Location: Turkey
Credit: Pia Laborgne
Initiative: Belmont Forum CRAs (SSCP 2022)
Project: COSFSC
Story: The ancient heritage olive tree, estimated to be 2,500 years old, has witnessed countless generations, and stands as a living symbol of the traditional knowledge that has been passed down through the ages. In the picture, three generations of a family that belongs to a local cooperative have gathered with researchers beneath the tree’s branches, capturing this continuity in a single moment.
The gathering, which took place as part of the COSFSC project, was held at the Gödence Cooperative in the Izmir region of Turkey. The cooperative is renowned for its organic and traditional processing methods. This setting highlights not only the preservation of knowledge, but also its active lived and shared expression across generations and contexts.
The tree serves as a powerful reference point for understanding traditional knowledge as something deeply rooted in practice and experience. It reflects the processes of observation, repetition and adaptation that unfold over long periods of time. The interaction between the different generations, practices and countries involved as well as nature reinforces the notion of humble learning, where knowledge is neither static nor proprietary, but is continuously passed on and reinterpreted through interaction, connection and appreciation of heritage and nature.
At the same time, the encounter reflects key elements of transdisciplinary research. The project created a shared symbolic space in which members of the cooperative and researchers could engage with one another, facilitating exchange across cultural, generational and professional boundaries. Learning emerges through dialogue, connecting experiential, traditional, and research-based knowledge.
The renowned Erkence olives and olive oil, represent the outcome of these practices. Its qualities are closely linked to the cooperative’s organic and traditional processing methods, demonstrating how inherited knowledge combined with learning and adaptation can produce tangible results.
The ancient tree, the coming together of three generations and researchers, and the international exchange come together to create a setting in which traditional knowledge and transdisciplinary research intersect. The image captures an ongoing process of knowledge being shared, sustained and carried forward, grounded in humility, openness and curiosity and a profound connection to nature.