VALOR – VALues and dependence of society on pollinatORS

In the project ‘VALOR – VALues and dependence of society on pollinatORS’, we are investigating the importance of pollinators for local communities. The research will be conducted using social and ethnographic research methodologies that will directly connect with the ecological fieldwork done by other project partners (including Dr Hajnalka Szentgyörgyi from the Institute of Botany at Jagiellonian University).  By working with local stakeholders, new methods will be developed to understand the short- and long-term cultural and non-economic values in local landscapes and the costs and benefits of mitigating the consequences of the decline in pollinator populations.  The project methodology includes a literature review on the importance of wild pollinators for cultural values, heritage and traditional cultural practices in Europe, in-depth interviews with stakeholders, and workshops on the future of heritage and practices in the context of projected changes in pollinator populations.