Europe

Albania
A Reservoir of Ethnobotanical Knowledge Informs Resilient Food Security and Health Strategies in the Balkans
By: Cassandra L. Quave & Andrea Pieroni
Nature Plants
DOI: 10.1038
2015
Key words: Agroecology, Gorani, Albanians, Ethnobotany
https://www.nature.com/articles/nplants201421
While all peoples are nested in their environments, their decisions and actions are mediated by culturally constructed values, beliefs and priorities. Ethnobotanical methods can show how different ethnic groups living within the same geographic landscape interact with environmental resources. Here, authors explore the impact of culture on ethnobotanical knowledge, and practice on local food security and human health in northeastern Albania.

Belgium
Europe’s 500-year-old seafood tradition
By: Angela Dansby
BBC
February 25, 2021
Keywords: West Flanders, Oostduinkerke, paardenvisser, fishing, trawling, Brabant draft horse, shrimp, sustainable practices, women, tradition, UNESCO-recognized
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20210224-europes-500-year-old-seafood-tradition
Trawling for seafood from horseback is long-standing tradition along the southeast coast of the North Sea. This practice is customarily passed down from father to son, but a representative board of the Association of East Dunkirk Horse Fishers, the Royal Order of Horse Fishers, NAVIGO National Fisheries Museum, and the Koksijde City Council are now allowing women to be officially recognized as horse fishers. Horseback-fishing is more environmentally sustainable than modern commercial beam-trawling. Communities celebrate this tradition in a two-day festival every June, which brings in tourist attention and appreciation for this high-skill custom.

Finland
Traditional knowledge guides protection of planetary health in Finland
By: Jane Palmer
Mongabay
March 31, 2022
Key words: Skolt Sámi, Finland, peatland, peat, traditional knowledge, mining, rewilding, climate change, sustainability, ecosystem restoration
https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/traditional-knowledge-guides-protection-of-planetary-health-in-finland/
In Finland, the mining of peatland has released tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Peat is a natural carbon sink. When mined, that carbon is suddenly released. The organization Snowchange partnered with locals and traditional knowledge holders to rewild and restore these deeply important ecosystems. Rewilding not only restores the local natural environment but also has far-reaching effects both for non-local environments as well as peoples’ wellbeing.

Italy
Young Farmers Apply Ancient Agroforestry Practices in the Heart of Sardinia
By: Monica Pelliccia
Jan. 29, 2020
Mongabay
Keywords: Sardinia, Agroforestry, Silviopasture, goats, cheese making
https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/young-farmers-apply-ancient-agroforestry-practices-in-the-heart-of-sardinia/
A new generation of Mediterranean shepherds are utilizing centuries-old techniques for sustainable animal husbandry. Silviopasture involves letting goats forage in the shade of forests. This form of agroforestry sequesters carbon dioxide, reduces the severity of wildfires and reduces the need for supplemental forage.

Norway
Ecosystem Services and Cultural Values as Building Blocks for ‘The Good Life’. A Case Study in the Community of Røst, Lofoten Islands, Norway
By: Bjørn P. Kaltenborn, John D.C. Linnell , Erik Gómez Baggethun, Henrik Lindhjem,
Jørn Thomassen, & Kai M. Chan
Ecological Economics, 140:166-176
2017
Key words: Ecosystem Services, Cultural Values, Well-Being, The Good Life Lofoten, Norway
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800916304463
Authors examined the contribution of natural capital and social capital through the notion of cultural ecosystem services to shaping human well-being in the fishing community of Røst in the Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway. Through ethnographic observations, in-depth interviews, and a participatory scenario workshop they develop four narratives centering on the links of nature and ecosystem services.

Doing is Learning: Analysis of an Unsuccessful Attempt to Adapt TEK/IK Methodology to Norwegian Sámi Circumstances
By: Gro B. Ween & Jan Age Riseth
Acta Borealia, 28(2):228-242
2011
Key words: Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Indigenous Knowledge, Southern Sámi National Parks, Empowerment
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08003831.2011.626944
This article describes a case where an attempt was made to introduce TEK/IK into a conflict between Sámi reindeer owners and environmental institutions. The conflict was brought on by the establishment of a national park in Southern Sámi areas in Norway. As researchers well-established in the Southern Sámi area, the authors were brought into conversations regarding the park as the local reindeer owners searched for ways of bringing new arguments into the process.

Portugal
Evaluating Fishermen’s Conservation Attitudes and Local Ecological Knowledge of the European Sardine (Sardina pilchardus), Peniche, Portugal
By: Heitor O. Braga, Ulisses M. Azeiteiro, Henrique M. F. Oliviera, & Miguel A. Pardal
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 13:25
2017
Key words: Attitudes, Local Ecological Knowledge, European sardine, Fishermen, Conservation
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5420086/
European sardines are an important fishing resource in the North Atlantic. Recognized for its great commercial and economic value in southern Europe, this resource currently has low stock indices. From this perspective, fishers’ local ecological knowledge (LEK) is appreciated as an auxiliary tool in the management of sardines in this region. The goal of this article is to evaluate the LEK and attitudes towards the conservation of Sardina pilchardus in the typical fishing village of Peniche, Portugal.

Sweden
Traditional uses and practices of edible cultivated Allium species (fam. Amaryllidaceae) in Sweden
By: Erik de Vahl & Ingvar Svanberg
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
March 10, 2022
Key words: pre-industrial Sweden, traditional foods, traditional uses, folk botany, folklore, Allium, onions, rural population, cultivated plants, genetic diversity, garden crops, sustainability, global food security
https://ethnobiomed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13002-022-00513-z
It is important to understand the role cultivated plants as garden crops play in global food security. Using information collected from national surveys by the Swedish National Programme for Diversity of Cultivated Plants (POM), this study explores the importance of edible cultivated onions, Allium, by rural populations in pre-industrial Sweden to modern sustainability efforts.

Spain
Exploring climate change through proverbs in Sierra Nevada (Spain)
By: David Garcia del Amo
Local Indicators of Climate Change Impacts
Keywords: Agriculture, weather forecasting, oral tradition, Spain
https://licci.eu/exploring-climate-change-through-proverbs-in-sierra-nevada-spain/
From weather forecasting to pasturing and irrigation management decisions, traditional ecological knowledge has (and continues to be) used by local communities. This knowledge is often conveyed through proverbs. This knowledge can increase resilience in the face of climate change.