4 years ago
Academic Evening with Zsolt Molnár ethnoecologist
In November (6-7th) our university hosted a special guest, namely Zsolt Molnár (botanist, expert in ethnoecology), scientific advisor of the Centre for Ecological Research of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
The researcher gave lecture on traditional ecological knowledge of shepherds and its importance for nature conservancy. Following this event, researchers, PhDs and students could share their methodological questions and research experiences within a workshop.
The take home messages of the events highlighted the importance of traditional ecological knowledge and experience based knowledge on nature (e.g. traditional farming, herding) as vulnerable source of inspiration for nature conservancy. These forms of knowledge have been recognized as complementary to theoretical knowledge and, in many cases, has been already implemented as best management practices. This topic is approachable by many disciplines (e.g. botany, anthropology, ethnography, agricultural sciences, ecology, and ethology) therefore, it is important to have a dialogue between researchers, but above all, to have trust-based cooperation with local people.
Traditional and experiential knowledge are receiving increasing attention in international forums, but they are very vulnerable because of globalization. Unfortunately, this topic is less researched, but offers promising opportunities for researchers.
