Transdisciplinary learning framework
April 2025
The CULTIVATE team developed and implemented a transdisciplinary learning framework to guide social-ecological research in four European UNESCO Biospheres to understand, explore, co-create and further our knowledge supporting cultural heritage narratives for sustainable rural development. The framework is novel in the sense that it explicitly links cultural heritage with landscapes and social-ecological systems thinking. The framework also served as a methodology and enabled comparative cross case analysis, suggesting that the framework can amplify knowledge related to transferability and scaling of place-based social-ecological research focused on sustainability solutions and actions from local to global.
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Link to published paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877343524000939
Final event for Czech CULTIVATE team
February 2025
A final meeting to evaluate and close the Czech research in the Trebon Basin Biosphere Reserve, which was funded by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MŠMT) grant number 8F21006, was held at the Czech University of Life Sciences on January 22nd 2025. The meeting was attended by the chairman (leader of the opponent board) and 6 members of the opponent board, as well as 3 Czech CULTIVATE team members. In an introduction to CULTIVATE, project manager Zuzana Boukalova first presented the "Project CULTIVATE in Trebonsko” film, created as part of the project, before Czech PI, Iris Bohnet, presented some key findings from the research.
After a short discussion about CULTIVATE and potential links to existing projects in the region, the board members agreed that CULTIVATE is a novel, innovate and inspiring project providing the basis for future research and practice in Biosphere Reserves and other cultural landscapes.
May 2024
Estonia, Hiiumaa. On April 17, 2024, a seminar "Seeds" was held, this time for adult participants.
The seminar defined today's "seedlings" and the paths to nurturing them for a positive future. The participants articulated that flexibility, self-regulation, and local knowledge are crucial for society's adaptation to climate change. Formal and public education play significant roles, as do the contributions of museums and libraries in preserving intangible cultural heritage. The existing UNESCO Biosphere Program area provides a valuable model for shaping societal resilience.
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May 2024
In April, the Norwegian CULTIVATE team visited Austrheim high school – one of three high schools in Nordhordland UNESCO biosphere – to lead a day focused on sustainability and cultural landscapes in the past and in the future. There were about 20 students aged from 15-16. First, they were introduced to the fact that they live in a UNESCO biosphere reserve, and what it is and what it means. Further, they learned about ecosystem services – or natures benefits to people – focusing on the coastal heathlands, which is the traditional cultural landscape in this part of Nordhordland BR. After the introduction in the classroom, the students were taken out into the heathlands to assess different ecosystem services.
March 2024
The Scottish CULTIVATE team recently held a series of workshops in the settlements of Ullapool, Torridon and Dornie aimed at engaging with a range of local stakeholders to explore, discuss and agree how we can move from our current situation to a more just, inclusive and sustainable future for the cultural and natural landscapes in Wester Ross.
March 2024
As CULTIVATE enters its final year, the project held its third in-person meeting in Nordhordland Biosphere Reserve in Western Norway. The region is normally characterized by harsh weather this time of year, but during the partner meeting it was on its best behaviour with sunny skies and next to no wind or precipitation.
January 2024
The Norwegian team recently held a workshop for creating positive future visions for cultural heritage and cultural landscapes in the Nordhordland region, using the interactive Seeds of Good Anthropocenes (SoGA) method.
April 2023
After dedicating most of the last six months of the project to conducting interviews, the CULTIVATE project partners finally met in person, this time on the Hiiumaa island in the West Estonian Archipelago – almost exactly a year since the first in-person meeting in Trebon in March 2022.
December 2022
During October and November, the Norwegian team conducted walking interviews all over Nordhordland Biosphere Reserve.
August 2022
As fieldwork begins in all of the demonstration regions, a workshop is held for communities in Wester Ross Biosphere to share their views on the cultural heritage of forests and woodlands.
March, 2022
After nine months of regular Teams meetings, and heaven knows how many months of discussions on the project application, the CULTIVATE team was finally able to meet up in person.  Třeboň, bathed in lovely late winter sunshine, was a fitting location for the opportunity to develop the that personal contact so sorely missing from online meetings.