The book recounts the experience developed by CIPRA Italy on and with the territory of the Upper Susa Valley through the format of the Alpine Laboratory in the period 2014-2017. It was an opportunity for comparison that CIPRA wanted to offer to those who are living in, managing, producing, and enjoying a complex and changing territory such as the one in Susa Valley. This comparison of ideas and often different points of view has given rise to innovative practices, spontaneous forms of new entrepreneurship, and visions that differ from the usual stereotypes regarding the mountains.  

The photos accompanying the texts were taken by the photographers Laura Cantarella, Antonio La Grotta, and Simone Perolari and presented in the exhibition "Suspensions", curated by Professor Antonio De Rossi and carried out by CIPRA Italy. The book includes contributions by Carlo Grande, Luca Mercalli, and Daniele Cat Berro and a series of interviews conducted by Erwin Durbiano with administrators and operators in the Susa Valley. The Afterword is by Paolo Angelini and Marianna Elmi, respectively the Italian head of the delegation to the Alpine Convention and Deputy Secretary General of the Alpine Convention.