Veni for Gül Aktürk Hauser's study on climate resilience of pastoral communities
NWO Veni Grant image: Myrzabek Ozubekov, Wikimedia Commons
How do pastoral communities adapt to a changing climate? And what can we learn from their centuries-old knowledge of living with environmental uncertainty? Thanks to a prestigious NWO Veni grant, Dr Gül Aktürk Hauser of Leiden University's Faculty of Archaeology will investigate the resilience of transhumance practices in Türkiye and Kyrgyzstan.
Transhumance
Her project focuses on transhumance, a form of pastoralism in which people move seasonally with their livestock between lowland and highland pastures. While this way of life has existed for centuries, climate change, biodiversity loss and changing land use are putting increasing pressure on pastoral communities and the landscapes they depend on.
Pastoral movement
Transhumance is much more than the seasonal movement of animals. 'People move with their livestock from villages to highland pastures during the warmer months and return before winter,' Aktürk Hauser explains. 'The whole system includes migration routes, resting places, water sources, shelters for animals, yurts and even festivals connected to pastoral movement.'
Although transhumance can be found in many parts of the world, Kyrgyzstan remains one of the places where pastoral mobility continues to play an important role in everyday life. Aktürk Hauser will compare pastoral systems in Kyrgyzstan and Türkiye, focusing on how communities respond to environmental challenges.
Climate change on the move
Rising temperatures and changing weather patterns are already affecting pastoral livelihoods. Droughts are becoming more frequent, seasonal patterns are shifting and grazing land is becoming less available.
'Pastoralists are leaving earlier, adjusting their calendars and searching for new places where they can find water and graze their animals,' says Aktürk Hauser. 'The availability of forage and pastureland is decreasing, and biodiversity is being affected.'
These changes can also increase competition over resources, leading to tensions between farmers and pastoralists. Yet the communities themselves are not passive victims of climate change.
'Pastoral communities are vulnerable to climate change, but they are also resilient. They have developed adaptation strategies, such as altering herd sizes, changing migration routes and creating water-storage solutions.'
Learning from traditional knowledge
The central aim of the project is to understand whether traditional pastoral practices can offer lessons for contemporary climate adaptation. 'I am hoping to identify resilient practices and ecological knowledge that have helped pastoral communities cope with environmental change over long periods of time,' Aktürk Hauser says.
To do so, she will combine ethnographic fieldwork, participatory approaches with digital mapping techniques. During fieldwork, she plans to travel with pastoralists, stay in their yurts and document their daily lives and seasonal movements. 'I will move with these communities and document their practices, their routes and the changing pastoral landscapes.'
The project will also use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map migration routes and analyse environmental change. Working together with local communities, Aktürk Hauser aims to create interactive digital maps and contribute to a broader digital atlas of pastoral landscapes.
International collaboration
The project will be carried out in close collaboration with partners in Kyrgyzstan, including the University of Central Asia. A multidisciplinary team will support the research, including research assistants and a GIS specialist. 'This project combines ethnographic research, participatory and digital mapping. It is very much a collaborative effort.'
The research is scheduled to start in January 2027 and will run for three years. Besides publication of articles and a policy, Aktürk Hauser plans to share the results through public lectures, conferences and collaborations with local stakeholders.
About the Veni grant
The NWO Veni grant is awarded to promising researchers who have recently obtained their PhD. The grant enables recipients to further develop their own innovative line of research over a period of several years.