What does ‘living well’ mean in a mountain context? During the 22nd Swiss Geoscience Meeting, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mountain Research (CIRM), the Forum Landscape, Alps and Parks of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (FoLAP), and the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) hosted a dynamic and well-attended session to explore this topic.
On Saturday 9 November 2024, the 22nd Swiss Geoscience Meeting was held at the University of Basel, Switzerland. As part of this important event for the Swiss geoscience community, CIRM, FoLAP, and MRI held the session ‘Living Well in Mountains: Interdisciplinary Contributions From the Geosciences and Beyond’. The session invited an interdisciplinary dialogue on the necessary transformations of mountain regions using the concept of ‘living well’ (Bien vivre, Gutes Leben, Buen vivir, Sumak kawsay, etc.) as a common value that is widely shared by many people. As part of this session, seventeen oral and poster presentations, predominantly from Swiss and international early-career researchers, were showcased and discussed.
The concept of ‘living well’ is multi-faceted, and advancing transformations towards it in mountains requires input from the natural, health, and social sciences and humanities, as well as engineering and local and indigenous knowledge. The session therefore showcased how this concept is experienced and lived in mountains globally, bringing multiple geo disciplines and perspectives together. It underlined different ways of perceiving and empirically capturing the value of ‘living well’ in order for science, management, policy, and governance to thrive and provide a compass for substantiating actionable measures that resonate with people.
Thanks to the large number of participants and audience members, the session was dynamic and offered an opportunity to learn from diverse experiences and ongoing research in this field. It also served as a platform for participants to network, and strengthened links between researchers and host organizations. Presentations covered a number of different topics, including mountain hubs, timber, forests, agriculture, quality of life, ecosystems, nature parks, transdisciplinary research, participation, managed retreat, peatlands, and nature trails. The spatial contexts of the various research projects involved were also varied, with several examples from the Alps, but with Togo, Canada, Peru, and China also represented.
The session also showcased a preview of the scientific insights gathered for the upcoming 10th Report on the State of the Alps (Marot et al, 2024), which was produced under the Slovene presidency of the Alpine Convention, and which is due for release in January in 2025. The MRI participated in the production of this report as a member of the Ad hoc Working Group established by the Slovene Presidency; it is one of the Swiss-based representatives nominated for this role by the International Scientific Committee for Research in the Alps (ISCAR).
The co-conveners would like to thank all session contributors for their valuable inputs and presentations, listed in full below:
- Mountain hubs as new central places for living well in the Alps
Brandner E., Mayer H. - The timber sector as a driver of socio-economic transformation: Insights from Vorarlberg (AUT) and Switzerland (CH) Hug M., Mayer H., Seidl I.
- Mount Agou Forests, Togo: Socialecological dynamics and scenarios
Ifejika Speranza C., Tabi Eckebil P., Mintah F., Agonvonon G., Hepner S., Iheaturu C., Agossou P., Oberholzer S., Wingate V., Curatola Fernandez G., Togbenou K., Koudouvo K. - Structural change in agriculture and changing social contacts: Insights from Entlebuch, Switzerland
Junquera V., Rubenstein D., Knaus F. - Pfyn-Finges Nature Park: a Valais Sumak Kawsay?
Laugel D. - Living Well in the Mountains – a journey towards co-definition
Lippe S., Fournier J., Clivaz M., Otero I., Chanteloup L., Reynard E. - Quality of life in the Alps according to the 10th Report on the State of the Alps
Marot N., Bevk T., Debevec M., Klepej D., Petrović Jesenovec P.K., Stubičar N. - Visiting the Wilderness of Banff National Park: Achieving Touristic Well-Being by being ‘Connected’ to Nature
Müller-Roux M. - The transformative capacity of transdisciplinary research in mountains. Where is the evidence?
Otero I., Reynard E., Pachoud C., Duglio S., Nared J., Sala S., Beltramo R., George E., Arpin I., Mabika H., Balzarini R., Claramunt B., Fontanella P., Schneiderbauer S., Haller A., Polderman A., Wymann S., Bruley É., Adler C., Mathez S.-L., Chanteloup L., Giupponi L., Palomo I. - NGOs appropriating Allin Kawsay (Living Well): The Participatory Guarantee System in Abancay, Peru
Steinegger S., Mathez-Stiefel S.-L., Oberlack C. - Let’s go! Nature trails as interactive tools for the valorisation of spring habitats in an inneralpine region
von Fumetti S., Hofstetter E., Abderhalden A. - Impacts of managed retreat on livelihoods in mountain areas
Wallner A.
And the posters listed below:
- Andean peatlands: a review on bio-physical and socio-ecological research
Curatola Fernández G.F., Ifejika Speranza C. - Scenario development process: a pathway towards resilient social-ecological systems in Alpine ecosystems?
Dölker J., König L., Krähenbühl J., Salomon H., Schick V., Schmidt C. - Spatial Effects of the Transition from Traditional Agriculture to a Regenerative Economy Model: A Study Based on Samples of Mountain Residents in Sichuan Province of China
Mingxia He, WeiQiong Yang, Xiaoxia Ou - Climate change and the possibility of severe Swiss forest fires in mountainous regions, geologic and human ramifications, possible countermeasures
Weber P., Weber L.
A book of abstracts is also available for download here, which can be cited as follows:
Otero, I., Reynard, E., Fournier, J., Adler C., Robert P., Reusser L., Frank E. (2024). Session 21: Living well in mountains: Interdisciplinary contributions from the geosciences and beyond. 22nd Swiss Geosciences Meeting, 8-9 November 2024, pp: 599-624. University of Basel, Switzerland. Platform Geosciences, Swiss Academy of Sciences, SCNAT. https://geoscience-meeting.ch/sgm2024/wp-content/uploads/abstract_books/SGM_2024_Symposium_21.pdf
