Archaeology at Lisov
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Archaeology at Lisov

Near Lišov is a c200km long linear monument, part of a massive network of similar sites stretching from the Czech Republic to the Black Sea. This section near Lišov runs approximately North-South and was once thought to be defensive, however a number of theories have been proposed to explain its massive construction. They are thought to be Neolithic and their relationship to tributaries of the Danube, and the Danube itself appear to be important. The monument is reminiscent of the Cleaven Dyke, Perth and Kinross, a complex earthwork comprising a pair of parallel ditches (c.45-5om apart), with a central bank, running for 1.8km through woodland and for a further 350m as a cropmark.

Slovakia: Website Report on Lisov Museum
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Slovakia: Website Report on Lisov Museum

The rural museum opened in 2015, so it has only been operating (and flourishing) over the last 3 years, under the care and love of locals Adriana Patková and Jakub Dvorský, our young guides who accompanied us throughout our stay in Slovakia.

I fell in love with the museum from the beginning and the ideas it stands for. It may display historic objects and furniture in a traditional way at times, but many of these are actually donated by the locals or passionately collected by Adriana. This way, the museum acts a depository for the local heritage and for holding people’s memories and identity. Moreover, it acts as a space for keeping alive ancient traditions, like for example burning the Goddess Morena, symbolising death and the winter, and sailing it down the river to welcome spring.

The Role of social, cultural, economic and political issues and factors in raising awareness and promoting traditional, vernacular, architectural identity, and construction methods, techniques and associated crafts and skills, Lišov, Slovakia.
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The Role of social, cultural, economic and political issues and factors in raising awareness and promoting traditional, vernacular, architectural identity, and construction methods, techniques and associated crafts and skills, Lišov, Slovakia.

Vernacular architecture, construction methods, techniques and associated crafts and skills, is a lesson of the past for the future.
Architecture established and resulting, including from construction approaches, is a unique component of a locations’ culture just as much as its language, music, art, literature or food. Architecture is also the most visual of those cultural components; conveying a unique image. This is called “genius loci,” the “spirit of a place”.

Textiles at Lisov Museum, Culture Heritage & Enterprise
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Textiles at Lisov Museum, Culture Heritage & Enterprise

Textiles are a central theme of the museum both in terms of culture heritage interpretation and as a major component of the museum shop.

This short report explores the range of the textile collections, the current textile-based enterprise activities, some thoughts/suggestions on potential textile based outreach and enterprise projects, and possible implications for work in Scotland.

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It was a great opportunity to be able to spend a week looking at the various types of parks and reserves in the Odra Delta and seeing the benefits and challenges of each. I think we were all blown away by how rich and diverse the wildlife and landscapes are, not just within the protected areas, but in the general landscape of the region as a whole. The main issues facing protected areas and wildlife in general in Poland seems to be a familiar one, lack of funding, staffing and awareness, which is all too familiar a problem in the UK as well. Due to Poland’s history, many people do not feel a connection to the land and so one of the results is that volunteering is nearly non-existant, which is a shame as this could be a rich source of help that is currently unavailable. It will also be interesting to see how the reserves will cope with climate change; increased pressure from predation and invasive species is tied in to this (as seen at Ujscie Warty NP) and subsequently pressure on staff time and funding for projects to deal with this. Hopefully the diversity of the landscapes means […]

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Deer, Moose & Forestry in Latvia

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Forest Management, Disease & Control: Perspectives from Latvia

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Institute for Environmental Solutions

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