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The CANEPAL project aims to study and interpret the cultural heritage of pastoral life, with emphasis on the sheep and the shepherd, from a social, economic, ecological and artistic perspective.

Shepherding and pastoral life have been connected with a rich cultural tradition, which includes a variety of cultural objects, material and non-material; it is also worth noting that sheep keeping plays a key role in environmental protection, including natural maintenance of less fertile areas, preservation of sensible ecosystems etc.

The project brings together 9 organisations from 8 European countries, undertaking several wide ranging activities of transnational nature:
 
     • 9 workshops of museum professionals and other related cultural operators;
 
     • 2 international conferences;
 
     • 7 transnational exhibitions on characteristic themes of pastoral culture (handicrafts, vernacular architecture, oral traditions, traditional lifestyles, food processing and cooking, landscape features, art etc);

     • one wide-ranging “composite” exhibition that brings all thematics together in Budapest;

     • 11 multi-lingual “core” publications presenting the exhibitions and specialist aspects of pastoral life;

     • electronic research publications and conference proceedings.

The project also undertakes three innovative initiatives:

     • an educational initiative, based on a Games-based Learning (GBL) application, addressing secondary school students;

     • a networking initiative, addressing the ethnographic community, involving the set up of a  virtual community focusing on pastoral heritage;

     • and a virtual museum initiative, offering an interactive visit to 6 museums with sections devoted to the sheep and to all the exhibitions created by the project, complemented by an integrated information environment detailing exhibits and giving access to supportive publications on specialist topics.

The project is led by the Hungarian Open Air Museum, with coorganisers from Greece, France, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Italy (imaginary) and Spain.