Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to consider the challenges and perspectives of a seriously endangered culture, the one of a small ethnic group living in Istria Peninsula: the Istro-Romanian culture.

Paper long abstract:

This paper aims to consider the challenges and perspectives of a seriously endangered culture, the one of Europe's smallest stateless ethnic groups living in Istria Peninsula: the Istro-Romanian culture. The number of the groups' members is rapidly diminishing and the Istro-Romanian dialect is present in the UNESCO Red Book for Endangered Languages. It is estimated that, if no change occurs, in about 30 years, there will be no more Istro-Romanian speakers. New cultural politics are necessary in order to regain the self-confidence of Istro-Romanians in their own culture and in order to preserve their cultural identity.

The paper presents some results of a research project concerning the Istro-Romanian culture performed by a team constituted from researchers working with the Romanian Institute of Anthropology and the University "Politehnica" of Bucharest. The dynamic of the cultural identity and of the environment is investigated in order to understand the present and to consider the evolution of the Istro-Romanian culture.