MARGISTAR at the 21st Rural Entrepreneurship Conference: Empowering Rural Futures through Entrepreneurial Potential in a Net-Zero Era
From June 5 to 7, MARGISTAR’s Anita Busljeta Tonkovic for the fourth time visited the Rural Entrepreneurship Conference at the University of Leeds, England. Although the conference location changes annually, it is host to a regular group of academics who Anita has been meeting and maintaining international scientific collaborations with for years. Read about Anita’s experiences and how these have changed since her first visit as a postdoctoral researcher in 2016.
Peneda-Gerês Transboundary Biosphere Reserve: Reflections from the MARGISTAR Training School in Portugal
From 11-13 June 2024, the MARGISTAR COST Action organized its first Training School in Arcos de Valdevez, Portugal, within the Peneda-Gerês Transboundary Biosphere Reserve. This event brought together researchers, practitioners and stakeholders from across Europe. The Training School provided an opportunity to explore the challenges affecting Portuguese and European mountain regions, develop new analytical approaches and reflect on pathways towards more resilient and sustainable futures.
Exploring the Hidden Part of Croatia: A Short-Term Scientific Mission to Lika, Croatia
In the period from May 13 to 17, MARGISTAR’s Tamara Jovanović and Igor Ponjiger visited the region of Lika, Croatia. They were invited by the Gospić branch of the Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar and Velebit Nature Park. Over the course of five days, they achieved their scientific goals and got to know a fascinating part of Croatia that is often overlooked. Because their research and interests are closely tied and they have in the past collaborated on several papers within MARGISTAR, they decided to take the trip during the same period. Read on for more about their mission and the experiences they had.
The SIMRA Project: Enhancing Social Innovation in Marginalised (Mountainous) Rural Areas
The Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas (SIMRA) project, funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, operated from 2016 to 2020. Its main objective was to deepen our understanding of social innovation and innovative governance within agriculture, forestry, and rural development sectors, with a particular focus on Europe's marginalised rural areas as these often lack evidence of successful outcomes and necessary supporting conditions. Read on for an overview of the project, its achievements, and how MARGISTAR will use its findings to uncover further transformation pathways for European marginalised mountain regions.
Living Labs: Facilitators in Fostering Innovation in Marginalised Mountain Areas
By Klaus Wagner, Ingrid Machold, and Somaye Latifi (Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Rural and Mountain Research (BAB), Vienna)
The number of challenges that mountains...
Mountaineering Villages: An Initiative of the Austrian Alpine Association for Sustainable Mountain Tourism
Mountain areas attract outstanding numbers of tourists. After beaches and islands, they act as the second most demanded outdoor destination for tourism activities. Where agriculture has long been the main source of income and entire areas are characterised by outmigration, tourism has sustainably improved and transformed the working and living conditions of local populations. Based on work being done in Austria, this blog shares insights into how promoting tourism activities in so-called Mountaineering Villages as a means of income diversification beyond traditional sectors can pose as an effective solution in marginalised mountain areas.
