Soziale Schäferei – Perspektiven für den Schäferberuf

Summary

The shepherd profession and modern society do not seem to fit together. At the same time, the ecological importance of sheep farming is increasingly (re)detected. In this study, the perspectives of social farming for the pastoral vocation are investigated. What are the prospects and development opportunities today for sheep farming? Could sheep farming and social farming complement each other? Two methods of qualitative research are used to answer these questions: Qualitative interviews and participant observation. A wide range of social work areas and structures of sheep-farms are existing. The size of livestock is between three and 700 sheep, the social activities range from weekly guided farm tours to daily support of social-emotional disadvantaged youngsters. The results show: Social farming can be seen as a realistic prospect for sheep farms and lead to a "win-win" situation for all participants involved.