Grasslands cover a quarter of the land surface and, with their rootedness in the soil and their above-ground diversity, protect life systems that are currently among the most threatened on Earth. Natural grasslands weave stories of human and animal relationships with the land in many parts of the world and tell of their mutual exchange: we want to better understand the importance of the bite and kick of grazing animals, the movement of pollen, seeds, microbes, livestock, and people, the giving and taking between these different actors holistically.

A social-anthropological initiative by

Elisabeth Tauber, Almut Schneider

Since the Green Revolution this fragile system has been repeatedly affected by changes. As in the high mountain regions of the Alps, where fewer and fewer animals are led to graze, or as in many of today's meadows, which have turned into hay fields.  These transformations have reduced the modes of living together of humans, animals and plants to a highly simplified system and have led to a glaring loss of species and degradation of soils.

Wanting to relearn about the value of grassland and caring practices, we gather colleagues from anthropology, ecology, design as well as practitioners in the field.