RURALEX: Knowledge in Crisis – The Dynamics of Environmental Expertise amidst Rural Change
The RURALEX project asks: How is people’s knowledge about the environment in rural parts of Europe changing, and how do such changes affect the social, cultural and ecological challenges currently faced by local communities? European rural areas have struggled in recent years with shifts in population and land use patterns, such as the out-migration of people to urban areas and the abandonment of traditional forms of agriculture. These moves have contributed to an urgent crisis: namely, that ecological expertise and awareness is rapidly changing, and in some cases being lost. This includes knowledge held both by everyday people (such as farmers or hunters) and by so-called “experts” (such as policy-makers or scientists). Examples include peasants’ controlled burning practices as a method of wildfire prevention, or the practice of building artisanal, single-log boats for river navigation along floodplains. While this crisis is often intangible and difficult to pinpoint, it is also deeply impactful to European lives and landscapes. The 17 researchers working on the RURALEX project will study this phenomenon in diverse cases across Europe: the Spanish Pyrenees, the Italian Alps, former East Germany, the Estonian coast, Northern Finland, the Danube basin in Romania and Bulgaria, and the southeastern UK. We will carry out long-term research on the ground using qualitative research methods, such as interviewing and observing people, and studying archives and stories. We will also innovate new research methods of our own, including a creative mapping tool (which we call “multi-species deep mapping”) to gather and showcase the different memories, images, and sounds that tell the story of people’s relationships to the environment. By studying people’s intangible (implicit) and tangible (explicit) knowledge about their environments, we will show how long-held and recently acquired expertise can support the many challenges of rural communities. RURALEX will also show how humanities disciplines such as anthropology and history are important for understanding and addressing urgent social and ecological issues that will greatly impact the future of Europe.
Keywords:
knowledge, expertise, rural, agriculture, multispecies, nature-based livelihoods, societal disenfranchisement.
Consortium:
Project Leader: Roger Norum, University of Oulu, Finland
Alessandro Rippa, University of Oslo, Norway
Stefan Dorondel, The Institute for Southeast European Studies, Romania
Camila del Mármol, University of Barcelona, Spain
Kadri Tüür, Tallinn University, Estonia
Alice Eldridge, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Associate partners:
Antoni Trasobares Rodríguez, Director, Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia, Spain
Giuseppina Daniele, President, Vallarsa Ethnographic Museum, Italy
Helge Bruelheide, Director, Halle-Wittenberg Botanical Garden, Germany
Jordi Abella Pons, Director, Ecomuseu de les Valls d’Àneu, Spain
Liina Veskimägi-Iliste, Chairwoman of the Board, Estonian Folk Art and Craft Union, Estonia
Luis Ovidiu Popa, Director of Research, Grigore Antipa Natural History Museum, Romania
Pentti Marttila-Tornio, Group Leader, Kiiminki River Catchment Area Association, Finland
Sarah King, Rewilding Manager, Rewilding Britain, United Kingdom
Susanne Grießbach, Director, Haus am See Information Center for Environment and Nature Conservation, Germany
Sébastien Moncorps, Director, IUCN French Committee, France
Virginia Maria da Silva Neto, Director, Francisco de Lacerda Museum, Portugal
Achievements: