AnthroArt

This article explores how migration from urban to rural areas influences dietary habits and promotes the adoption of more sustainable food practices. The research is set against the backdrop of increasing counterurbanization, where individuals are leaving cities in pursuit of healthier, more balanced lifestyles in rural settings. The connection between food and nature is examined in this context, highlighting shifts towards local, seasonal produce, self-sufficiency, and sustainability. The aim of the study is to understand how the dietary habits of people who have relocated from urban to rural areas have evolved in terms of sustainability. Based on semi-structured interviews with seven families who moved from cities like Bucharest, Cluj, and Craiova to nearby villages, the research investigates topics such as changes in food preferences, challenges in adapting to rural life, food sourcing strategies, and levels of awareness and commitment to sustainable practices. The findings show that the transition to rural living led participants to rethink their relationship with food, with many adopting sustainable practices such as composting and growing fresh vegetables in their own gardens. This shift reflects a deeper connection with nature and an enhanced commitment to sustainability, something that participants had not necessarily prioritized before moving.Article by Alexandra Leca, illustrated by Amandine Bănescuhttps://theanthro.art/from-block-to-garden-how-are-food-practices-changing-alexandra-leca/

This study investigates the challenges and strategies for incorporating sustainability into the social control of municipal School Feeding Councils (CAEs) in Minas Gerais within the National School Feeding Program (PNAE). The research aims to understand the performance of CAEs in promoting sustainability and evaluates the impact of an educational intervention on counselors’ intentions to act. The methodology involves action research with qualitative and quantitative analyses, including workshops and discussion groups. Key findings highlight the importance of family farming, school gardens, and reducing food waste as strategies for sustainability. The study also identifies obstacles such as lack of support and negative interference from teachers. The educational intervention appears to have raised awareness and fostered partnerships among CAEs, suggesting the need for intensified training initiatives to enhance counselors’ skills and competencies in sustainability.Article by Lucas Daniel Sanches, Ana Carolina Ratti Nogueira, Monique de Oliveira Sant'Anna, Jaciara Reis Nogueira Garcia, Bruno Martins Dala Paula​, illustrated by Guilia Cavallohttps://theanthro.art/challenges-and-strategies-for-including-sustainability-in-the-social-control-of-the-municipal-school-feeding-councils-in-minas-gerais-in-the-national-school-feeding-program/

This article explores the pivotal role of videos and thematic routes in promoting sustainable tourism through the lens of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Anchored in anthropological and ethnographic methodologies, it highlights how these tools preserve and celebrate traditions, crafts, music, and oral histories. Using the Mouraria neighborhood in Lisbon as a case study, the project documents local narratives and practices to create immersive and authentic tourist experiences. This model demonstrates how tourism can safeguard cultural identity, enhance socio-economic development, and promote sustainability without compromising authenticity.Article by Augusto Ferreira, illustrated by Patricia Palmahttps://theanthro.art/aroundtheneighborhood-a-storytelling-of-mourarias-memories-traditions-and-history/

Ridesharing practices such as hitchhiking and carpooling form specific ways of mobility, rich in composition and narratives. Both social practices are present at the margins of all urban areas in Romania having their own specific modus operandi. Although they are not associated with the concept of sustainability by their public, they are embedded in a sustainable kind of mobility, as alternatives to personal road vehicles. The sustainable dimension of ridesharing is also supported by the debate around the occupancy of the car seats. Comparative and historical material demonstrates that states may encourage, discourage, criminalise, or neglect hitchhiking through different policies or even propaganda in order to fill as many car seats as possible. Through such policies, ridesharing is promoted as an act of individual responsibility towards the environment and society as a whole. In other cases it is perceived as a limitation for mobility, and the social results are easy to detect. As Graham and Marvin (2001) noted when they were discussing electronically tolled highways or superhighways, these practices are clearly exclusionary, accentuating the splintering of urbanism. My article proposes a timeline in the history of ridesharing and explores the way unorganised travelling like hitchhiking and organised commuting like digital carpooling (especially through the Blablacar platform) might be part of a more sustainable behaviour. In contrast, other so-called ridesharing platforms such as Uber or Bolt are falsely considered part of the broad concept of sharing economy. Borrowing the concept from Belk (2014), I consider them “pseudo-sharing”.Article by Iulian Gabor and Ben Eyre, illustrated by Daniela Olaruhttps://theanthro.art/on-shared-automobility-practices-from-horse-carriages-to-digitally-prearranged-rides/

When looking for information on the famous 3 Rs of sustainability, I came across a video on YouTube by a French woman living in California called Bea Johnson, that proposed a waste hierarchy of 5 Rs (refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle and rot). The practices shared were not new to the environmental movement, nor to the lives of people who were born before the consumer society. But, for the first time, someone turned it into a set of practices applicable to everyday life, turning it into a global movement with all the characteristics of the social media era. In the format proposed, and subsequently by other prominent voices in the movement, I found a practical way of replicating what I was already doing in a diffuse way within other movements. This article will show that work and principles.Article by Lívia Humaire Kampff, illustrated by Joana Cruzhttps://theanthro.art/zero-waste-the-genealogy-of-a-movement/

The use of holographic technology in art and its relationship with social inclusion and the democratization of access to art have been increasingly prominent topics in the contemporary art scene. Through an innovative and accessible approach, holographic art has the potential to transform the way artworks are presented and appreciated by diverse audiences, including communities in remote areas. This article examines how holographic technology can address issues of art accessibility, promote social and cultural inclusion, and truly democratize the artistic experience, referencing sociological theory, such as that of Zygmunt Bauman.Article by Silvia Raposo, illustrated by Joana Cruzhttps://theanthro.art/holo-wow-how-holographic-art-is-shaping-the-future-of-inclusive-art/

Funerary practices have been around since the dawn of humanity serving two main purposes: the need for body disposal and to help the grieving community process the loss. We will focus on mainland Portugal during the Medieval Period up to present day to provide a brief overview of how people have dealt with death, from evolving perceptions from the Past to Present, to the emergence of a “new type of dead” – human remains of archaeological provenance and the obstacles towards sustainability.Article by Ana Lema Seabra, illustrated by Juliana Penkovahttps://theanthro.art/life-after-death-the-role-of-human-remains-in-a-somewhat-sustainable-afterlife/

In today’s digital age, cloud storage has become increasingly prevalent, fundamentally altering how we manage and interact with data ownership. While corporate entities have traditionally relied on cloud storage for large-scale data management, personal data storage has recently migrated to the cloud, emerging as a primary means of storing various virtual assets. This shift towards personal cloud storage reflects a broader cultural trend towards digitalization and convenience. However, it also underscores the challenges of digital clutter and data accumulation on a personal level. Through interviews and observation, this research delves into the reasons behind our tendencies to continuously accumulate digital assets and explores their ecological consequences. Emotional attachments and subscription plans emerge as significant drivers of digital clutter. Furthermore, amidst the unsettling trend of corporate dominance over data, the article advocates for a more conscientious and sustainable approach to managing digital possessions. Drawing on diverse theories and environmental discourse, it emphasizes the importance of striking a balance between personal convenience and ecological responsibility.Article by Liana Gheorghiu, illustrated by Andreea Moisehttps://theanthro.art/on-digital-clutter-understanding-our-relationship-with-the-new-cloud-of-unknowing-liana-gheorghiu-illustration-by-andreea-moise/

The role of water in rural Moldova transcends its physical properties as a vital substance to become a poignant reflection of the broader socio-economic, political, and environmental dynamics at play in post-Soviet rural life. Against a backdrop of historical disinvestment, both during the Soviet times and in their aftermath, the article explores the ways in which residents of a village in the north of Moldova navigate water insecurity. Through a delicate balance of waiting for official intervention from the local administration and resorting to self-reliant strategies, they meet their everyday water needs with resourcefulness and endurance. When the village hall launched the construction of an infrastructural initiative that would provide access to piped water to every household in the village, the promise of a long-term solution to the problem imbued locals with hope. However, when the construction work was put on pause, villagers found themselves suspended between the all-too-familiar struggles of fulfilling their daily water needs and the collective imaginary of a better future. While they wait for water to reach their taps, they resort to creative bricolages such as makeshift pumps and rainwater collection barrels. Yet, amidst these adaptive measures lies a pervasive sense of uncertainty, perpetuated by the rumours and hearsay that surround the stalled water project. These narratives not only serve as coping mechanisms but also fuel collective demands for accountability and transparency from local authorities.Article by Olga Bostan, illustrated by Amandine Bănescuhttps://theanthro.art/one-drop-at-a-time-on-waiting-for-water-in-rural-moldova/

It is often remarked that the Danube Delta is so captivating that those who visit once are inevitably drawn to return (Fănuș Neagu – writer, 1963). If this holds true, a similar sentiment can be extended to the village of Sfiștofca. For me, the history of Sfiștofca serves as a compelling illustration of how sustainable traditional practices thrive solely within the natural environment that surrounds a community. Guided by profound practical knowledge and a distinct “territorial identity” (Mihăilescu, Nahorniac), Sfiștofca emerges as an exemplary socio-ecological relationship, wherein villagers possess the autonomy to steward their local natural resources. However, when changes in the structure and ownership of their natural surroundings occur, the village embarks on a path of decline.Article by Ioana Savin, illustrated by Erika Nagyhttps://theanthro.art/forbbiden-sustainability-the-case-of-an-ecological-restoration-project-in-the-danube-delta-biosphere-reserve/

Climate change is a global reality, the result of intense and unsustainable human exploitation of natural resources and environmental degradation. The regular sustainable techniques are not enough to change this situation. Some authors attribute this to the lack of “connection and empathy with nature”, characteristics of a lifestyle in a capitalist society. Faced with this unpromising reality, some people have sought answers in spirituality, through practices, behaviors and worldviews supported by values related to the environment. This perception, studied by the anthropological field of Spiritual Ecology, aims to understand how some people create symbolic systems of human-planet relations, unfolding in practical ways. In this context, the knowledge of religion and spiritual ethics can make people aware of human and ecological rights, which include the indigenous shamanism of different peoples of the Amazon, based on a worldview intrinsically associated with nature, where there is no effective separation between nature, humans, and non-humans. Based on this recognition and appreciation, the practice of Amazonian shamanism has been spreading to other territories through the circulation of shamans and indigenous leaders. Portugal is one of these destinations, where indigenous people from the Amazon hold retreats, ceremonies and cultural events. Based on ethnographic fieldwork through participant observation in five ceremonies in different Portuguese locations between 2022 and 2023, the preliminary results of this research are presented. The results suggest that these practices maintain their tools and mysticism. The people who frequent foreign territories belong to the Pano linguistic branch, such as: Huni Kuin, Yawanawá and Noke Koi. The ceremonies and retreats take place in a natural environment, enabling participants to get in closer contact with nature. The resources will be reverted to the benefit of the communities of origin of these indigenous people, always related to the way of life that respects nature, raising awareness about the environmental preservation of an important biome for tackling the climate crisis.Article by Carolina Ribeiro Araujo, illustrated by Joana Cruzhttps://theanthro.art/sustain-the-world-in-dialogue-with-the-invisible/

The article addresses how humanitarian crises—driven by conflict, climate change, and displacement—disrupt menstrual health, particularly in low-income, disaster-prone regions. Fieldwork conducted in Indonesia illustrates the challenges menstruating individuals face, including lack of access to clean water, proper sanitation, and quality menstrual products. Environmental and/or humanitarian crises exacerbate these issues, with extreme weather events destroying vital infrastructure and displacing communities in refugee camps. This instability often forces menstruators to manage their health in unsanitary, unsafe conditions, leading to both physical discomfort and mental stress.The article highlights the emotional and social exclusion menstruators experience due to stigma, particularly in conservative societies and refugee settings. The absence of private spaces and sanitary products increases shame and isolation, affecting mental health and reinforcing gender inequalities. Despite these adversities, menstruating individuals exhibit resilience, creating makeshift hygiene solutions and supporting each other within their communities. However, the lack of consistent government and humanitarian support intensifies the burden.The article advocates for a holistic approach to menstrual health in crisis contexts—addressing not only the physical needs but also the social and mental dimensions. Menstrual health must be recognized as more than a hygiene issue; it is integral to dignity, gender equality, and well-being. Acknowledging menstrual health as a human right is essential to ensuring that menstruating individuals are empowered, respected, and not overlooked during crises.Article by Fien de Ridder, illustrated by Eline Veldhuisenhttps://theanthro.art/menstrual-health-in-crises-climate-change-social-exclusion-and-resilience/