The interdisciplinarity of Urban Ethnobotany: taking the first steps within the Peruvian community living in Milan (North of Italy).

Martina Bottoni ¹, Fabrizia Milani ¹, Maria Vittoria Calvi ², Piero Bruschi ³, Claudia Giuliani ¹, Maria Matilde Luisa Benzoni ², Gelsomina Fico ¹

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Milan ¹, Department of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Mediations, University of Milan ², Department of Agricultural, Environmental, Food and Forestry Science and Technology, University of Florence ³

In the framework of a three-year project titled “BE ETHNO: sharing traditions, sharing plants, sharing place, sharing future” (2024-2027, ID:2023-1454, Cariplo Foundation) we present the first steps taken in planning the field work phase of an ethnobotanical survey in an urban setting (Milan, Italy) within the Peruvian community. The preliminary data obtained from bibliographic research on immigration patterns involving Milan, in fact, guided us in selecting this multiethnic, multilingual, and pluricultural community as subject of our investigation. First, a multidisciplinary group work was established by contacting experts of pre-Columbian civilizations, anthropologists, historians, and linguists of the Department of Languages, Literatures, Cultures, and Mediations of the University of Milan, with solid historical and socio-linguistic research experience with the Peruvian Community in Milan. This step was already pivotal to facilitate the first approach to Peruvian associations in Milan, for example by making the first encounter with the Peruvian Consul effective and beneficial. The interdisciplinary approach of work took also shape in the shared effort of adapting the ethnobotanical methodology underlying the open and semi-structured interviews at the basis of the field investigation. For example, the part of the interview dedicated to the anagraphical data of the Peruvian informants was adjusted to give space not only to the information concerning the area of origin of the informants and their families, but also specifically to the recording of phenomena of migration within the country itself, as well as the linguistic diversity associated with them. In fact, Peru has been characterized by intestine migratory movements for socio-economic and political reasons even before people left their country for others. In this framework, the population of Lima has been quite growing since the second half of 20th century. Nowadays, one third of the country population resides in the capital, which became one of the main departure points of the great Peruvian diaspora towards the USA and Europe. This undoubtedly paints a wider and more complex picture of the community now living in Milan, for their Local Ecological Knowledge is possibly the multifaceted result not only of the intertwining with Italian culture and the multiethnic landscape of Milan, but also of all these previous migratory phenomena. This adapted methodology was then tested during a trial interview with the first two Peruvian informants of our project. During this encounter, we specifically asked the respondents to help us improving the questions and our approach, thus making them actively participate to the interview not only as ‘subjects’ but also as part of the research group. Finally, in view of a future second field phase directly conducted in the country of origin and within the Citizen Science framework in which ethnobotany perfectly fits, we also made arrangements with one of them, travel organizer and guide for a sustainable and communitarian tourism, for the planning of a first exploratory and informative trip to Peru, to be made in order to better understand the megadiverse and pluricultural contexts of origin of the community, as well as their naturalistic landscapes.

Main author career stage: Postdoc / Fellow

Contribution type: Talk

First choice session: 6. Plants, Fungi and Society

Second choice session: 3. Biodiversity and global change