Regional Mountain Conference

Mountain lakes are often sought after for their peaceful and breath-taking sceneries. However, they are unequally accessible to individuals, not only from a physical perspective, but also based on social properties. Indeed, it has been established that mountain areas’ visitors are characterized by high-level income and qualifications. Historically, this privileged section of the population has defined the legitimate uses and the social codes to be followed in these areas. This raises the issue of environmental inequalities: not everyone has access to these spaces, and not all practices are equally legitimised.
In the context of climate change, coupled with the post-Covid19 dynamics, new activities are emerging, such as bivouacking, swimming, and water sports like paddleboarding. These changes affect numerous mountain lakes, including some that can only be reached after a long hike. These emerging uses of mountain lakes are sparking public discourses pointing out so-called “new users”, perceived as disregarding established codes of these areas. These discourses however disregard the fact that so far, scientific knowledge regarding the public (social characteristics, activities etc.) is limited.
The proposal relies on an ongoing interdisciplinary partnership led as part of the “Lacs Sentinelles” network. The project aims to study these changes in lakes uses and their impacts on lacustrine ecosystems. Two dimensions are structuring the research: geographers and sociologists study the recreational practices, and limnologists analyse the impacts on water chemistry.
The proposal only addresses the social dimension. From this perspective, our aim is to identify the sociological profiles of the recreational practitioners, which activities they practise and how they perceive mountain lakes. The methodology relies on a quantitative in situ study, conducted during summer 2025 (n = 1205) around 17 mountain lakes across the French Alps.
Our preliminary findings show that, despite the presence of new profiles (beginners and/or younger individuals), the majority of our respondents are long-time hikers, still mainly belonging to privileged social groups. However, depending on the sub-profiles, practices and representations of lakes differ.