Event Title
Landscape Perception and Traditional Knowledge for Sustainable Development of UNESCO Skocjan Caves Area, Slovenia
Session Type
Plenary Session: Sustainbility and Community
Start Date
18-8-2020 10:45 AM
Description
Development cannot be sustainable without including the culture of local residents, who, through historical periods, have perceived, interpreted and used natural resources according to their needs and available knowledge. Any sustainable management of landscape should respect the meaning and importance that local people ascribe to material, social and spiritual practices. Special emphasis should be put to activities developed in balance with nature and its resources (e.g. caves, herbs, stones). Our ancestors had spiritual and emotion-al attitude towards nature and needed natural resources for survival. Their knowledge, skills and rituals, therefore could be effectively adapted to alleviate the techno-industrial overload of nature and to revitalize a cultural landscape. Although culture is recognized as an intrinsic part of the human experience and a driver of sustainable development (Culture for the 2030 Agenda), many challenges related to theory into practice have to be solved by different approaches. One of them is how to involve landscape perceptions and traditional knowledge and skills to future development and young generations. In this context, the main purpose of the paper is to reflect on specific past material, ritual (spiritual) and social elements of the wider UNESCO Škocjan Caves Area in the Classical Karst, Slovenia (Europe). By presenting the meaning and function of sacrificial practices in the caves in the Škocjan area, the mythical landscape features and the community’s knowledge of using herbs in local dishes preparation, the paper will show how intangible cultural heritage can meaningfully be used in finding ways to reach sustainable development goals.
Recommended Citation
Fakin Bajec,, Jasna Presenter, "Landscape Perception and Traditional Knowledge for Sustainable Development of UNESCO Skocjan Caves Area, Slovenia" (2020). Conservation of Fragile Karst Resources Proceedings. 11.
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/con_karst_res_proc/con_karst_pro_2020/day_one/11
Landscape Perception and Traditional Knowledge for Sustainable Development of UNESCO Skocjan Caves Area, Slovenia
Development cannot be sustainable without including the culture of local residents, who, through historical periods, have perceived, interpreted and used natural resources according to their needs and available knowledge. Any sustainable management of landscape should respect the meaning and importance that local people ascribe to material, social and spiritual practices. Special emphasis should be put to activities developed in balance with nature and its resources (e.g. caves, herbs, stones). Our ancestors had spiritual and emotion-al attitude towards nature and needed natural resources for survival. Their knowledge, skills and rituals, therefore could be effectively adapted to alleviate the techno-industrial overload of nature and to revitalize a cultural landscape. Although culture is recognized as an intrinsic part of the human experience and a driver of sustainable development (Culture for the 2030 Agenda), many challenges related to theory into practice have to be solved by different approaches. One of them is how to involve landscape perceptions and traditional knowledge and skills to future development and young generations. In this context, the main purpose of the paper is to reflect on specific past material, ritual (spiritual) and social elements of the wider UNESCO Škocjan Caves Area in the Classical Karst, Slovenia (Europe). By presenting the meaning and function of sacrificial practices in the caves in the Škocjan area, the mythical landscape features and the community’s knowledge of using herbs in local dishes preparation, the paper will show how intangible cultural heritage can meaningfully be used in finding ways to reach sustainable development goals.
Comments
This presentation was part of the Plenary Session: Sustainability and Community. Sustainability and Community Mangers and researchers from across the globe shared perspectives on the strengths and challenges to man-aging karst resources and the UNESCO programs de-signed to protect these environments. Topics covered a broad spectrum including collaborative management, efficacy of UNESCO protected area designations in safeguarding cave and karst geogheritage, geotourism roles and potentials, public perception, use of tradi-tional knowledge to guide karst management, and ge-oeducational and geotouristic opportunities offered by speleological activities.