Capacity building among traditional East-Central European herders and farmers for IPBES
| Project title | Capacity building among traditional East-Central European herders and farmers for IPBES |
| Implementing Institutions | MTA Centre for Ecological Research, H-2163 Vácrátót, Hungary |
| Country(ies) | Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine, if possible also Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovakia and Croatia, (all |
| Abstract | East-Central Europe is still rich in ILK but knowledge holders have very limited contribution to international assessments as they rarely/poorly speak world languages. In the last decade we have studied the knowledge of more than 400 herders/farmers. Based on our personal connections through a series of focus group discussions and by motivating them to discuss and write down / put in film their perceptions on BD/ES changes and their impacts on their livehoods we could efficiently increase their contributions. A key goal is to increase their personal participation in future dialogue workshops. |
| Project Description | During the two years of the project we will organize 2*7+ focus group discussions in 4+ countries. We have well established partnerships in 4 countries but feel responsible for ILK holders in the other 3 countries (where there is no/very little research on these topics). The main goal is to motivate the personal engagement of knowledgeable herders/ farmers in IPBES. IPBES has a serious lack of ILK from this region. These people have deep understanding on biodiversity and ecosystem services (much deeper than convential farmers in Western Europe). Many of these herders/farmers could co-produce knowledge in IPBES but it is a big challenge to motivate them as most of them were socialized in the communist period. The focus group discussions (1+1 days) will take place locally (in 3 regions in Hungary, 2 regions in Romania, and in 1-1 region in Ukraine and Serbia). We plan to work with at least 50 knowledgeable ILK holders. The key topics of the IPBES assessments (ECA Regional Assessment, assessments on Sustainable use of biodiversity and Invasive species) will be discussed, and ILK holders will be motivated and helped to write down / put on film their perceptions and understandings, and last but not least to motivate them learning English. A key goal is to increase their personal participation in future dialogue workshops. We can not promise but we will try to begin the foundation of an „ILK” NGO that gathers local knowledge holders for a better representation of their interests as there is no existing effective initiative / institution in this region on ILK. |
| Project Objectives and expected Achievables | The objectives are: involvement of at least 50 knowledgeable ILK knowledge holders from at least 4 countries, potentially 70 holders from 7 countries preparation of at least 15 written materials and three films about IBPES-related ILK at least 5 personal participation by ILK holders in dialogue workshops or other IPBES meetings Milestones: The first year will focus on ECA regional assessment Second year will focus on the Thematic assessments |
| Timeframe | 2 years |
| Geographic Scale | Multinational |
| Seeking Resources for: | Project implementation |
| Type of Resources/Support needed: | Financial |