Uncertainty and the pastoral schools in the expanded European region

Abstract

Schools to train new pastoralists are booming in southern Europe. These initiatives are conducted by NGOs, public agencies and private actors, often in partnership. They normally have very low threshold admittance levels, being open to want-to-be pastoralists from many different backgrounds. The aim of the pastoral schools is often many-folded, ranging from pure vocational training to multi-stakeholder partnerships and social innovation. On the one hand, they try to face the lack of workforce and scanty generational renewal for this profession, that is critical for producing food and managing ecosystems in difficult territories. Most schools have though also been established as a way to stimulate a discussion and raise societal and policy awareness on the uncertainties and challenges affecting agro-pastoral systems. Pastoral regions are in fact amongst those suffering from fastest depopulation rates in Europe; the land abandonment in the mountains, drylands an islands of southern Europe is a matters of specific policy concern for policy makers at different levels. Through this specific study, PASTRES assesses how well pastoral schools are situated to respond to contemporary uncertainties faced by pastoralists, and what lessons can be learnt for the broader management of uncertainties in training programs as well as for agricultural and conservation policies. The area investigated ranges from the Swiss Alps to the Canary Islands, which somehow proves that training pastoralist is a widespread issue. All over the region, school leaders and trainers are very much aware that uncertainty is there, and they would be very interested to exchange with pairs and experts about it – even if they all agrre that it wouldn’t be easy to nest as a topic within the teaching system.