WS 26.103
Alpine Farming Futures
Session status: Accepted
Content last updated: 2026-04-14 21:49:45
Online available since: 2025-12-17 09:55:08
Details
Full Title
Alpine Futures: Reimagining Mountain Farming in a Changing WorldScheduled
TBATBAChair
Stotten, RikeCo-chair(s)
Penker, Marianne; and Altenbuchner, ChristineThematic Focus
Agriculture, Anthropology, Culture, Gender, Sustainable DevelopmentKeywords
Mountain Farming, Social-Ecological Change, Rural Communities, Resilience & Adaptation, Alpine Futures
Abstract/Description
Mountain farming in the Alps is undergoing profound transformation driven by climate change, demographic shifts, evolving labour conditions, market volatility, and changing societal expectations regarding food, landscapes and cultural heritage. These pressures reshape not only food systems, but also the social fabric, livelihoods, identities, and futures of mountain communities. Within these developments, shifts in gender roles and the evolving responsibilities of female farmers represent an important yet often understated aspect of change. This session explores how Alpine farming is being challenged, adapted and reimagined in a rapidly changing world, drawing on social-science perspectives and interdisciplinary insights.
The session invites contributions that examine current transformations and future pathways of mountain farming through lenses such as rural sociology, anthropology, geography, political ecology, agricultural economics, governance studies and sustainability research. We welcome empirical case studies, comparative analyses across Alpine regions, conceptual or methodological innovations, and transdisciplinary work involving practitioners, policy actors, farmers, and local communities.
Key themes include socio-economic and demographic changes; evolving labour dynamics and the future of seasonal work; new forms of agricultural organisation and cooperation; cultural heritage and identity; multifunctional and agroecological approaches; land-use change and biodiversity implications; and the governance frameworks shaping the long-term sustainability. The session aims to illuminate how mountain farming systems can navigate tensions between tradition and innovation, ecological constraints and economic viability, and local needs and broader policy frameworks.
By fostering dialogue between researchers and stakeholders, the session seeks to stimulate reflection on resilient futures for Alpine agriculture and rural communities. It contributes to a forward-looking understanding of the role of mountain farming in shaping liveable, biodiverse, and socially cohesive Alpine landscapes.
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Details of the used icons/symbols
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If at least one comment has been provided by the (co-)chair(s), this icon appears.
- If you are not yet logged-in, please log in to your My#Conf environment
- Click “Submissions” and select the session you want to review (you need to be chair or co-chair to see the session and the submissions to the session) by clicking on the “external link” symbol:
- On the selected session page, scroll down to get to the section “Submitted abstracts”.
-> this list shows all abstracts submitted to your session.
-> each line shows one abstract - To get to the review section, please click on the “eye” symbol: of the abstract.
-> the abstract expands and new sections (First author, Co-author(s) and description) appear.
-> additional, the abstract review area appears below the abstract content. - The review area gives you now a new panel to adjust:
FOR CO-CHAIRS
-> dropdown menu to set a review recommendation (you can overwrite this recommendation as often as you want)
-> optional: comments to share with your chair-colleagues and the organizing committee (max. 50 characters, not visible for the authors of the abstract)
INFO: You can change your review (incl. comments) for an abstract as often as you want until the chair makes the final decision. Changes are overwritten and not archived.
FOR CHAIRS
-> checkbox to set your final review (when activated, you confirm your final choice and will close the review process of this abstract)
-> optional: comments to share with your co-chair(s) and the organizing committee (max. 50 characters, not visible for the authors of the abstract)
INFO: You can leave comments without making your final review as often as you want. Changes are overwritten and not archived. When activating the checkbox, you make your final review and close the review process for this abstract. In case of an erroneous review, you can of course contact us via contact form (please provide the abstract number). You can do the review no matter if your co-chair(s) have already submitted a review recommendation or not.
Details of the used icons/symbols
Once the review of the abstract is completed by the chair, this icon appears.
If at least one review/comment has been provided by the co-chair, this icon appears.
If at least one comment has been provided by the (co-)chair(s), this icon appears.