Studies in Alpine communities in a time of change

Methods to identify resilient outcomes of high social, economic and ecological value

The objectives of this meeting are to set out the research scope of a number of research programmes being undertaken by the Fondazione Edmund Mach within which the developing methodology of Resilience Assessment can be applied. Invited speakers will be able to give perspectives on different methods of valuing systems from cultural, public health to natural capital and give examples of studies of adaptive social systems and the use of participatory techniques in research and governance.

Resilience studies essentially comprise techniques to identify social ecological systems and to further identify how they can be managed for long term sustainable valued outcomes. This requires recognition of the need to avoid setting rigid targets but to give weight to making systems adaptable even to change that cannot as yet be predicted. This requires a better understanding of the responsiveness and vulnerabilities of both social and ecological systems.