Water is a fundamental resource for human settlement and economic activity in the Alpine region. Beyond infrastructure, social norms and legal arrangements governing water use have profoundly shaped landscapes and societal organization. Traditional irrigation systems embody the long-standing co-evolution of water, society, and territory. Such material and institutional configurations are embedded in broader narratives of water security, risk, and regional development that shape policy priorities and legitimize water management approaches.

In recent decades, water use in the Alps has diversified and intensified. Retention basins, irrigation, artificial snowmaking, and hydropower facilities increasingly reshape Alpine landscapes, altering hydrological flows and transforming the social organization of water use. However, the further expansion of such infrastructure is contested: while proponents frame these investments as essential for climate change adaptation and water security, critics highlight cumulative ecological impacts, unequal access, increasing water-related conflicts, and technocratic decision-making that reinforce path dependencies.

Against this backdrop, this session explores water use and governance in the European Alps from interdisciplinary perspectives. By integrating hydrological, social, and governance perspectives, it aims to advance a comprehensive understanding of water-related transformations under climate change. We invite empirical case studies, comparative analyses, and conceptual contributions from all disciplines that address the interplay among hydrological conditions, infrastructure development, governance arrangements, and social resilience.

Key questions include:

• What formal and informal water governance arrangements characterize Alpine regions across scales?
• How have hydrological conditions, seasonal variability, and natural storage shaped water use and infrastructure development, and how have societal interventions, in turn, transformed hydro-ecological systems over time?
• How do climate-induced changes in precipitation and natural storage affect water provision and governance today?
• Which imaginaries, narratives, norms, and policy frameworks shape water-related decision-making in the Alps?
• How can water use strategies and infrastructure projects be designed and implemented to ensure participation, evidence-based discussion, and broad consensus?