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Corporations have always had the power to demand their rights: their freedom often clashes with the freedom of others to protect their needs and their lives. The article analyzes the arbitration over Roșia Montană brought by Gabriel Resources against Romania in 2015. Beyond Romania’s unexpected victory, we want to highlight that this controversial legal mechanism is a form of perpetuation of structural injustices. Between January and July 2024, our research aimed to analyze how this topic is being discussed by key actors in Romania: we examined public statements by government officials and mainstream media, as well as carried out interviews with residents of Roșia Montana.

Article by Irina Velicu and Ionuț Codreanu, illustrated by Mina Mimosa

https://theanthro.art/do-no-harm-to-investors-rosia-montana-arbitration-and-structural-injustice/

This article explores how migration from urban to rural areas influences dietary habits and promotes the adoption of more sustainable food practices. The research is set against the backdrop of increasing counterurbanization, where individuals are leaving cities in pursuit of healthier, more balanced lifestyles in rural settings. The connection between food and nature is examined in this context, highlighting shifts towards local, seasonal produce, self-sufficiency, and sustainability. The aim of the study is to understand how the dietary habits of people who have relocated from urban to rural areas have evolved in terms of sustainability. Based on semi-structured interviews with seven families who moved from cities like Bucharest, Cluj, and Craiova to nearby villages, the research investigates topics such as changes in food preferences, challenges in adapting to rural life, food sourcing strategies, and levels of awareness and commitment to sustainable practices. The findings show that the transition to rural living led participants to rethink their relationship with food, with many adopting sustainable practices such as composting and growing fresh vegetables in their own gardens. This shift reflects a deeper connection with nature and an enhanced commitment to sustainability, something that participants had not necessarily prioritized before moving.

Article by Alexandra Leca, illustrated by Amandine Bănescu

https://theanthro.art/from-block-to-garden-how-are-food-practices-changing-alexandra-leca/

It is necessary to reflect on the role of the anthropologist in denouncing realities that are often subalternised, with the role of changing them through initiatives and solutions proposed by the anthropologist, allowing us to reflect on the porosity between the spheres of activism and anthropology. To realize the implications and interconnections between different contexts, it is necessary to take a multi-scalar and multi-sited approach. One of the fields most concerned with the interconnections between local, national, and international scales is environmental studies, and it is on this theme that the article focus, mobilising former research to reach this goal.

Article by Rosalina Pisco Costa, illustrated by Juliana Penkova

https://theanthro.art/room-242-and-the-portraits-that-do-not-speak-unveiling-gender-and-leadership-in-higher-education-contexts/

This study investigates the challenges and strategies for incorporating sustainability into the social control of municipal School Feeding Councils (CAEs) in Minas Gerais within the National School Feeding Program (PNAE). The research aims to understand the performance of CAEs in promoting sustainability and evaluates the impact of an educational intervention on counselors’ intentions to act. The methodology involves action research with qualitative and quantitative analyses, including workshops and discussion groups. Key findings highlight the importance of family farming, school gardens, and reducing food waste as strategies for sustainability. The study also identifies obstacles such as lack of support and negative interference from teachers. The educational intervention appears to have raised awareness and fostered partnerships among CAEs, suggesting the need for intensified training initiatives to enhance counselors’ skills and competencies in sustainability.

Article by Lucas Daniel Sanches, Ana Carolina Ratti Nogueira, Monique de Oliveira Sant'Anna, Jaciara Reis Nogueira Garcia, Bruno Martins Dala Paula​, illustrated by Guilia Cavallo

https://theanthro.art/challenges-and-strategies-for-including-sustainability-in-the-social-control-of-the-municipal-school-feeding-councils-in-minas-gerais-in-the-national-school-feeding-program/

The Creating Life Champions project is a collaboration between the ERASMUS+ program and the UEFA Foundation for Children, to strengthen positive social values and principles by using sports fields as a vehicle. This project gathered 16 partners from 8 European countries. The following text presents the results of the ethnographic research done in Portugal regarding this project, aimed to conduct an in-depth analysis of how trainers perceive the educational and pedagogical role of sport and what may be the path for a sustainable strengthening of this role. From April to May 2023, a total of 20 in-depth interviews with youth coaches from 3 cities and 14 football clubs various football clubs in Portugal, to understand, the main factors, values and necessities of working with children in sports, creating a blueprint of the profile of a youth coach in Portugal for the Creating Life Champions Project to create a module and Moodle course for trainers.

Article by Daniel Alves, illustrated by Patricia Palma

https://theanthro.art/creating-life-champions-youth-coaching-values-ethics-careers-and-a-sustainable-development-of-trainers-and-athletes/

This article explores the pivotal role of videos and thematic routes in promoting sustainable tourism through the lens of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Anchored in anthropological and ethnographic methodologies, it highlights how these tools preserve and celebrate traditions, crafts, music, and oral histories. Using the Mouraria neighborhood in Lisbon as a case study, the project documents local narratives and practices to create immersive and authentic tourist experiences. This model demonstrates how tourism can safeguard cultural identity, enhance socio-economic development, and promote sustainability without compromising authenticity.

Article by Augusto Ferreira, illustrated by Patricia Palma

https://theanthro.art/aroundtheneighborhood-a-storytelling-of-mourarias-memories-traditions-and-history/

Speculative Design is a methodological approach that can be a huge tool for anthropologists. By working in collaboration with designers and using speculative design techniques, anthropologists and designers together could engage with communities and specific social groups for understanding social problems and imagining alternative futures. With this text is on the one side to present Speculative Design, while at the same time speculating how it could work for anthropologists as a tool for social innovation.

Article by Andrea Gaspar, illustrated by Michaela Jones

https://theanthro.art/what-if-anthropology-speculative-design-social-innovation-2/

Ridesharing practices such as hitchhiking and carpooling form specific ways of mobility, rich in composition and narratives. Both social practices are present at the margins of all urban areas in Romania having their own specific modus operandi. Although they are not associated with the concept of sustainability by their public, they are embedded in a sustainable kind of mobility, as alternatives to personal road vehicles. The sustainable dimension of ridesharing is also supported by the debate around the occupancy of the car seats. Comparative and historical material demonstrates that states may encourage, discourage, criminalise, or neglect hitchhiking through different policies or even propaganda in order to fill as many car seats as possible. Through such policies, ridesharing is promoted as an act of individual responsibility towards the environment and society as a whole. In other cases it is perceived as a limitation for mobility, and the social results are easy to detect. As Graham and Marvin (2001) noted when they were discussing electronically tolled highways or superhighways, these practices are clearly exclusionary, accentuating the splintering of urbanism. My article proposes a timeline in the history of ridesharing and explores the way unorganised travelling like hitchhiking and organised commuting like digital carpooling (especially through the Blablacar platform) might be part of a more sustainable behaviour. In contrast, other so-called ridesharing platforms such as Uber or Bolt are falsely considered part of the broad concept of sharing economy. Borrowing the concept from Belk (2014), I consider them “pseudo-sharing”.

Article by Iulian Gabor and Ben Eyre, illustrated by Daniela Olaru

https://theanthro.art/on-shared-automobility-practices-from-horse-carriages-to-digitally-prearranged-rides/

For several years now the financial industry has been enrolled, more or less voluntarily, in the global quest for sustainability. Sustainable finance is currently a complex, variegated field of practices and discourses which claims to invest in projects that have, in the best case scenario, a positive impact on society and the planet, or, worst case scenario at least avoid having a negative one, while also making returns. This article focuses on investors practicing a sustainable investment strategy called impact investing, reflecting on a question we were asked at one of the field’s main annual conferences in late 2023: “how can you leverage anthropology to make an impact?” We reflect on what this question actually means, draw parallels between impact investing and development programs, and explore different answers given by both academic and applied anthropologists to show how anthropologists think about finance and sustainability, and how are their ideas informed by and transformed into actions.

Article by Stefan Voicu and Ben Eyre, illustrated by Cristina Labo

https://theanthro.art/can-you-make-an-impact-anthropologists-and-sustainable-finance/

This article focuses on fieldwork conducted in Odivelas, Portugal, where the Municipal Council of Odivelas (MCO) implemented a program to introduce halal meals in the municipality’s public school system. The initiative aimed to accommodate the dietary needs of Muslim students while promoting sociocultural and religious inclusion, as well as school integration. In its first edition, the program covered 50 schools and approximately 116 Muslim students, with participation increasing by 33% the following year. This initiative has helped lay essential foundations for reversing the trend of early school dropouts among Muslim students and fostering a dual sense of identity, allowing them to embrace both their Portuguese citizenship and their Muslim faith.

Article by Pedro Alves, illustrated by Animal Waves

https://theanthro.art/halal-in-the-muslim-community-of-odivelense-a-project-for-social-inclusion-and-educational-integration/

This article examines the connection between the Hunedoara Steel Plant, the Corvinul football team, and the collective identities of the residents of Hunedoara. Following the decline of the local industry, the team and the stadium have become symbols of a glorious past and community unity. Nostalgia for the golden era of the Steel Plant is reflected in the fervent support for the team and the project to construct their new stadium. This project represents not only an investment in sports infrastructure but also a grassroots effort to rebuild the city’s identity and provide its residents with a sense of pride and belonging.

Article by Vlad Roman-Cocoară, illustrated by Alexandra Hochreiter

https://theanthro.art/the-steel-mill-corvinul-and-the-stadium-an-overlooked-chapter-of-post-socialist-transition-in-hunedoara-romania/

When looking for information on the famous 3 Rs of sustainability, I came across a video on YouTube by a French woman living in California called Bea Johnson, that proposed a waste hierarchy of 5 Rs (refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle and rot). The practices shared were not new to the environmental movement, nor to the lives of people who were born before the consumer society. But, for the first time, someone turned it into a set of practices applicable to everyday life, turning it into a global movement with all the characteristics of the social media era. In the format proposed, and subsequently by other prominent voices in the movement, I found a practical way of replicating what I was already doing in a diffuse way within other movements. This article will show that work and principles.

Article by Lívia Humaire Kampff, illustrated by Joana Cruz

https://theanthro.art/zero-waste-the-genealogy-of-a-movement/

Food systems can be a valuable tool to think about biodiversity as inherently interconnected with our human worlds, in practices that look towards the sustainability of ecosystems, rather than based in the logic of extracting resources without caring for the degradation of landscapes. Through an ethnographic looking glass, we can understand the ways in which certain food production systems can in fact help us think and act on the current socio- ecological crisis. This article draws from fieldwork among agro-pastoralists in the northeastern region of Portugal, done during September 2023, and January 2024. Based on a mix methods approach, the fieldwork’s main method was walking with shepherds of indigenous sheep and goat’s species along their daily grazing paths, allowing informal conversations to happen based in an ethnographic inquiry into the human-environmental relations. The perspectives brought form this experience are of enormous value as they point to possible avenues for change in face of land degradation, biodiversity loss and the impacts of climate change.

Article by Silvia Raposo, illustrated by Joana Cruz

https://theanthro.art/rethinking-landscapes-ecological-relations-in-more-than-human-collectives-as-a-way-to-think-about-the-anthropocene/

The use of holographic technology in art and its relationship with social inclusion and the democratization of access to art have been increasingly prominent topics in the contemporary art scene. Through an innovative and accessible approach, holographic art has the potential to transform the way artworks are presented and appreciated by diverse audiences, including communities in remote areas. This article examines how holographic technology can address issues of art accessibility, promote social and cultural inclusion, and truly democratize the artistic experience, referencing sociological theory, such as that of Zygmunt Bauman.

Article by Silvia Raposo, illustrated by Joana Cruz

https://theanthro.art/holo-wow-how-holographic-art-is-shaping-the-future-of-inclusive-art/

It is necessary to reflect on the role of the anthropologist in denouncing realities that are often subalternised, with the role of changing them through initiatives and solutions proposed by the anthropologist, allowing us to reflect on the porosity between the spheres of activism and anthropology.

To realize the implications and interconnections between different contexts, it is necessary to take a multi-scalar and multi-sited approach. One of the fields most concerned with the interconnections between local, national, and international scales is environmental studies, and it is on this theme that the article focus, mobilising former research to reach this goal.

Article by Fátima Santos, illustrated by Juliana Penkova

https://theanthro.art/the-role-of-the-anthropologist-in-ecological-activism-the-importance-of-a-multiscalar-and-multisituated-approach-and-collaborative-ethnographic-production/

Funerary practices have been around since the dawn of humanity serving two main purposes: the need for body disposal and to help the grieving community process the loss. We will focus on mainland Portugal during the Medieval Period up to present day to provide a brief overview of how people have dealt with death, from evolving perceptions from the Past to Present, to the emergence of a “new type of dead” – human remains of archaeological provenance and the obstacles towards sustainability.

Article by Ana Lema Seabra, illustrated by Juliana Penkova

https://theanthro.art/life-after-death-the-role-of-human-remains-in-a-somewhat-sustainable-afterlife/

This position paper claims that local governments, within a regional inter-related scope, should envision a new territorial social policy for the effectiveness of sustainability and wellbeing of communities. The proposal of this work stems from a long period of research on sustainability matter; the framing of ecumene studies; and from applied science as consultants with local governments. Our recommendation is that this territorial social policy should be presented as a Regional Conviviality Formula, which is the synergetic result of Compact Cities + Intermodal Cities + New Public Places. We highlight that this formula has potential to create a new socio-spatial configuration: a new conviviality model. This work is a reflexive attempt on two schisms (socio-cultural and nature-human) that should be overcome in the 21st century, within that new conviviality model.

Article by Paulo Castro Seixas, Nadine Lobner, illustrated by Juliana Penkova

https://theanthro.art/a-new-territorial-social-policy-as-a-bioregional-conviviality-formula-compact-cities-intermodal-cities-new-public-places/

Inclusion is a topic that is increasingly being debated and transformed. Performing arts are not out of this equation and tend more and more to look at the issue and create new opportunities for those who are often left behind by physical, intellectual or social issues. In this article I propose a critical analysis of a programme of inclusion of people with disabilities in a professional contemporary circus production with the aim of understanding its impact on the participants and the surrounding community, as well as the difficulties in implementing it.

Article by Rui Leitão, illustrated by Patrícia Palma

https://theanthro.art/social-inclusion-of-people-with-disabilities-in-professional-circus-rui-leitao/

Taking inspiration from the approach of heterosexuality as a political regime, as proposed by lesbian feminism and queer theories, this study starts from the premise that mononormativity (Porto, 2018) permeates the legal apparatus of the state and, simultaneously, transcends it, imbuing social relations and cultural practices in ways not always evident. Building on this intuition, I begin this reflection with an analysis of the gaps in the legal sphere of monogamy in Brazil. Next, I present an analysis of the interactions between the state and monogamy in the context of educational and public health policies. From this discussion, I address the tendency toward the monogamization (Rothmüller, 2021) of relationships during the Covid-19 pandemic and the representation of relational dissidences as threats to the moral order of society. Finally, I propose an analysis of the criminalization of youth culture in the suburbs of Salvador, Bahia, as an example of the consolidation of monogamy as an implicit component of public order policy.

Article by Pablo Pérez Navarro, illustrated by Patrícia Palma

https://theanthro.art/sexuality-and-public-order-navigating-mononormativity-in-contemporary-brazil-pablo-perez-navarro/

Words, in addition to their declarative or descriptive formats, also have a performative character – they do not exclusively serve the purpose of reporting what is done, but also serve to do so. What is the importance of language in the daily life on the outskirts of Lisbon? I intended to understand how language, on the one hand, is articulated with the contexts of exclusion and inequality that structure the urban condition and, on the other, functions as a mechanism for the construction of a collective identity, social inclusion, and resistance. Using semi-structured interviews with young people from precarious and racialized neighborhoods of the Sintra Train Line and combining them with my own familiarity on the ground, I will try to show that local communities are not reduced to passive receptacles of the contexts of oppression imposed on them, and it is imperative to recognize the residents themselves as protagonists of the urban struggle.

Article by Madalena Galrinho, illustrated by Lídia Belchior

https://theanthro.art/the-importance-of-words-in-the-everyday-life-of-the-suburbs-of-lisbon-madalena-galrinho/

This article aims to address the intimate relationship between bureaucratic violence in Portugal against irregular Brazilian immigrants and social inequality. The situation of irregularity limits immigrants’ access to the spheres that make up public life in society and simultaneously restricts their opportunities and working conditions in the host country. To carry out a solid ethnographic article, the life stories method was used in conjunction with formal and informal interviews. Thus, through interviews focused on the migrant experience of these women and theoretical analysis, it was possible to understand how the precarity of the irregular period constitutes a catalyst for social exclusion and segregation of this specific migrant group, Brazilians in Portugal.

Article by Ana Luiza Silva Miranda, illustrated by Noa M.

https://theanthro.art/the-intimate-relationship-between-bureaucratic-violence-and-social-inequality-with-irregular-immigrants-in-portugal-brazilian-women-labor-precarity-and-xenophobia-ana-luiza-miranda/

Evidence gathered since the late 2000s has suggested that a part of the working class goes through episodes of poverty without becoming chronically poor. Drawing on a project conceived to capture successful movements that escape severe or extreme destitution and deprivation and based on an ethnography with 28 families in two public housing estates in the metropolitan area of Lisbon, this article will start by exposing how poverty emerged in their lives, under what conditions it was possible to overcome it, and how they identify the positions they have conquered within structures of inequalities and social hierarchies.

Article by José Cavaleiro Rodrigues, illustrated by Animal Waves

https://theanthro.art/from-images-to-social-identities-stories-of-working-class-families-on-the-move-jose-cavaleiro-rodrigues/

In today’s digital age, cloud storage has become increasingly prevalent, fundamentally altering how we manage and interact with data ownership. While corporate entities have traditionally relied on cloud storage for large-scale data management, personal data storage has recently migrated to the cloud, emerging as a primary means of storing various virtual assets. This shift towards personal cloud storage reflects a broader cultural trend towards digitalization and convenience. However, it also underscores the challenges of digital clutter and data accumulation on a personal level. Through interviews and observation, this research delves into the reasons behind our tendencies to continuously accumulate digital assets and explores their ecological consequences. Emotional attachments and subscription plans emerge as significant drivers of digital clutter. Furthermore, amidst the unsettling trend of corporate dominance over data, the article advocates for a more conscientious and sustainable approach to managing digital possessions. Drawing on diverse theories and environmental discourse, it emphasizes the importance of striking a balance between personal convenience and ecological responsibility.

Article by Liana Gheorghiu, illustrated by Andreea Moise

https://theanthro.art/on-digital-clutter-understanding-our-relationship-with-the-new-cloud-of-unknowing-liana-gheorghiu-illustration-by-andreea-moise/

There is almost a poetic appeal to crafts that render them timeless. Crafts such as textiles maintain continuity, in contrast to trends, like fashion. Textile practice provides thus established codes for interpreting local culture. In doing so, they inhabit their environment in a caring and conscious way. That’s why it should come as no surprise that craftspeople think differently about sustainability than designers or managers. Their practices are deeply embedded in the territory and strongly connected to aspects of place, materiality and social context. At the same time, a large part of this knowledge about sustainability is tacit – this means it can be hardly articulated using language. It is rather embedded in gestures of working with and through materials, aspects which are difficult to understand, measure and capture. So, what can we learn about sustainability from craftspeople using the lens of gestures? In my project, I take up the challenge of exploring this further by adopting metaphor theory as an entry point into better understanding and capturing textile artisans’ vision of sustainability, in order to elicit and communicate it in a comprehensive way to audiences. Conceptual metaphor theory is the field that looks at how we understand abstract concepts using metaphors. To do this, I set up an interdisciplinary method that borrows methods from linguistics, dance theory and ethnography to map metaphoric gestures of textile artisans across Europe. My field research (March-July 2024) includes case studies in my home country, Romania, but also other European countries. Expected results are both theoretical/conceptual (novel interdisciplinary framework for mapping gestures) as well as applied (a final exhibition of the textile designers’ work using collected data to present them in an immersive and comprehensible way to the public).

Article by Ruxandra Lupu, illustrated by Dariana Ilie

https://theanthro.art/an-anthropology-of-gestures-shifting-narratives-about-sustainability-in-textile-crafts-through-the-lens-of-metaphor-theory/

The role of water in rural Moldova transcends its physical properties as a vital substance to become a poignant reflection of the broader socio-economic, political, and environmental dynamics at play in post-Soviet rural life. Against a backdrop of historical disinvestment, both during the Soviet times and in their aftermath, the article explores the ways in which residents of a village in the north of Moldova navigate water insecurity. Through a delicate balance of waiting for official intervention from the local administration and resorting to self-reliant strategies, they meet their everyday water needs with resourcefulness and endurance. When the village hall launched the construction of an infrastructural initiative that would provide access to piped water to every household in the village, the promise of a long-term solution to the problem imbued locals with hope. However, when the construction work was put on pause, villagers found themselves suspended between the all-too-familiar struggles of fulfilling their daily water needs and the collective imaginary of a better future. While they wait for water to reach their taps, they resort to creative bricolages such as makeshift pumps and rainwater collection barrels. Yet, amidst these adaptive measures lies a pervasive sense of uncertainty, perpetuated by the rumours and hearsay that surround the stalled water project. These narratives not only serve as coping mechanisms but also fuel collective demands for accountability and transparency from local authorities.

Article by Olga Bostan, illustrated by Amandine Bănescu

https://theanthro.art/one-drop-at-a-time-on-waiting-for-water-in-rural-moldova/

Land grabbing is a widely talked-about subject in political debates yet at the same time little understood in the context of Eastern Europe. Seeking to shed light on this complex issue, my research delved into the mechanisms of land grabbing while also uncovering forms of peasant resistance. During the summer of 2023, I did my fieldwork in the nearby villages of Huedin, Romania, where I engaged in participant observations at local peasant markets and I conducted interviews with a diverse array of people, including peasants, advocates for food sovereignty, and municipal authorities. At the heart of my investigation lies the notion of environmental justice. My fieldwork revealed that land grabbing is perceived as a form of injustice, with many of the interviews pointing to abuses of power, and elusive forms of violence that facilitate land grabbing. Another important insight of my fieldwork pertains to the role of traditional commons in resisting land grabbing, alongside the emergence of innovative initiatives like ALPA – Access to Land, which employs the concept of land banks to secure access to land for the next generation of young peasants.

Article by Hestia Delibas, illustrated by Diana Branzan

https://theanthro.art/under-the-radar-shedding-light-on-local-land-grabs/

It is often remarked that the Danube Delta is so captivating that those who visit once are inevitably drawn to return (Fănuș Neagu – writer, 1963). If this holds true, a similar sentiment can be extended to the village of Sfiștofca. For me, the history of Sfiștofca serves as a compelling illustration of how sustainable traditional practices thrive solely within the natural environment that surrounds a community. Guided by profound practical knowledge and a distinct “territorial identity” (Mihăilescu, Nahorniac), Sfiștofca emerges as an exemplary socio-ecological relationship, wherein villagers possess the autonomy to steward their local natural resources. However, when changes in the structure and ownership of their natural surroundings occur, the village embarks on a path of decline.

Article by Ioana Savin, illustrated by Erika Nagy

https://theanthro.art/forbbiden-sustainability-the-case-of-an-ecological-restoration-project-in-the-danube-delta-biosphere-reserve/

We are currently living in a world surrounded, trespassed, and organized by multiple uncertainties. Speaking of sustainability today implies to situate, temporally and spatially, the needs that a given society has, as well as the path to cover such needs. To build a world where many worlds fit, we need people who can accommodate multiple worlds inside themselves. Empathy is a matter of intimacy. The more intimacy we share, the more we can recognize in each other, no matter how distant we might appear to be. Sustainability is about building peace in a globalizing world.

Article by Soledad Jiménez-Tovar, illustrated by Noa Simões

https://theanthro.art/sustainability-as-empathy/

Climate change is a global reality, the result of intense and unsustainable human exploitation of natural resources and environmental degradation. The regular sustainable techniques are not enough to change this situation. Some authors attribute this to the lack of “connection and empathy with nature”, characteristics of a lifestyle in a capitalist society. Faced with this unpromising reality, some people have sought answers in spirituality, through practices, behaviors and worldviews supported by values related to the environment. This perception, studied by the anthropological field of Spiritual Ecology, aims to understand how some people create symbolic systems of human-planet relations, unfolding in practical ways. In this context, the knowledge of religion and spiritual ethics can make people aware of human and ecological rights, which include the indigenous shamanism of different peoples of the Amazon, based on a worldview intrinsically associated with nature, where there is no effective separation between nature, humans, and non-humans. Based on this recognition and appreciation, the practice of Amazonian shamanism has been spreading to other territories through the circulation of shamans and indigenous leaders. Portugal is one of these destinations, where indigenous people from the Amazon hold retreats, ceremonies and cultural events. Based on ethnographic fieldwork through participant observation in five ceremonies in different Portuguese locations between 2022 and 2023, the preliminary results of this research are presented. The results suggest that these practices maintain their tools and mysticism. The people who frequent foreign territories belong to the Pano linguistic branch, such as: Huni Kuin, Yawanawá and Noke Koi. The ceremonies and retreats take place in a natural environment, enabling participants to get in closer contact with nature. The resources will be reverted to the benefit of the communities of origin of these indigenous people, always related to the way of life that respects nature, raising awareness about the environmental preservation of an important biome for tackling the climate crisis.

Article by Carolina Ribeiro Araujo, illustrated by Joana Cruz

https://theanthro.art/sustain-the-world-in-dialogue-with-the-invisible/

Beyond politics and technology, there exists deeper narratives and cultural conditions that have brought our world out of balance.

Drawing on insights from a summer school for sustainability in Gothenburg, this article argues that imagination plays a crucial part in reshaping our understanding of the climate crisis and navigating towards a more just and sustainable world.

Presented in two principles: ‘The Work of Justice’ and ‘Recognizing a Web of Relations’, the article counters the current separation and economic value-based narrative and calls for finding ways to recognize the intrinsic value of both humans and nature in an interconnected web of life. We must exit the Anthropocene – an epoch defined by environmental crisis – and start building the Symbiocene: a ‘more-than-human’ approach to a more sustainable and just future.

Article by Sofia Tapaninen, illustrated by Axelle Van Wynsberghe

https://theanthro.art/building-the-symbiocene-fostering-imagination-for-a-more-sustainable-world/

The article addresses how humanitarian crises—driven by conflict, climate change, and displacement—disrupt menstrual health, particularly in low-income, disaster-prone regions. Fieldwork conducted in Indonesia illustrates the challenges menstruating individuals face, including lack of access to clean water, proper sanitation, and quality menstrual products. Environmental and/or humanitarian crises exacerbate these issues, with extreme weather events destroying vital infrastructure and displacing communities in refugee camps. This instability often forces menstruators to manage their health in unsanitary, unsafe conditions, leading to both physical discomfort and mental stress.

The article highlights the emotional and social exclusion menstruators experience due to stigma, particularly in conservative societies and refugee settings. The absence of private spaces and sanitary products increases shame and isolation, affecting mental health and reinforcing gender inequalities. Despite these adversities, menstruating individuals exhibit resilience, creating makeshift hygiene solutions and supporting each other within their communities. However, the lack of consistent government and humanitarian support intensifies the burden.

The article advocates for a holistic approach to menstrual health in crisis contexts—addressing not only the physical needs but also the social and mental dimensions. Menstrual health must be recognized as more than a hygiene issue; it is integral to dignity, gender equality, and well-being. Acknowledging menstrual health as a human right is essential to ensuring that menstruating individuals are empowered, respected, and not overlooked during crises.

Article by Fien de Ridder, illustrated by Eline Veldhuisen

https://theanthro.art/menstrual-health-in-crises-climate-change-social-exclusion-and-resilience/

Asked about what they value in life, (South)Africans often explain the concept of Ubuntu. With this they mean brother/sisterhood, sharing and compassion; being a person through other persons. They also said that this care extends to nature too. When asked the same question, the people in Bhutan emphasize Buddhist culture and finding inner peace and harmony. They have declared this as a national policy: Gross National Happiness (GNH). In this guardianship with nature also plays an important role. The (indigenous) people in Ecuador responded that for them the right way of living is living in harmony with nature; they call that Good Living, or Buen Vivir.

Article by Dr. Dorine van Norren, illustrated by Iris Relinde

https://theanthro.art/what-we-can-learn-from-ubuntu-buen-vivir-and-happiness-on-harmony-with-nature/

In this paper, I would like to share the story of the development of seawall infrastructure in Wakatobi, Indonesia, a top tourism destination and national park. The story of the seawall caught my attention because when I first arrived in Wakatobi for research, I found that the seawall story was a hot topic of conversation among community members. This paper tells the story of how residents perceive the seawall and what kind of impact it has had. I found that the seawall was built to prevent the loss of sand due to abrasion. Still, it also provides a space for residents to conduct sand mining. In the long run, it can threaten some residents’ sustainability of fishing livelihoods.

Article by Ashry Sallatu, illustrated by Axelle Van Wynsberghe

https://theanthro.art/seawall-and-the-silent-tide/

In the face of challenges posed by climate change, sustainability promises to safeguard our collective future. But not all sustainability projects have a positive impact, and not everyone understands sustainability to mean the same thing.

This is a story about Zenata, a much-celebrated Eco-City currently being built from scratch on a polluted stretch of coast in Morocco. Who benefits from such urban renewal projects and who gets left out? How sustainable is sustainability when it leads to displacement and reproduces inequalities? Answering these questions also points the way towards more inclusive methods for addressing the shared challenges posed by climate change.

Article by Cristiana Strava, illustrated by Margherita Miani, read by Anne van Muijlwijk

https://theanthro.art/greening-casablanca-is-urban-sustainability-just-another-word-for-gentrification/

Explore the fusion of corporate anthropology, the business world and sustainable transformation. We’ve created and economy and society based on negative reciprocity, a culture of extraction.

That means our challenge is not about more technology or new business cases but much more about people. About our belief systems and shared values that shape our societies.

I propose to understand the sustainability transition as place of liminality, of not knowing, confusion and a power struggle. Learn how anthropological methods are harnessed to embed sustainability, circularity and impact into corporate culture – how dialogue, storytelling, and peer influence shape organizational DNA for a greener future.

Article by Walter Faaij, Green Culture Lab, illustrated by Iris Relinde, read by Anne van Muijlwijk

https://theanthro.art/reframing-sustainability-a-cultural-approach-to-transformative-change/

In their exploration of wind energy in the Netherlands, Diny van Est, Anne Marieke Schwenke, and Noud Sleumer discuss the societal attitudes and challenges. Traditional windmills held local significance, unlike modern wind turbines which lack community ties. Resistance arises from concerns about visual pollution, lack of fairness, posing obstacles to wind projects.

Sleumer’s installation aims to bridge the gap between tradition and modernity, aiming to reflect on our relation with renewable energy.

Community energy cooperatives, like Rijnland Energy and Zuidenwind, involve residents in decision-making and profit-sharing, fostering community empowerment and strengthening the bond with wind infrastructure. The authors stress the importance of policymakers addressing community concerns and involving residents in wind energy projects to ensure a sustainable future.

Article by Diny van Est, Anne Marieke Schwencke, Noud Sleumer, illustrated by Studio Sonsuz

https://theanthro.art/who-owns-the-wind-pathways-to-reconnect-communities-with-wind-energy-in-the-netherlands/

This article examines the intersection of food poverty and sustainability through the work of The Waste To Success (TWTS), an organization offering sustainable cooking workshops at schools in the Netherlands. Using applied anthropology methods, the study explores the challenges of promoting sustainable food practices amongst students. Findings reveal a that despite sustainability teachings, students make choices that benefit themselves, insighting the need to align educational content with students’ lived experiences. The article offers recommendations for improving the impact of TWTS’s workshops, such as enhancing communication and incorporating culturally familiar recipes to promote sustainable and affordable cooking practices.

Article by Lin Visser and Sanni Overweg, illustrated by Studio Sonsuz

https://theanthro.art/how-a-black-bean-burger-can-be-the-bridge-between-food-poverty-and-sustainability-an-applied-anthropological-view-on-an-organization-that-creates-impact-through-food-in-the-sustainability-space/

The concept of “sustainability” is a must today: from the tiniest farming product or restaurant menu, to the multi-million-euro budget projects, “sustainable” needs to be on the front cover, on the label, in the main title. We got so used to the term that we hardly ever think what it actually means. The present essay discusses one of the most used misconceptions of sustainability in relationship to the “good old days” when life was said to be simpler, care free and consumerism was unheard of. The present essay uses the centuries-long history of fishing in an UNESCO biosphere reserve, the Danube Delta, to de-construct this myth. It questions whether “sustainability” can so easily go hand in hand with “tradition” and whether local people using natural resources, (in this case, the fish) were actually living in harmony with nature since the dawn of time. Colonial powers, international markets and politics are deeply shaping the ways locals are using the natural resources.

Article by Oana Ivan, illustrated by Rucsandra Enache, read by Katia Pascariu

https://theanthro.art/sustainability-a-historical-approach-over-a-new-concept-oana-ivan/

What are the ‘more-than-human’ experiences of life in a city? While modern urban planning policies focus on the need for green spaces in cities, these are usually controlled environments. However, nature encompasses ecosystems that may include elements often considered disruptive. The creatures we call pests have violated such notions of modernity as long as we have underestimated their disobedience, their relationship to urban politics, and the niche created for them by social inequality. The study of cockroaches offers insights into social dynamics, discourses, and political strategies. Different species of cockroaches, their ecosystems, and their interactions with humans and urban infrastructure co-evolve and mutually influence each other. Cockroaches are integral to broader ecosystems, and their survival and behavior depend not only on self-regulation but also on interactions with their environment, including human activities such as hygiene practices, urbanization, and climate change. This article discusses the infrastructure associated with cockroaches in Bucharest, Romania – the research focuses on kitchen and sewage cockroaches, insects perceived as filthy, useless to the ecosystem, and disruptive to our well-being. It explores the classist and gendered discourses surrounding these insects and investigates the personal experiences and the effects of cockroach infestation on our relationships with others (both with those we live with and our neighbors).

Article by Ruxandra Paduraru, illustrated by Alexandra Hochreiter, read by Katia Pascariu

https://theanthro.art/pests-in-town-cockroaches-in-the-bucharest-urban-imaginary-ruxandra-paduraru/

Across the European Union, a youthful demographic (ages 15-34) is increasingly preoccupied with climate change and sustainability. Nevertheless, there is a significant gap between their intentions and actions, between what they would like to do and what they are able to do. Drawing on a more extensive study on climate change and youth in Romania and the EU, we focus on a problem space that centres around education as the main domain for co-productive interventions that could address this gap. In our research, when discussing youth engagement with climate change, the experts and young people interviewed champion education as a sine qua non condition for empowering youth. However, there is a pervasive structural misunderstanding among policymakers and experts about the perspectives, interests, ways of learning, and thought processes of the youth. This disconnect extends to misconceptions on the most effective ways to educate and engage them in these matters.

Article by Alexandra Ciocănel & Andrada Istrate, illustrated by Melinda Ureczki Lázár

https://theanthro.art/the-kids-are-alright-are-they-exploring-the-intersection-of-climate-change-education-sustainability-and-policy-design-for-empowering-youth-alexandra-ciocanel-andrada-istrate/

The protagonist of this story is Ana (a pseudonym), a Romanian domestic careworker, aged 45. Ana came to work in Italy in 2005 when she was 36 years old. She had no children of her own, but had a niece, whose university education she supported financially. When the niece finished university, and found employment, Ana would divide all the money that she gained every month (€600/month) in two. She would give half of the money to her partner to finish building their house in Romania, and she would keep half for her own expenses in Italy: clothes, food, tablets, monthly internet and telephone passes, cigarettes, and alcohol. In the 11 years she had worked in Italy, Ana also contributed to the renovation of her parents’ house, in a village in eastern Romania. This piece of writing describes in detail the party we organised in Grano in July 2014, at Ana’s request. The material presented comes mainly from this event but is also based on my previous research, between July 2013 and August 2014, on migrant care work with the elderly in the region and the limited amount of time live-in migrant care workers have. In this case, changing the field of interest from the house to a public venue of encounter, from care to the curation of a party, allowed a very powerful shifting of contexts that facilitates understanding.

Article by Gabriela Nicoelscu, illustrated by Oana Hajos, read by Nicoleta Finariu Andrei

https://theanthro.art/celebrating-invisibility-live-in-romanian-badanti-caring-for-the-elderly-in-southeast-italy-gabriela-nicolescu/

Despite the existence of a legal framework that regulates their access to social protection within the European Union, mobile citizens face numerous obstacles in accessing their social rights. Thus, while migration abroad addresses inequalities that migrants face in the country of origin, migrants are in a position of inequality compared to non-migrants when it comes to accessing social protection across borders. Based on interviews with welfare brokers and Romanian migrants in Germany, this text shows that the barriers faced by EU migrants lead to the emergence of various “welfare brokers” – companies, non-governmental organisations, informal intermediaries – who, one one hand, facilitate migrants’ access to cross border social protection and, implicitly, address the inequalities they face on this front. On the other hand, their use of brokerage services reinforce existing inequalities between migrants from different categories.

Article by Alexandra Voivozeanu, illustrated by Lucian Barbu, read by Nicoleta Finariu Andrei

https://theanthro.art/how-do-welfare-intermediaries-help-eu-migrants-access-social-protection-alexandra-voivozeanu/

Public art defines and enhances the world that we inhabit. Here we propose to use its expression in the urban and virtual environment as a mediator for our understanding of how people of various social backgrounds, skill, or disability engage with various public spaces. The article thus reflects on how wellbeing is generated in inclusive public spaces, by drawing on the experience of moving art and culture to the virtual environment. We start from the recent experience of the pandemic and draw on the example of street art – a form of culture designed with the widest public in mind. As new limits have been imposed to the accessibility of traditional forms of culture, public art has been extended and reshaped in the virtual space. This has reopened questions of the value we place in public spaces and to what extent public art can promote inclusivity by making culture more accessible in the real and virtual environment alike. The main reference point are public art projects around which we build an inter-disciplinary dialogue. We start with the perspective of an artist and urban designer and a social scientist. The wider public is drawn into the discussion through a series of podcasts focused on the value we attribute to public spaces.*. Ultimately, we reflect on opportunities to achieve an inclusive public space, by drawing lessons from the integration of virtual and urban street art – as experienced in the example of the Fisart and Virtual Fisart street art festivals **.

Article by Liliana Harding and Corina Nani, illustrated by Corina Nani, read by Nicoleta Finariu Andrei

https://theanthro.art/valuing-art-in-public-spaces-liliana-harding-corina-nani/

Does social inclusion mean that we can eradicate social inequality or even just reduce inequality between certain categories of people and/or groups? Or we need to refresh our thinking and chose the harder way which seems a bit Sisyphusian and instead of focusing on social exclusion and inequalities, to look for cases of social inclusion and social cohesion (in their broader sense) and try to understand it. The situation of the Roma minority might be illustrative. Historically, the Roma population was excluded and marginalized all over the world, yet, there are situations when despite the measurable unequal position in the local community, the relationship between the local Roma and the non-Roma population was free of conflicts. The way the local society organized itself might answer the question of why in certain communities we can feel some kind of social cohesion on which social inclusion can be built later. One of the practices that contribute to maintaining local equilibrium and overcoming ethnic, racial, and class-related prejudices is the practice of Godparenting. In the village, Roma parents choose Hungarian Godparents for their newborn children. Their request is rarely refused by the Hungarians. During the years, the Roma family and the Hungarian family maintains an asymmetrical relationship but still based on trust. In this context, not all, but more social interventions that address inequality are reported as successful compared to more conflictual localities. Ethnic identity gains more cultural importance and its social prestige grows.

Article by Stefánia Toma, illustrated by Melinda Ureczki Lázár, read by Nicoleta Finariu Andrei

https://theanthro.art/godparents-patrons-and-trust-in-ethnically-mixed-rural-communities-in-transylvania-stefania-toma/

Creating spaces of solidarity for the most vulnerable is key to ensuring that some form of social justice is achieved, in a society where socio-economic policies and social attitudes are not the most favorable towards these categories. This article looks at how social canteens and soup kitchens contribute to creating such spaces, focusing on a specific category of vulnerability, homelessness, as a case study. Homeless persons belong to a social group extremely prone to poverty, discrimination, and social exclusion, with difficult or very low access to basic needs such as housing, food, belonging, and security. The purpose of this research is to understand to which extent food access initiatives build spaces which can offer a sense of inclusion and safety to their beneficiaries, while altogether meeting their food needs.

Article by Beatrice Manole, illustrated by József Vass

https://theanthro.art/living-in-precarity-how-social-canteens-and-soup-kitchens-contribute-to-community-solidarity-beatrice-manole/

Why is menstruation considered to be something shameful? As a cis-woman I have experienced and seen how menstruation is depicted around me, either in whispered voices and jokes or perfectly concealed in the commercials. This question was the starting point of my research, only to find out that menstruation is a lens that reveals a range of social inequalities experienced by women. In my qualitative research, I have talked with ten women (ages 50 to 81) regarding their experiences of menstruations during the communist period in Romania in order to better understand the historical context of menstruation in Romania. In the biographical narratives they shared with me, menstruation is described as a private, natural process, an individual experience, which is to stay within the limits of their private lives, rarely shared with closest female friends or in romantic relationships. The political and economic context from 1966 to 1989 had an impact on their perception of their bodies, reproduction, and sexuality because of the ban on abortions instituted by Decree 770. The female bodies became an economic and biological tool that the Communist Party used to secure economic growth and sustain industrial development. Women’s narratives about menstruation introduced me to the privacy of their lives, which allowed me to see the negative effects of pronatalist policies, gender inequality present both within and outside the family, and the false class equality that led to the emergence of interconnected social networks of informal economic practices.

Article by Anca Niță, illustrated by Roma Gavrilă, read by Nicoleta Finariu Andrei

https://theanthro.art/menstruation-social-inequality-and-biopolitics-in-socialist-romania-anca-nita/

With ten children in their household, a family from Bucharest could not remember how many times they were evicted. Dorina and Ioan kept on hiding and moving because of fear of having their kids taken by the social care department. They feared the public institution that was meant to give support to people in their situation. They also had to navigate the constant pressure from Local Police which would fine them for their informal work or their living in abandoned homes. What are the challenges imposed by the politics of the daily life of the urban poor? Who are the actors that trigger and that implement the policing practices within Bucharest? What are the effects of implementing formal and informal policing practices on the urban poor? During my ethnographic endeavor, I observed several dynamics at play within the formal and informal practices of policing the urban poor. The end result seems to be what I would call the local clandestine, the urban poor who fear that their mere existence in the public space might be sanctionable and who finds safety in being unnoticed.

Article by Irina Zamfirescu, illustrated by Rucsandra Enache, read by Nicoleta Finariu Andrei

https://theanthro.art/state-led-vulnerability-and-the-subtle-process-of-constructing-the-local-clandestine-irina-zamfirescu/

A growing critical heritage scholarship interrogates the facets of socio-economic, cultural and even spatial exclusion involved in heritage-making and in preserving the integrity and authenticity – particularly of built heritage, historic monuments or cultural landscapes. In the case of a high-profile UNESCO site in rural Transylvania, most residents have limited (or dissonant) access to the cultural landscape they inhabit. However, this has not led to open contestation and residents have accepted to live with the official heritage enforced by a local minority – the very few remaining heirs of the Saxon settlers who built the village back in the thirteenth century. Locals even participate in the performing and production of the official narrative, as long as they are acknowledged, have a share in the gains of heritage commodification while the cultural or spatial exclusion provides room for informality and freedom from the burden of staging authenticity. I set out to this village as soaring pressure from tourism and media popularity were beginning to have consequences on the local politics and economics of heritage-making, re-opening axes of contestation that had been until then surprisingly well kept in check.

Article by Irina Dobriță, illustrated by Cristina Barsony, read by Nicoleta Finariu Andrei

https://theanthro.art/affording-authenticity-strategies-for-inclusive-heritage-making-in-a-world-heritage-site-irina-dobrita/

The article examines how women in different socio-political contexts in Romania have engaged in football and how they negotiated their path in spite of the systematic and systemic disregard of their participation. For over five decades thousands of women have practiced organized football, however their place as athletes remains marginal not only in a male dominated sport but also in the collective imagination. The Romanian Football Federation has no official records of women’s football before 2014. Current initiatives of development are many times met with reluctance from the actors involved in the world of football and the public. Based on data collected over a period of one year through life stories interviews with former players and other actors involved in women’s football, archival media analysis and ethnographic research carried at a local team, the analysis brings forth women’s experience and the mechanisms developed to overcome misogynistic and discriminatory attitudes from state-socialism to the market-driven economy. The aim of this endeavor is to recognize the neglected and ignored realities of women football players and to see how this attitude has interfered with of the development of the game.

Article by Ileana Gabriela Szasz, illustrated by Maria Cucu, read by Katia Pascariu

https://theanthro.art/disregarding-womens-football-marginalized-experiences-of-a-sport-phenomenon-ileana-szasz/

The intersections of anthropology, inclusion, and accessibility in urban public spaces is the focus of this article, by delving into the Spaces4All project implemented in Lisbon, Portugal. It begins by emphasizing the importance of inclusion and addressing inequality in modern society, highlighting the role of anthropology in understanding, and tackling social issues.

The article discusses the significance of ethnographic fieldwork in uncovering barriers faced by marginalized groups, particularly those with reduced mobility, in accessing public spaces. It outlines the methodology employed in the Spaces4All project, including fieldwork, mapping of accessible routes, and collaboration with disability support organizations.

Through its process, the project developed a digital solution aimed at enhancing accessibility and cultural engagement for individuals with disabilities. The conclusion underscores the vital role of anthropology in advocating for inclusive urban spaces, emphasizing collaboration with local communities and policymakers to foster equitable environments for all citizens.

A text by Augusto Ferreira llustrated by Lídia Belchior.

https://theanthro.art/spaces4all-applying-anthropology-to-the-accessibility-and-inclusion-of-reduced-mobility-communities-in-public-urban-spaces/