Towards more resilient economies in Alpine regions

The economic crisis the world has faced since 2007 has had devastating effects on many regions to various degrees. How regions respond to economic shock depends on regional economic structure and performance, administrative capacity, resources, human capital, social capital, and other factors, and is perceived as resilience: the ability of a regional economy to withstand, absorb, or overcome an external economic stress. Because one of the future strategic goals for the Alpine Space Programme area is fostering its resilience, we studied the performance of Alpine regions in the pre- and post-crisis period in order to assess the effects of the economic crisis and to provide basic directions on how to make the Alps more resilient in the future. The results have revealed differences among three selected groups of regions as well as some country-specific characteristics of the regional response that can generally be seen in the weaker performance of some Italian and Slovenian regions

Eine grenzüberschreitende Analyse der Politiken für die Almwirtschaft in den Alpen

Livestock farming and the environmentally friendly management of Alpine pastures represent a traditional form of mountain farming. Grazing and the maintenance of pastures and alps are publically subsidised in recognition of the ecological importance of the activities and because production costs are higher than usual due to the mountainous topography. In the complex of numerous support measures, payments made in the context of agri-environmental measures and compensatory allowances for disadvantaged areas prove to be the most effective arrangements for an ongoing management of Alpine pastures. The paper analyses international and regional differences and similarities in objectives, procedures, definitions/specifications and financial resources of these agricultural policy regulations for the preservation of this mountain landscape. Since the contribution system is not the only influence on the development of alpine farming, the relationship between the development of farms and tourism and regional economic conditions is analysed by way of an example. Based on the results and on findings from expert interviews, the authors deduce recommendations for action for sustainable policies in mountain areas

Trasformare il ruolo delle donne contadine e dei rifugiati: Due esperienze italiane di innovazione sociale nelle aree montane

Tendenze globali come la migrazione internazionale e l'agricoltura su larga scala hanno un impatto sulla società e sull'economia dei territori montani italiani. Le sfide socioeconomiche richiedono nuove soluzioni che le esistenti istituzioni pubbliche e organizzazioni private locali non riescono ad affrontare adeguatamente. L'innovazione sociale (di seguito IS) è diventata un paradigma importante per affrontare tali sfide. Riconfigurando le pratiche sociali esistenti, la IS introduce nuove soluzioni (ad esempio, servizi, pratiche e modelli di cooperazione) per rispondere meglio ai bisogni sociali, migliorando il benessere delle aree montane. In questo articolo, sono state selezionate due iniziative che mirano all’empowerment di due gruppi vulnerabili (donne contadine e rifugiati). Utilizzando il modello teorico structure-agency, è stata condotta una ricerca esplorativa di due casi di studio in due aree montane dell’arco alpino centro orientale per analizzare il processo di riconfigurazione delle pratiche sociali, gli esiti e i fattori che possono rendere possibili e ostacolare tali iniziative. I risultati mostrano che l'innovazione sociale ha trasformato il significato di simboli culturali e i ruoli socioeconomici dei due gruppi analizzati, portando ad un miglioramento del benessere dell'intera comunità

Transforming the Role of Women Farmers and of Refugees: Two Italian Experiences of Social Innovation in Mountain Areas

Global trends such as international migration and large-scale agriculture are having an impact on the economy and society of Italy’s mountain territories. Socio-economic challenges call for new solutions that existing public institutions and private local organizations fail to address properly. Social innovation (SI) has become a relevant paradigm to address social challenges. By reconfiguring existing social practices, it introduces new solutions (e.g. services, practices, cooperation models) to better respond to social needs, improving the wellbeing of mountain areas. In the paper, two initiatives were selected that target empowerment of vulnerable groups (refugees and women farmers). Using the agency-structure framework, an explorative study of these initiatives has been conducted to analyse the process of reconfiguring social practices, the outcomes, and the factors that may enable and hinder the initiatives. The results show that social innovation has transformed the meaning of cultural symbols and the socio-economic roles of the target groups, leading to an improvement of the whole community’s wellbeing.Les tendances mondiales telles que les migrations internationales et l'agriculture à grande échelle ont un impact sur la société et l´économie des territoires de montagne en Italie. Ici, les défis socio-économiques qui en découlent soulèvent de nouvelles problématiques que les institutions publiques et les organisations locales privées existantes ne parviennent pas à résoudre efficacement. L'innovation sociale (IS) est devenue un paradigme pertinent pour relever les défis sociétaux/les besoins sociaux. En reconfigurant les pratiques sociales existantes, elle introduit de nouvelles solutions (services, pratiques, modèles de coopération) pour mieux répondre aux besoins sociaux et améliorer le bien-être des populations dans les zones de montagne. Dans l'article, deux initiatives ont été sélectionnées. Elles visent l'autonomisation des groupes vulnérables (réfugiés et femmes agricultrices). Une étude exploratoire de ces cas a été menée en utilisant l´approche de “ structure et agentivité ”, afin d'analyser le processus de reconfiguration des pratiques sociales, ses résultats et les facteurs spécifiques de montagne qui facilitent ou entravent les innovations sociales. Les résultats démontrent que l'innovation sociale a transformé la signification des symboles culturels et le rôle socio-économique des groupes cibles, en entrainant une amélioration du bien-être de l'ensemble de la communauté

Selected Aspects of Agro-structural Change within the Alps

La région couverte par la Convention alpine a connu un recul important des exploitations agricoles (– 40 %) entre 1980 et 2000. Des régions stables (Autriche, Suisse) côtoient des régions profondément transformées (Italie, Slovénie). Les modifications agrostructurelles ont conduit à des bouleversements majeurs dans les structures de fonctionnement (agrandissement des exploitations, abandon de surface agricole utile, partages diversifiés des types socio-économiques d’exploitations). Cela résulte de divers facteurs, qu’ils soient culturels (l’attachement aux traditions agricoles, l’identification de la société au monde agricole), politico-agricoles (Politique Agricole Commune, OMC) ou économiques (opportunités de revenus non-agricoles) et fonctionnels (taille des exploitations). Au-delà des différenciations nationales et régionales majeures au sein de l’arc alpin (abandon d’exploitations modéré à fort), les exploitations agricoles affrontent les mêmes enjeux en ce qui concerne les transformations des structures agricoles (ex : abandon d’exploitation et augmentation de la taille des exploitations restantes). En comparaison avec la moyenne à l’échelle alpine de l’évolution du nombre d’exploitations et des surfaces agricoles utiles (1980-2000), on peut observer des tendances modérées (Autriche/Suisse/Allemagne), dynamiques (Italie/Slovénie) ou non corrélées (France).The Alpine region registered a substantial abandonment of farms (-40%) between 1980 and 2000. Both Alpine regions with a relatively stable situation (AT, CH) and regions with significant agricultural changes (IT, SI) exist next to each other. The agro-structural change has led to profound changes in operational structures (enlargement of farms, abandonment of utilised agricultural areas, varying shares of socio-economic farm types). This resulted from various cultural (e.g. relatedness to agricultural traditions, identification of the society with agriculture), agro-political (e.g. Common Agricultural Policy/ WTO) and economic (e.g. non-agricultural income possibilities), and operational (e.g. farm-size) driving forces. Next to major national and regional differences within the Alpine Region (e.g. moderate and high farm abandonment), they also face parallels with regard to the change in their agricultural structure (i.e. farm abandonment and increasing farm-size of the remaining farms). Compared to the Alpine-wide average of the changes in the number of farms and the utilised agricultural area (1980-2000), moderate (AT/CH/DE), dynamic (IT/SI), and uncorrelated (FR) were observed

Cooperative Systems in Mountain Regions: A Governance Instrument for Smallholder Entrepreneurs

This is the first time that The Journal of Alpine Research has released an issue on cooperative systems, their role, relevance, operational processes and resilience in European and African mountain areas. The six contributions assess the actual and past effects and functioning of rural and agricultural cooperatives operating in different sectors and geographical locations. The authors depict the way the territorial and social capital influence the development of cooperatives, the interrelatio..