanding legal frameworks for seed sharing
By contrast, only 17% reported no knowledge of seed conservation techniques. The technical practice is comparatively well established. What is missing is the organisational and regulatory layer that turns a practice into an institution.
Legal uncertainty is the clearest barrier
Confidence in navigating seed-sharing rules is low across the whole sample, and in both the Czech Republic and Luxembourg more than 90% of respondents describe themselves as not confident or not really confident. Open answers point to specific confusions: where exchange ends and distribution begins, what seed health requirements apply, and how national authorities interpret EU rules.
As informal seed saving becomes more organised, that uncertainty stops being an abstraction and starts limiting what people are willing to do.
A gap people do not yet name
One pattern is worth dwelling on. Although starting and managing a CSB is among the largest self-reported knowledge gaps, only 30.7% of respondents selected it as something they want to learn about. Governance and sustainability appear to be under-recognised, or seen as relevant only to those already in coordinating roles — which is precisely the assumption that keeps new initiatives from forming.
Different countries, different needs
The three geographic groups look different from each other. The Czech Republic shows the strongest latent demand, a broad community base and limited formal CSB management experience; the leading barrier there is lack of information or training (55.3%). Luxembourg shows a more balanced, practice-oriented profile, where the leading barrier is lack of technical knowledge (39.6%). The smaller group from other European countries contains a higher share of experienced CSB managers and seed producers, and is a resource for peer learning rather than only an audience for it.
What the project does with this
The findings shaped the three CSB Labs delivered in March 2026 — on establishing and managing a CSB, on seed health and quality, and on seed policy and legal frameworks — and they continue to guide what goes into the Seed Knowledge Hub. Respondents asked for a blended offer rather than a single format: hands-on workshops, printed guides, online courses, webinars and peer exchange all drew substantial interest.
Appetite for continued contact is high. 77.5% of respondents said they would definitely like to stay informed about trainings, field trips and the wider network.
Download the Capacity Gap Analysis (PDF) – or browse the full Seed Knowledge Hub for open-access resources on Community Seed Banks, seed policy and agrobiodiversity.
Seeds of Growth: Strengthening Community Seed Banks and Sustainable Seed-Saving Practices in Europe is an Erasmus+ KA210-ADU project (2025-1-CZ01-KA210-ADU-000358754) implemented by Semínkovna (Czech Republic), European Coordination Let’s Liberate Diversity! (Belgium) and SEED (Luxembourg).
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Dům zahraniční spolupráce (DZS). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
