New highlanders in high mountain areas of the Austrian Alps

Idyllic Alpine mountain villages have been faced with a multitude of dynamics since the beginning of the industrial age: Out-migration, especially of young people, overageing of the remaining population, abandonment of farms, etc. As a result, buildings are increasingly vacant and local supply infrastructure as well as educational institutions are continually closing. In addition, a large number of agricultural lands is no longer maintained and, as a result, affected high mountain villages are becoming more vulnerable to landslides, avalanches, rockfalls, etc. Therefore, the outlook of these peripheral villages seems not to be very favourable. The challenges associated with life on the periphery are restricting the way locals think and act - out- migration is the logical consequence. Others as international research from the recent past has shown are migrating from cities into just these Alpine regions to fulfil their dreams of a more self- determined life and rural idyll. These actors, so-called new highlanders or new farmers, take an active part in landscape maintenance and agriculture. Their new ideas are like seeds planted in the formerly forgotten ground and positive synergetic effects can soon be harvested: population numbers and social structures are getting more stable, buildings and traditions are being revitalized or former abandoned agricultural land is being cultivated again. This trend reversal is no longer unknown in the Western Alps. In the Eastern Alps, however, the phenomenon has not been investigated yet. Especially in the Austrian Alps a large quantity of people and cultivated lands are affected by the trends referred to in the beginning. Therefore, the research team explicitly focuses on Austrias high mountain regions and is confronted with a number of questions while carrying out this project: In what kind of way does this new form of in-migration exist in the Austrian Alps? In which areas can new highlanders or new farmers be located? What are the motives of these actors to migrate into high mountain regions? Which underlying challenges, opportunities and impacts are noticeable in their new place of residence? In order to answer these and other questions adequately, the research team uses a mix of different methods. In terms of qualitative and quantitative methods, interviews with locals and newcomers and analysis of official statistics will be done, for example. Also, the influence on cultural landscapes generated by new farmers will be determined by the chronological comparison of e.g. aerial photographs. The dynamics mentioned at the outset can hardly be stopped completely. Nevertheless, new highlanders or new farmers show significant potential to counteract against the negative effects of rural exodus and the decline in the agricultural sector. Consequently, it comes to the revival of high mountain villages and their cultural landscapes.

This project deals with newcomers to mountain farming in the Eastern Alps, their farming methods and the associated innovation processes. The research area consisted of municipalities in the Vorarlberg Montafon, in East Tyrol and in the South Tyrolean Vinschgau. Based on the multi-level perspective, the research design followed a qualitative cross-section, in the course of which experts and newcomers were surveyed via semi-structured interviews. The numerous field researches show that the "new farmers" studied are characterized by small, diversified, extensive and ecologically compatible part-time farms. With their unconventional attitudes and economic practices, they ensure the introduction of new/alternative forms of social, ecological and economic innovations, such as multifunctional farming with diversified farm strands, the use of diverse marketing strategies or the development of alternative organizational models. In doing so, they make an important contribution to securing and further developing mountain agriculture and preserving the cultural landscape.