Rural livelihoods and fire in Sardinia

In September, and together with our colleagues Valentina Bacciu and Grazia Pellizzaro from CNR Istituto per la Bioeconomia from the FIRE-ADAPT project, Andrea Berardi and I helped to facilitate two participatory video projects in rural Sardinia; the first in Alà dei Sardi and the second in Cuglieri. The aim of using participatory video was to develop a shared understanding and social memory of the use of fire in traditional rural practices, to promote intergenerational dialogue between older and young people and to engage different perspectives on how fire risk has changed over time and strategies for management, prevention and care of the territory.

In both locations, we worked with young people and through local facilitators. The participatory video began with workshops introducing the method, equipment involved and filming techniques and the elements of storytelling. The young people carried out short exercises to practice framing and interviewing, and to familiarise themselves with the equipment.

We then co-developed a storyboard / script around the theme of fire, starting with a rich picture to explore the situation and then a more detailed plan of how the story could unfold.

It was a challenging couple of weeks working with the young people; trying to get them off their phones was the biggest issue(!), but when they did, we were rewarded with some great footage. Going around their community, interviewing mostly older people, the participatory video process gave them and us as opportunity to talk to people who had deep understanding and experience of their territory and the role of fire in the landscape.

In Cuglieri, the video highlighted the changing nature of rural livelihoods with a move away from goat and sheep herding and charcoal making leaving the landscape abandoned with high fuel load. In 2021, the village experienced one of the worse wildfires of Sardinia, destroying forest cover and local ancient olive groves. The video shows some of the responses to that wildfire, including greater fire protection by local farms. The central theme in the Alà dei Sardi video was of the continued solidarity of this community in light of events such as wildfires, as well as the care and respect they have for the nature around them. With cork oak harvesting as a key income, people talked about the importance of looking after the territory and this important asset.

In Alà dei Sardi, the final video produced will be screened in an upcoming community event in early October and discussions with the municipality of Cuglieri will hopefully open an opportunity for a community screening there. We hope the videos will also form part of the FIRE-ADAPT Pyrosfera Platform (https://www.pyrosfera.org).

See the videos here:

https://vimeo.com/1225373507

https://vimeo.com/1226212704