Author: Adriana Clivillé

Why do we need mountain education? Looking from inside

By Viorel GLIGOR a, b, Ioan SURDU a*, Matei DOMNIȚA a,b,
Emanuela-Adina COCIȘ a and Alexandru-Sabin NICULA a,b,c

Mountains are unique environments that offer a rich array of learning opportunities. From geological formations to cultural traditions, mountains are complex systems that can be studied and appreciated from a variety of angles. However, traditional formal education systems may not always be well-equipped to handle the diverse challenges and opportunities presented by mountain environments.

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Growing up near the mountains

By Carlos Román Cascón, Carlos Yagüe and J. Fidel González-Rouco, GuMNet, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.

She was born during the summer of 2016 at La Herrería Forest (El Escorial), 40 km Northwest from the busy city of Madrid, and a few hundred meters from the quiet Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial – where many Spanish Kings from the last centuries rest. But the most important thing was that she was situated just at the foothills of the majestic Mount Abantos (1753 m), a prominent peak of the Guadarrama Mountain Range.

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Austria_Styria image Thomas Dax

The return of remoteness: re-appreciating mountain amenities

By Thomas Dax, Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research (BAB), Austria.

In the past, mountains have been primarily perceived as places distant from centers of economic and cultural development. This led to common views that these areas represent Less-Favoured Areas (LFA) and, consequently, consensus for public support to farming activities in those areas has gradually risen since the European Commission defined mountains (1975) as the type of areas most affected by LFA challenges.

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Mountain wildflower honey and the fascinating interaction between honeybees and landscape

By Valeria Leoni, PhD student in Environmental Sciences at University of Milano – Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Mountain wildflower honey: an endangered portrait of mountain grasslands

Mountain wildflower honey is a picture of the spontaneous flora of the mountains, an excellence from meadows and pastures of our Alps, habitats protected by the European directives. Beekeeping in environments where spring and summer are short is tougher, inside a general framework where pollinators are facing may difficulties and are in constant decline. (more…)

Planning for sustainability in shrinking mountain communities

By Hans Olav Bråtå, Ph.D. Research Professor. Eastern Norway Research Institute, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. Lillehammer, Norway.

Many rural municipalities have a shrinking population, an increased share of elderly and a decreasing share of young people. This is frequently the case in mountain communities.

Shrinkage causes economic problems and a need to reduce the cost level for municipal services, including reducing staffing and the number of service locations   public services or centralise them within the municipality. This is painful to local communities. Another issue is over-investments, based on wishful politics of a future population growth which turns out to be absent. This often accelerate economic problems. (more…)

Polyfarming model: sowing the future through the regenerative agriculture

Marc Gràcia, Polyfarming coordinator, and Ángela Justamante, Polyfarming communications coordination.

Agriculture releases 12% of the total CO2 Spanish emissions into the atmosphere every year. Producing food is essential for our survival, so is reducing emissions. Is there an agri-food model capable of reversing this situation? CREAF, through the LIFE Polyfarming project, funded by the European Commission’s LIFE programme, demonstrates with scientific data that the regenerative agri-food model, focused on restoring soil health, is a feasible solution to this global challenge. (more…)

The institution of home is expanding into mountain space – in stealth mode

By Tor Arnesen, research Professor at the Eastern Norway Research Institute and at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences.

When launching the journal Mobilities, the opening editorial statement from Hannam, Shelly and Urry (2006, p. 1) read: “Mobility has become an evocative keyword for the twenty‐first century and a powerful discourse that creates its own effects and contexts.” They see a fundamental ‘mobility turn’ transforming the social sciences, rather than just putting a new topic on the table. (more…)

Mont Aiguille, Vercors Regional National Park

Understanding the role of protected areas with the case of Vercors natural regional park and natural national reserve

By Audrey Vincent, geographer, lecturer-researcher, Isara.

The Vercors Regional Natural Park is about to finalise the revision of its roadmap for the period 2023-2038. And this has been the case study some students fom ISARA –an engineering school specialised in agriculture, food science and environment– followed recently. (more…)

Managing sustainably mountain pastures: what do we learn from ongoing practices?

By Maria Carla Lostrangio, Project Manager at Euromontana, and Marie Clotteau, Director at Euromontana.

Mountain grasslands: an endangered habitat
Grasslands cover 15.9% of the area of the EU-28 and are the third most widespread habitat (EC, 2016) with invaluable contribution for public goods and ecosystem services (Plantureux et al., 2016). Yet, today more than 75% of the grassland area in the EU-28 is considered to have an unfavourable conservation status (EEA, 2020). (more…)

Lodalen: becoming one of the most popular tourist attractions in Western Norway – the case of challenges for sustainable development of a mountain destination

By Anna Maria Urbaniak-Brekke, researcher at the Western Norway Research Institute.

Loen is an idyllically located village in Western Norway. It is surrounded by mighty mountains on both sides, in a beautiful fjord landscape: with Lodalen valley and Lovatnet lake in the back, and the fjord in the front. Loen is not large with its approximately 600 inhabitants, but the number of people increases sharply during the tourist season. In the last years, growing popularity of social media such as Facebook and especially Instagram, has led to a drastic increase in the amount of tourists visiting Lodalen a valley offering an astonishing view of a glacier surrounded by steep mountain slopes and bathing in a turquoise lake water. However, the local infrastructure is not ready for such a load and the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the area can be threatened.

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