On 2 May, the SESCARNIVORE team — represented by PhD student Andreea Ocrain, senior researcher Vlad Măcicășan, and project PI Tibor Hartel — implemented a participatory workshop on the social, institutional, and ecological challenges and opportunities for fostering human–large carnivore coexistence. The workshop was organized within the biocultural event Sărbătoarea Rabarbărului, coordinated by the Women's Association of Saschiz.

The number of participants was high (over 30, some of them coming from very distant places of Romania), and the discussion generated strong interest and active engagement.

What We Discussed

We addressed several broad topics. First, participants were invited to reflect on which large carnivore species is currently the most challenging from a coexistence perspective, and which species may remain challenging in the near future. Participants agreed that the brown bear is currently the most challenging large carnivore for coexistence, and that it is likely to remain so in the coming years.

Participants co-defined coexistence as a state in which society has adequate knowledge, empathy, and acceptance toward both large carnivores and the people exposed to them. They emphasized that this can be supported through education and awareness-raising activities. Some participants also highlighted the importance of genuine and safe experiences with nature, as a way to counteract the "extinction of experience". These dimensions were seen as influencing human behaviour, including responsible space use, while also allowing large carnivores to find refugia and retreat areas within human-shaped landscapes.

Participants also underlined the importance of policies, governance, and funding. Institutional inaction or paralysis was identified as a factor that can generate a strained form of coexistence, where tensions increase because governance mechanisms are absent or ineffective.

Human Activity as a Key Challenge

A second major topic focused on human activity in the landscape as a key challenge for coexistence. Participants noted that several traditional activities — such as farming, forestry, and wildlife management by hunters, including feeding places intended to keep bears away from people — are seasonal and relatively predictable for bears. However, coexistence is increasingly challenged by the expansion of some traditional activities, such as sheepfolds and sheep grazing, driven by high demand for meat and CAP subsidies. At the same time, new activities are emerging, including off-roading, trail running, and other forms of recreation in nature, often associated with new social values.

This creates a complex challenge for coexistence. On the one hand, nature offers an important recreational arena for an increasingly urbanized society. On the other hand, if not properly guided, both traditional and modern activities may create unprecedented pressure on bear populations and other wildlife, thereby challenging coexistence.

Key Lessons and Outcomes

One of the key lessons was that, despite different perceptions and occasional tensions, all participants agreed that bears should remain part of the future landscape. To achieve this, society needs to embrace a broader diversity of tools, mechanisms, and legal conditions that can foster coexistence.

Several opportunities were identified:

• The relatively high number of bears
• The general tolerance of people toward bears
• The existence of legal instruments
• The availability of scientific and local knowledge
• The availability of EU funds

At the same time, important challenges were also highlighted, especially the lack of effective governance and the need for more responsible human behaviour in nature. As human presence expands into natural and semi-natural landscapes, preventive and responsible practices must also be developed.

We thank Vecinătatea Femeilor din Saschiz for the opportunity to hold this socially refreshing exercise in the Citadel of Saschiz. We also thank all participants for their genuine openness and for the deliberations from which, we believe, we all learned a great deal.