Through long-term presence and active involvement with the land on a mountain pasture in the Slovenian Alps, distinct ways of knowing emerge, are shared, and created between the farming community that grazes cattle on the mountain pasture. These local, site-specific ways of knowing encompass knowledge of vegetation, familiarity with both domestic and wild animals, weather patterns and water resources, past practices or recognition of changes over time, linking the lives of those who use the pasture intricately to the rhythms of their environment.
While the explored ways of knowing are closely tied to local knowledge, they are also affected by the broader social, political, and economic context of the area, with municipal, state, and European policies impacting everyday life and intertwining with the local ways of knowing. In addition to the wider political and socio-historical context, small-scale kinship groups, particularly family-owned farms, serve as part of the formative setting where knowledge is internalised and embodied, shaping the learning processes. A farm, a family that is part of the local community and a mountain pasture are deeply interconnected because mountain pastures are maintained by individuals who reside on family farms, where, in most cases, the same lineage has been caring for them for generations. Finally, the wider social and geophysical environment of the mountain pasture embeds practical knowledge and fosters the learning process. The farming community's ways of knowing are shaped through these interconnected realms. This poster will examine how long-standing community practices, family kinship ties, and broader socio-political influences shape and sustain local, site-specific knowledge essential for the ecological and cultural continuity of a mountain pasture in the Slovenian Alps
