{"id":2178,"date":"2021-08-18T15:13:29","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T14:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/cbcd\/?p=2178"},"modified":"2022-10-04T18:03:56","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T17:03:56","slug":"bringing-in-pastoralists-voices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/cbcd\/2021\/08\/18\/bringing-in-pastoralists-voices\/","title":{"rendered":"Bringing in Pastoralists\u2019 Voices"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recognition of the importance of \u2028pastoralists\u2019 knowledge in European and\u2028 Mediterranean countries has grown steadily in recent\u2028 years. Maintaining pastoralism is, in fact, crucial for achieving the EU\u2019s objectives on environment, climate and biodiversity protection within the \u2018EU Green Deal\u2019.\u00a0 However, despite all progress made at the European and international advocacy levels, the stories and the constraints of local pastoralists are not sufficiently heard and, all too often, the provision of ecosystem services by rangelands, and their role in securing sustainable livelihoods have been overlooked.\u00a0 This research addresses an urgent need to ensure an effective feedback mechanism and better synergies amongst all actors advocating in favour of extensive livestock systems, so to reduce the power imbalances between pastoralists and decision makers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Background<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"It is now well known that local pastoralists possess a wealth of knowledge about the natural environment and ecological processes. In the context of this project, it is anticipated, therefore, that such knowledge – presented in the form of spoken stories and audio-visual recordings – might have the potential of supporting both legal and ecological arguments for local people to take a leading role in the sustainable management of grazing lands, in the selection of local animal breeds, as well as in relation to a wide set of socio-economic issues. \u00a0Selected video-clips will be then posted and made accessible through a dedicated web-platform which pastoralists themselves will be able to use for several purposes (e.g. sharing memories of the past, retrieving information, knowledge revitalization and promoting a lively debate on issues of common interest).<\/p>\n

Methods<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"The research is based on the premises that transmission of traditional knowledge on animal breeding, and ethno-environmental knowledge in general, cannot be fully understood unless the linkage between production, processing and marketing is fully taken into account. In this respect, the research applies a holistic approach in order to assess multiple topics such as the relationship between livestock mobility and biocultural diversity, as well the connection between sustainable grazing and the dynamics of pasture vegetation, particularly in the context of fires\u2019 prevention and global warming.<\/p>\n

\"\"Emphasis will also be placed on social innovation and innovative governance of local agro-pastoral systems and on the dynamics of inter-generational change and knowledge transmission from both a diachronic and synchronic perspective.\u00a0 The impact of local and EU policies on rangeland governance and the identification of new economic strategies to deal with the COVID crisis will also be assessed. Moreover, the project aims at understanding the trade-offs between local people\u2019s needs and nature protection while assessing \u2018best conservation practices\u2019 for the region, with a particular emphasis on the coexistence of livestock and wild predators.<\/p>\n

\"\"From a research perspective, a number of key questions become of concern: to what extent can local pastoralists pursue their production and mobility patterns while responding to the needs of an increasingly globalized market? What are the contributions of pastoralism to achieving the EU Green Deal? Is pastoralists\u2019 engagement with PAC policies giving rise to new conceptualizations of their relationship with pasturelands and domestic animals? How, then, do pastoralists change their breeding goals in order to face new economic and political contingencies? To what an extent can national and international legal frameworks be improved so to better recognize the work of traditional \u2018breed savers\u2019? How can niche-markets be established and made attractive to encouraging the consumption of local animal products? What can we learn from already established in-situ approaches to safeguard local breeds, and how can we spread the diffusion of these \u2018best practices\u2019?<\/p>\n

\"\"Although the project\u2019s mission is global, this will be tested through place-based work limited to two areas of Italy\u2019s Southern Lazio Region (Aurunci and Ciociaria) where pastoralism is facing critical challenges. The limited geographical scope of this project, however, will not be an impediment to the production of results and lessons-learned applicable to the wider Mediterranean context.\u00a0 Therefore, various forms of collaboration will also be established with national and European networks advocating for extensive livestock systems, so to triangulate pastoralists\u2019 voices from Aurunci and Ciociaria with those of livestock herders from other regions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Outcomes<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"At the local level, the following project outcomes might be anticipated: a) increased pastoralists\u2019 preparedness to express their visions and priorities; b) improved linkages and coordination between pastoralists and their advocating organizations; c) broadened understanding on the part of local authorities about the vital role played by \u2018pastoralists\u2019 in sustainable food-production and rangelands\u2019 management.<\/p>\n

The project\u2019s principal investigator is Dr. Dario Novellino<\/a> who, at various stages, will collaborate with students and researchers affiliated with the School of Anthropology and Conservation at the University of Kent. The proposed methodology will be grounded on ethnobiology methodologies, as well as on those pioneering anthropological approaches aiming at communicating human experience and knowledge through visual and sensory means and by combining different representational forms.<\/p>\n

Outputs<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

*NEW 2022: Goats and Pastoral<\/em>ists of the Aurunci Mountains and Ciociare (Central Italy): Photographic exhibition in the Museo Virtual Ecologia Humana: English Version here<\/a><\/em><\/h4>\n

Days of the Wolf, a film about the impact of large carnivores on livestock in the Aurunci Mountains and Ciociaria. <\/em>Trailer here<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
Pastoralismo Aurunco e Ciociaro<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

*NEW:<\/em><\/strong> Novellino, D.\u00a0 2021. <\/span>Conocimiento Etnocient\u00edfico, Iconograf\u00eda Antigua y Evoluci\u00f3n Hist\u00f3rica de Algunas Tipolog\u00eda de Cabras en Riesgo de Erosi\u00f3n Gen\u00e9tica (Lazio Meridional \u2013 Italia Central). <\/span>El Pajar<\/span><\/i> (Cuaderno de Etnograf\u00eda Canaria), n.35, Dicembre 2021. In Spanish:\u00a0 Novellino 2021 Goat classification<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

“There are substantial differences between pastoralists\u2019 ethnoscientific knowledge and the understanding of ARSIAL\u2019s technicians about the classification of goat types in Central Italy (Aurunci and Ciociaria). Field research and a preliminary assessment of ancient iconography suggest that the ‘fragmentation’ of the local type of goats into ‘distinct’ breeds raises considerable problems from both a historical and anthropological perspective.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more information, contact Dario at Pastoralistsvoices.cbcdkent@gmail.com<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recognition of the importance of \u2028pastoralists\u2019 knowledge in European and\u2028 Mediterranean countries has grown steadily in recent\u2028 years. Maintaining pastoralism is, in fact, crucial for achieving the EU\u2019s objectives on environment, climate and biodiversity protection within the \u2018EU Green Deal\u2019.\u00a0 However, despite all progress made at the European and international advocacy levels, the stories and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":305,"featured_media":2184,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[533],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-projects"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/cbcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/cbcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/cbcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/cbcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/cbcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2178"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/cbcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2655,"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/cbcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2178\/revisions\/2655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/cbcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/cbcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/cbcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.kent.ac.uk\/cbcd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}