Andrea Fischer– ÖAW – Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research
Glaciers in Eastern Alps see their last days much quicker than was estimated a few years ago. Newest modelling results point out that about 30 % of the glaciers in Stubai and Ötztal Alps will be gone until 2030. Even taking into account all uncertainties coming along with future scenarios, this result definitely points put that an immediate preparation for an ice free future in the Alps is a definite necessity now – even if it may take until mid-century until a major part of today’s glacier area is lost. This loss of glacier is a very visible and sharp tipping point out of several global and local ones – and the first one we have reached. Therefore, we have to use this window of opportunity to get used to climate change adaption at various scales in cooperation of science, society and stake holders.
Why it is important to be prepared is the simple fact that the implementation of potential legislative, technical, infrastructural, societal and cultural adaptations measures needs knowledge-based discussions and decisions, and therefore time.
So far, disciplinary studies point out that the new ice-free areas will have different hydrological properties, are potentially unstable and endangered by rock falls and debris flows. The new areas are reconquered by ecosystem, with biodiversity and pace being important for the situation downstreams, including the mountain communities. The stakeholders are facing the challenge to adapt to unknown future conditions, for example nature protection aims at glacier protection, but loses its object. It is open how to proceed, and the discussion needs to be based on the potential outcome of various possible adaption to the new situation, e.g. protecting ice free former glacier area, or just give up the protection when the glacier is gone. Other examples are an increased or decreased needs for protective infrastructure.
We use our long-term study sites/living labs, the LTER sites Jamtalferner, Kaunertal, Hohe Tauern and Dachstein as a basis for comprehensive investigation of changes, potential problems and solutions. Long term data and measurement networks comprise glacier mass balance, glacier areas, river hydrology and ecology, biodiversity and geomorphology including permafrost research. These long term measurement contribute to the international networks of LTER, WMO Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW) and Global Permafrost Watch
(GPW, upcoming), and the World Glacier Monitoring Service WGMS with the data portals GTN-G and GTN-P. Within these study sites, the cooperation with stakeholders has a long tradition. The nexus between science and the public benefits from the cooperation with the museum Alpinarium and a close connection to visitor programs at all sites.
In this project, we will analyse the close connection between vegetation development in proglacial areas, geomorphological processes, hydrology, climate, and human impact. Analysing vegetation and also landscape development in an interdisciplinary approach is essential to be able to make predictions of future development. Scientific insights into entirely new processes triggered by extremely rapid climate change are needed for the development of local adaption strategies. To do so, we do not only need new scientific results, but foremost the sensitivities, vulnerabilities and options for action of the local communities.
Stakeholders are the communities of Galtür, the Federal Hydrographical Service of Tyrol, and the Nationalpark Hohe Tauern. Two stakeholder workshops ensure that the questions and needs arising for the stakeholders are reflected by the research questions and results (first workshop), and that the second workshop is dedicated to discuss potential stakeholder solutions in the light of the scientific facts – and potential consequences of different solutions.
Andrea Fischer as PI has more than two decades of experience in creating knowledge on high mountain systems together with local stakeholders. Her main fields of research are glaciology and permafrost. She was awarded as Austrian of the year in the category science in 2013, Scientist of the Year 2023 and Tyrolean of the Year 2024. The PostDoc Katharina Ramskogler is an expert in vegetation ecology of glacier forefields. Andreas Haller as regional geographer contributes a broader view on the context of landscape and human activities. Martin Stocker-Waldhuber contributes technical and scientific support, and the PhD candidate Giulia Bertolotti further develops her previous studies on permafrost at the study sites. The undergraduate Svenja Conzelmann supports the team and contributes to measurements, analysis and publications.
Jutta Kister – University of Innsbruck
Climate change is threatening human livelihoods around the world, with mountain regions considered to be hotspots of change that react particularly sensitive to rising temperatures. Strong cryospheric changes, especially decreasing snow cover and the disappearance of glaciers, will reshape the alpine landscape. However, high mountain catchment areas are an important source of water and supply the rivers, which form the lifelines of the Alpine valleys and beyond, with disproportionately high volumes of runoff. As a result of climate change, the availability and seasonal distribution of water will change, which in turn will have an impact on mountain ecosystems and the livelihoods of valley communities and their activities such as agriculture, tourism and hydropower generation.
One area of particular importance that is strongly affected by hydroclimatic changes is the main Alpine ridge. It is characterized by very strong topographical and climatological gradients, resulting in a diverse and multifunctional landscape. Mountain forest and grassland ecosystems are located next to ski resorts that require water for technical snowmaking, hydroelectric power plants for electricity generation and irrigated grassland. The ongoing and projected changes require an identification of water-related conflicts, a joint search for potential solutions and a co- creative development of a common vision for the future.
In the proposed CoWaVis project, we aim to identify existing water-related conflicts, investigate future hydroclimatic changes, anticipate resulting future lines of conflict, identify pathways to possible solutions and transformation, and work together to develop a shared vision for the future that fairly considers the water needs of all stakeholders. An interdisciplinary team of environmental and social scientists will bring the necessary expertise to analyze the latest climate scenarios, conduct high-resolution snow hydrological model simulations, identify and assess the water-related needs of local stakeholders and collect empirical evidence for future water use. To this end, evidence-based visualizations of the data obtained using hydrological and social science methods will be developed. Transdisciplinary knowledge will be created and a co-creative process of conflict identification and resolution established. A rather radical target state - a deglaciated study area - is assumed as an impulse, which then serves as a space for the development of sustainable solutions.
The project region is the Ötztal, an approx. 65 km long Alpine valley in Tyrol (Austria). The Ötztal has its source on the main ridge of the Alps and there are currently - still - numerous large glaciers in the upper part of the valley. At first glance, the Ötztal seems to be blessed with an abundance of water. However, a closer look reveals the comparatively low precipitation levels typical of such an inner-Alpine dry region. As a result, there has long been pressure to use the available water resources. It can be assumed that this pressure will increase in the future due to changes in water availability. In line with the goals of the 2030 Agenda, a forward-looking approach to issues of demand recognition and distribution is necessary in order to avoid an escalation of conflicts and to enable people to continue to live together peacefully with a high quality of life. The Ötztal is part of the long-term socio-ecological research platform (LTSER) “Tyrolean Alps”. This existing research infrastructure and knowledge base forms an ideal starting point for the co-creative development of an environmentally friendly, fair and sustainable shared vision for water use in the future.
The CoWaVis project will provide empirical data on water availability and use as well as on water- related conflicts in a future glacier-free Ötztal. By working with innovative participatory group methods that use visualizations of water futures, we enable and facilitate a process of co-creation for a shared vision of water use in the Ötztal. The co-created knowledge, which is the main output of the project, will be compiled in an accessible way for local stakeholders and researchers and will support long-term impact through capacity building of stakeholders, including policy makers.
Christa Hainz-Renetzeder – University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
Sustainable land use plays a key role for climate protection, biodiversity conservation, and food production. The German Advisory Council on Global Change has labelled this the “land use trilemma”, as it appears that one challenge can only be overcome at the expense of the others. Policies frequently focus only on parts of this interwoven system, reinforcing trade-offs. For instance, Austria´s photovoltaic (PV) strategy (BMK 2024a) aims to increase PV by 11 TWh in order to achieve 100% electricity from renewable sources by 2030. This also requires a significant increase in ground-mounted PV installations, which may have negative impacts on biodiversity and agricultural production. Simultaneously, the European Nature Restoration Law (NRL) seeks to enhance biodiversity, also reducing land available for production. Thus, farmers and landowners often oppose nature conservation demands if it restricts management and reduces farming value. Finding solutions for minimizing trade-offs within the land use trilemma and other landscape services, therefore requires an integrative approach considering all relevant aspects. It requires co-design processes considering relevant stakeholders’ perceptions at multiple scales and different levels.
TriLands overall objective is to present regionally negotiated solutions for the existing land use trilemma. Addressing this topic from the view of landscape governance and planning, TriLand specifically aims to (i) co-develop multi-benefit land use solutions ensuring climate protection, biodiversity conservation and agricultural production (ii) account for stakeholders' perspectives, identifying barriers and levers for implementation, (iii) promote transformative change, especially in climate-vulnerable alpine grassland regions via innovative policy instruments, and (iv) analyze how collaborative environments and innovative co-design methods can foster consensus-building and awareness raising among various stakeholders.
To achieve these aims, a comprehensive transdisciplinary (td) approach is implemented, combining methods such as modeling, GIS, walking interviews, visualization, and serious gaming. Engagement with stakeholders occurs in two case study areas (CS): the Biosphere Reserves Wienerwald and Lungau. As role models for sustainable regional development, biosphere reserves are particularly suitable CS. Due to their role in sustainable regional development, stakeholders include national representatives (e.g., federal ministries, NGOs) and regional stakeholders engaged in the two CS: (1) farmers and landowners, making decisions about their land and its management; (2) mayors and biosphere reserve managers, who negotiate local stakeholders' interests; and (3) provincial governments, which enforce climate and biodiversity protection as well as agricultural production goals at regional level.
TriLands first step is to identify scientifically proven land-use-related indicators to describe the trilemma's three cornerstones and evaluate their applicability in the CS. TriLand’s td-approach involves continuous stakeholder engagement, including ‘consulting td’ approaches, whereby national and regional stakeholders react to interim research results (e.g. indicator-based biodiversity and land use results in the CS) as well as ‘participatory td,’ where they are fully involved in knowledge production. NRL and Austrian climate targets are downscaled to the regional level in an expert-based process evaluated by a national stakeholder group. In a co-creation process using interviews, the Landscape.Lab, and workshops with regional stakeholders, required biodiversity protection and climate mitigation practices are identified and spatially located in each CS. These measures are integrated into the bio-economic farm model FAMOS, which identifies trade-offs or synergies among farmers’ incomes, regional biodiversity, and climate mitigation. Based on model results, suitable instruments for implementing these measures are co-created with regional stakeholders. Serious gameplay via the Landscape.Lab form a collaborative learning environment to foster discussions and collaborations among regional stakeholders, helping to understand the synergies and trade-offs of suggested measures with agricultural practices.
TriLand reveals novel insights regarding the downscaling of international climate and biodiversity targets and the trade-offs and synergies of the land use trilemma by taking a systemic approach and accounting for national and regional stakeholders’ perspectives. Furthermore, TriLand results in actionable knowledge for practice and policy-making by identifying co-designed policy instruments to achieve biodiversity protection and climate mitigation targets. Finally, the collaborative learning environment provides new insights on the relevance of co-creation for consensus-building in the land use trilemma and allows for further methodological development of FAMOS and the Landscape.Lab.
Clemens Geitner – University of Innsbruck
Forests have multiple functions and provide a wide range of forest ecosystem services (FES) to society. Climate change mitigation efforts are focussing political and public attention on forests and their carbon storage capacity. However, opinions differ on the nature of the measures and the extent to which biomass should be removed. One issue that is much discussed in this context, is the management of deadwood. Deadwood fulfils many functions in forest ecosystems. It is important for forest regeneration, carbon, nutrients and water storage, protection against natural hazards, habitat for many species and also improves forest structure, and ecological resilience. For forest managers, all these regulating functions are often in conflict with economic interests. At a societal level, the improved FES through deadwood are in conflict with green energy production and timber production.
The general perception of and attitude to deadwood and its management after disturbance is also a current issue in the research region Wilder Kaiser in Tyrol, Austria. A massive hailstorm with golf ball-sized hailstones damaged approx. 1,500 ha forest in June 2024. The district forestry administration Kufstein anticipates a further increase in post-disturbance mortality which will result in an accumulation of deadwood over the coming years. The impact of dead trees and salvage logging on the landscape will be significant, affecting both local residents and the tourism industry. Thus, like other regions in the Alps, the Wilder Kaiser region is facing the consequences of large-scale disturbances and related challenges. This offers the opportunity to gain knowledge on how society can effectively cope with future disturbances in order to improve its resilience. Prudent management of the current situation can foster stability and resilience of future forests, thus amplifying the region's resilience. Moreover, the current situation presents a valuable opportunity to investigate the multifunctionality of deadwood in forest ecosystems, which can lead to significant advancements in the management of both future disturbances and forestry in general.
The central objectives of the proposed project are therefore:
(1) To investigate the effects of deadwood on forest soils and the influence to carbon storage, in-situ sampling of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), soil sampling and laboratory analyses will be carried out.
(2) To investigate the influences of droughts on deadwood hydrological characteristics and their effects on forest regeneration, rainfall simulations will be conducted. The rainfall will be simulated before and after an artificially induced drought. Installed sensors will allow a permanent measuring of changes of soil and deadwood moisture.
(3) To assess stakeholder interests and characteristics, their demand for and values related to (bundles of) deadwood-related FES, and related institutions and governance, data will be collected through literature and document analysis, semi-structured stakeholder interviews, a quantitative survey, and workshops.
(4) To raise awareness and transfer knowledge about deadwood related topics to various stakeholder groups of the Wilder Kaiser region, inter- and transdisciplinary activities are planned. The activities will be organized and realised in cooperation with different local partners.
The project is based upon the intensive cooperation of scientists and other experts from different disciplines, mainly soil sciences, hydrology, forest ecology, ecological and institutional economics, and environmental policy. Key local stakeholders, including representatives of the municipalities Schwoich, Soll, Scheffau, and Ellmau, of the district forestry administration Kufstein, the KLAR!-manager of the region, and representatives of the tourism sector have already been involved in the development process of this project proposal and have committed to be practice partners in the project.
The results of the research, cooperation and communication have the potential to make forest management more sustainable under the conditions of climate change and to transfer this experience to other areas.
Claudine Caroline Egger – University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
IOLU aims to explore the option space for future land use decisions under climate change and to assess both the direct and indirect, land use mediated effects of a changing climate on forest-dominated mountain land use systems. Anthropogenic climate change presents a great threat to the fragile mountain ecosystems. Besides the warming climate in terms of average temperatures, extreme weather events have severe impacts on mountain land use systems. Shifting precipitation patterns are leading to longer and more frequent drought periods, predisposing forests to diseases, pest manifestations, wildfires and storm impacts. The latter are predicted to increase in intensity and frequency, facilitating the spread of fire as well as directly damaging forests through heavy winds and heavy rain falls and landslides. Besides climate change, socio-economic changes also have a strong influence on mountainous land users. Economic pressure and the lack of willing farm successors have long had an impact on the transitions between agricultural and forest areas, and in mountainous areas the abandonment of grasslands (marginal areas) is a strong driver for forest expansion. Research has often focused on either the impacts of climate change or socio-economic change on forestry or agriculture, but rarely on their integrated land use dynamics as result of changing decision options of land users in forest-dominated areas.
IOLU aims at scrutinizing the diverse impacts of socio-ecological changes on the decision-making of land users in two alpine case study regions in Austria. The project strives to (i) provide a comprehensive, encompassing socio-ecological analysis of current land use structures, (ii) model future land use development trajectories, (iii) systematically depict challenges based on a comparative scenario analysis, and (iv) evaluate the differences between the study regions in order to identify successful land use strategies and to assess what and how such regions can learn from each other and how the lessons learnt can be upscaled to the federal and national level. To achieve this goal, IOLU builds upon an inter- and transdisciplinary approach that integrates three principal components: (1) a data collection process that integrates quantitative and spatial data sets, climate projections and qualitative data to get an overview over current land-management structures, (2) the update of an existing agent-based model (SECLAND ABM), adapted to represent forest and agricultural agents in high detail to project land use trajectories based on the decision-making processes of relevant land users, (3) a stakeholder process aimed at scenario design and analysis to assess the future option space regarding land use, acknowledging regional socio-ecological specifics.
IOLU uses a regional case study approach, with one case study located in the lower Northern Austrian Alps (LTSER platform Eisenwurzen) and the other in the higher Central Austrian Alps (LTSER platform Tyrolean Alps). Thus, IOLU will be able to integrate and compare a wide range of natural and socio-economic contexts, as well as heterogenetic stakeholder groups in its analysis. The most relevant actors for IOLU are landowners such as forest farmers and forest-related institutions (e.g., National parks, Federal forests, States) that make land use decisions dependent on socio-ecological framework conditions (e.g. prices, subsidies, climate impacts) as well as intrinsic preferences that may change over time.
IOLU builds upon the strength of ABMs in land use modelling, i.e. their capability to simulate aggregated outcomes resulting from decisions made by a variety of individual land users, and their ability to project spatially explicit land use transitions. Additionally, ABMs are well suited to be used as communication tools and can be integrated into participatory processes.
The outputs of the ABM are spatially explicit land use maps with annual resolutions for a variety of scenarios, which are then used in the systematic scenario comparison. By conducting a comparative scenario analysis as part of the option space assessment, IOLU aims to evaluate the individual and combined effects of socio-economic and climatic changes on regional land use systems. Through a transdisciplinary process that encompasses all phases of the project, we will identify a catalogue of successful land use strategies and measures. These strategies can be integrated into regional land use planning with the goal to support and enhance the resilience of the respective land use systems.
Peter Flödl – University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
The Alpine region is one of the least developed areas in Austria. This low level of development goes hand in hand with the region's high nature conservation value. In addition to the protected areas, extensive land use and recreation also play a central role for society. The Alps are the last habitats and refuges for numerous species threatened with extinction. At the same time, these imposing habitats offer ideal places for environmental education and the communication of nature conservation issues. However, these ecosystems are increasingly coming under pressure from intensive economic use (hydropower, tourism), increasing technical development (storage ponds, flood and avalanche barriers), as well as global problems (climate change, microplastics and pollutant input). Despite intensive research, there is a lack of knowledge and solutions regarding the conflicts between the use, protection and restoration of Alpine riverine landscapes. Strictly protected large-scale conservation areas provide the ideal conditions for research into natural processes, as well as for the development of Nature-based Solutions and possibilities for the transformative change of industrialised riverine landscapes in Europe. In Austria, the three existing protected areas, the UNESCO World Heritage Wilderness Area of Dürrenstein-Lassingtal, the UNESCO Global Geopark Styrian Eisenwurzen and the Gesäuse National Park, form an important natural and cultural heritage characterised by a wide range of human use and protection against human intervention. In this context, the protected areas help to learn from natural processes and to protect these processes. The following project aims are defined:
The project team consists of an interdisciplinary team of scientists from BOKU University (ecohydraulics, sediment management, microplastic research), experts in nature conservation and biology (Nationalpark Gesäuse), and environmental education specialists from the UNESCO World Heritage Site Wilderness Area Dürrenstein-Lassingtal and the UNESCO Global Geopark Styrian Eisenwurzen.
Florian Borgwardt – University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
For thousands of years, rivers have provided people with food, water for industry and agriculture, served as transport corridors and, more recently, enabled electricity generation. Rivers are also of great importance for tourism, be it through water sports, fishing or the scenic attractiveness of (riverine) landscapes for those seeking recreation. They are therefore a valuable resource for society, are used in multiple ways and provide people with a livelihood, which is why settlement areas are often located near rivers.
Since the 19th century, however, rivers have been systematically regulated and canalised to ensure flood protection and to gain additional land for settlements and agricultural use. In the process, rivers were often separated from their surrounding areas and floodplains causing changes in their functionality. Particularly in the narrow valley floors of the Alpine region, a variety of human demands are concentrated today, which are increasingly coming into conflict with the spatial requirements of such dynamic systems.
Meanwhile, rivers have changed their appearance, morphology and ecological functionality considerably. The loss of natural habitats and species diversity (biodiversity loss) is a far- reaching consequence of this. However, the resulting effects on society are becoming increasingly apparent. Extreme weather events, which are becoming more frequent and intense as a result of climate change, are often associated with flooding and the destruction of infrastructure, particularly due to a lack of natural retention areas and increased human activities in the immediate vicinity of the rivers. This not only jeopardises the satisfaction of the population's basic needs, but also affects economic activities such as agricultural production and tourism. The floods in autumn 2024 once again made it clear that functioning and near-natural river landscapes are of central importance not only for ecosystems, but also for the well-being of people and the stability of society and the economy. A common vision is therefore needed on how to deal with river spaces in the future. Strategies for win-win solutions and approaches to resolve conflict situations are needed. The RiverSpaces project operates in this inter- and transdisciplinary field. In six work packages, scientific and socio-economic basics are being developed, which will be taken up in a stakeholder process with decision-makers in order to work on a common vision for the future of river spaces. Based on historic data alpine river spaces are delineated. The project will further analyse which human uses and natural functions these alpine river spaces currently accommodate and how they can be designed in the future to maximise the benefits for society and nature. Using spatial analyses in GIS and in close coordination between the work packages, the multifunctionality of the model region ‘Enns River Landscape’ (19 Styrian municipalities along the Enns River) is being analysed and solutions as well as future visions are being elaborated with regional stakeholders. A holistic approach considering direct investments, sectoral linkages and long-term regional development will be used to investigate the net economic impact of river restoration. In a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), synergies and conflicts will be identified and resolved in a way that meets the needs of local stakeholders, different sectors and interest groups. By intersecting spatial information and taking into account societal needs, ecological priorities, particularly in relation to ecosystem restoration and biodiversity conservation, will be reconciled with economic aspects. The aim is to investigate how alpine river spaces and their human use can be better harmonised in the future. The results of RiverSpaces contribute both to the development of win- win strategies and the resolution of conflicts thereby supporting the implementation of various national and international policies and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Lars Keller – University of Innsbruck
ViTA_futura is a youth-centered transdisciplinary research-education initiative that empowers young people from various schools to shape Quality of Life (QOL) Future Visions for their home regions. In close collaboration with scientists from various disciplines and regional stakeholders, they analyze, envision, and act toward sustainable futures in two Alpine valleys, Wipptal and Stubaital. By integrating systemic thinking, participatory methods, and real-world experimentation, ViTA_futura investigates how youth-driven innovation can address multiple conflicts in changing Alpine regions while motoring transformative regional development. At the core of ViTA_futura are three Real-World Laboratory (RWL) phases, where young people take the lead in transdisciplinary processes: 1. Co-Design: Students examine current QOL conditions, identify key challenges and opportunities, develop QOL Future Visions, and initiate transdisciplinary dialogues with scientists and stakeholders. 2. Co-Production: Young people translate their visions into concrete interventions, engaging in participatory decision-making and active collaboration. 3. Co-Evaluation: Students critically assess the impact of their initiatives, extract key learnings, and contribute to the scalability of solutions for other Alpine and global mountain regions.
ViTA_futura positions young people as key agents of change in a process traditionally dominated by adult experts. Their active role in co-producing knowledge, engaging in policy dialogues, and driving local action fosters critical thinking, self-efficacy, and action competence — equipping them to be leaders of sustainable regional transformation. Acting as mediators between science, local communities, and decision-makers, they help bridge the gap between theory and practice, ensuring that scientific insights lead to meaningful societal change. Beyond individual learning, ViTA_futura explores the structural conditions necessary for youth participation to have a lasting impact on regional decision-making processes. The project examines how participatory methodologies, governance mechanisms, and transdisciplinary education models can be optimized to ensure long-term engagement and effective policy integration at local, regional, and national levels.
By addressing tensions between economic development, environmental protection, and ecosystem restoration, ViTA_futura aligns with key challenges facing the Alpine region. The project demonstrates that human activities should not be seen solely as a problem but as part of the solution, positioning young people as co-creators of sustainable futures. Through scientifically grounded and practically applicable solutions,
ViTA_futura seeks to integrate land use and conservation, ensuring that transformation processes are guided by social-ecological perspectives and systemic approaches.
To ensure long-term impact, ViTA_futura relies on its interactive V.I.P.P. platform (Valleys’ Innovative People and Propositions), which serves as a hub for: Documenting QOL Future Visions and strategies, tracking progress and interventions, facilitating knowledge exchange, and connecting young people with broader research and policy communities.
The project is deeply embedded in national and international research networks, fostering collaboration between academia, regional policymakers, and practitioners. ViTA_futura is linked to the Transatlantic Research Lab on Complex Societal Challenges, providing an opportunity to transfer research insights to other international mountain regions such as the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. It also draws on expertise from the Reallabor Prättigau/Davos, which has established successful models for stakeholder engagement in Alpine regions. While the Prättigau/Davos Lab does not specifically focus on youth participation, ViTA_futura pioneers a youth-centered approach to Real-World Laboratories, ensuring that young people’s voices, ideas, and actions play a decisive role in shaping regional futures. Additionally, ViTA_futura builds upon the LEADER project "Matreinander" in Matrei am Brenner, which provides a strong foundation for stakeholder engagement. The project is further enriched by the K.i.d.Z.21 community, which fosters youth engagement in climate action and sustainability education. These networks provide a strong institutional and methodological basis for ViTA_futura’s ambitious research and educational objectives.
Ultimately, ViTA_futura is more than a research project—it is a living laboratory for the future, where young people are not only studying sustainability challenges but actively creating solutions. By combining scientific knowledge, societal engagement, and real-world action, the project establishes a transformative model for youth participation in shaping sustainable, high-quality living environments—in Alpine regions and beyond.
Mario Klösch – University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
Birds that breed in cutbanks of rivers and streams are now extremely rare due to the severe straightening and obstruction of watercourses and sediment retention behind transverse structures, particularly in the Alps and their forelands. Bank-nesting birds such as the sand martin and the bee-eater are good indicators of sustainable restoration and are representative of a large number of riparian species of entire river landscapes. They reflect the hydromorphological condition of the river, but also the ecological condition of the surrounding agricultural landscape due to their dependence on insects as a food source. To counteract the dramatic effects of the biodiversity crisis, sustainable restoration measures, including the removal of bank protection structures, are necessary to promote conditions that allow the recolonisation of bank-nesting birds. However, the need for lateral dynamics is perceived as a source of conflict with regard to the utilisation and ownership rights of the floodplains adjacent to the banks. Conversely, especially in times of climate change, floodplain uses such as agriculture are increasingly dependent on services provided by neighbouring river ecosystems, such as the drainage of flood water or an adequate supply of groundwater, but also on services provided by terrestrial ecosystems, such as the pollination of crops by insects. Efforts towards habitat provision for bank-nesting birds can be expected to have a far-reaching impact on the restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem services, but require a holistic approach and the involvement of neighbouring agricultural uses and stakeholders. In this context, the EU Restoration Law increases the requirements for the scale of measures and necessitates a more in-depth consideration of existing conflicts of use.
ripa bnb is taking up this challenge, combining the disciplines of hydraulic engineering, behavioural biology and agricultural economics and linking them with participatory and transdisciplinary approaches. The aim is to jointly develop and analyse sustainable restoration measures. In the first work package, the requirements of the abiotic habitat for the construction of burrows in the banks will be analysed under the near-natural conditions of the Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve. This includes recording the soil physical parameters of the various sediment horizons and measuring the bank geometry using terrestrial laser scanning. Water jet tests and borehole shear tests carried out on the banks describe the processes of fluvial erosion and bank failure that are relevant for riverbank erodibility. On the basis of the habitat preferences recorded and with the aid of bank erosion models, the role played by the soil structure in the floodplains for the provision of potential breeding habitats, but also for the lateral erosion rates and the ‘lifespan’ of habitable cutbanks, is being investigated. On the Lavant River, where a restoration measure led to recolonisation by sand martins after 31 years, the models and the determined habitat preferences are tested for their predictive ability. The knowledge gained is then channeled into the planning of restoration measures at the Morava River – a river system of outstanding ecological values, representing a role model for cross-border wetland management (trilateral Ramsar site), and together with the Donau-Auen National Park a key stepping stone within the Alpine-Carpathian (River) Corridor region. There, the preferences of bank-nesting birds in the selection of foraging sites are analysed and linked to human land use (second work package). In the third work package, the agri-economic effects of bank-nesting bird-friendly farming are analysed. With the involvement of a wide range of stakeholders (e.g., farmers, conservationists, hydraulic engineers, actuaries, municipal representatives), the economic effects of e.g., extensive farming, reduced frequency of damaging floods or droughts, or lease agreements in the event of land loss or land gain are listed as holistically as possible and analysed in the Morava study area. The transdisciplinary participation of a broad spectrum of stakeholders in the various work packages is steered by the fourth work package. Stakeholders are involved in knowledge production through various participatory activities in the work packages and, in particular, several workshops in work package 4. This opens up perspectives that make it possible to recognise win2 situations in contexts that are initially perceived as conflicts of use.
Finally, the findings will be incorporated into transdisciplinary plans for the restoration of the Morava River landscape. Collaboration with all levels of administration, ongoing projects (e.g., LIFE RESTORE for MDD) and the involvement of various regions ensures the upscaling and transfer of the findings. The activities are accompanied by citizen science and knowledge transfer and awareness-raising activities.
Johann Zaller – University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
Climate change is expected to have a significant impact on the soil biodiversity of alpine regions, putting soil and associated ecosystem services under increasing pressure and exacerbating land use conflicts. Alpine and subalpine soils in Austria are biodiversity hotspots and provide essential ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, water regulation, nutrient cycling and soil protection through erosion control. However, we lack a comprehensive and interdisciplinary assessment of climate change and land use effects on Alpine soil biodiversity indicators and ecosystem services, respectively its potential to implement nature based solutions. The main objectives of SoilBioClimPol are to (1) provide a comprehensive framework for integrated assessment of soil biodiversity and ecosystem indicators across pedoclimatic conditions, land use and soil management practices and explore conservation strategies, (2) collate and harmonize existing soil biodiversity and ecosystem services indicators data to identify drivers, threats and knowledge gaps for conservation measures and to establish the first Austrian Alpine soil biodiversity database to support evidence based decision making, (3) assess consequences of current and future climate change on soil biodiversity and ecosystem services indicators to investigate the patterns and causes of soil biodiversity change and recommend climate-smart soil management practices, and (4) provide a systematic database and evaluation of soil biodiversity policies at regional and national level as a basis for collaborative involvement of stakeholders (actors-centered research) and policy makers (knowledge-brokerage) to support nature based solutions connected to soil biodiversity. In addition, identify barriers and priorities in adoption of soil BES across stakeholder groups to support integration of soil biodiversity into policy decisions across Austria. SoilBioClimPol adopts a multi-stakeholder approach involving interdisciplinary scientists, practitioners and policy makers to deliver national-scale assessments and support policy measures (eg. Austrian Biodiversity Strategy 2030+, Soil Monitoring Law).
The project will work from different perspectives combining natural and social science, allowing a cross-validation on the selected indicators and developed models from a multi-disciplinary perspective: from establishing standardized baseline survey (WP1), harnessing existing data sources and baseline to identify trends and threats (WP2) to predict the response of soil BES to future climate change scenarios (WP3). These provide an opportunity to assess existing approaches, identify hotspots and priority areas for action, harmonize soil biodiversity monitoring and conservation, and analyze the role of conservation measures (eg., protected areas, sustainable soil management) in this context. Finally, the project fosters knowledge-brokerage on the importance of soil-biodiversity for multiple ecosystem services enabling nature based solutions (WP4).
To sum up, SoilBioClimPol systematically addresses the importance of soil biodiversity and related ecosystem services across the Austrian alpine region for the first time by bringing together ecologists, environmental and spatial planners, climate scientists, farmers, socio-economists and policy makers. It will produce valuable recommendations for policy makers to protect soil biodiversity highly relevant for ecosystem services enabling nature based solutions in a region particularly vulnerable to climate change. Additionally, SoilBioClimPol sets the stage for long-term monitoring of soil biodiversity and ecosystem services to identify trends and possible tipping points.
Internationale Programme
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Dr. Jörg Böckelmann
T +43 1 51581-2772
joerg.boeckelmann(at)oeaw.ac.at