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The excursion will have the format of a workshop in the Val di Fiemme (Trentino) and will generally focus on the changes in the Alps. It will take place from the 2nd until the 4th of April 2025. The field-workshop includes lectures by invited experts followed by a practical workshop on the local environment and community. During the excursion the use of educational serious games will also be tested.

This excursion offers critical knowledge on the "changes" of the ecosystems and communities of our Alpine EU-region. We propose an interdisciplinary approach to understand global processes of change and their manifestations on local scale in the Euregio space. In particular, we consider the case of Val di Fiemme in Trentino and its centuries-old institution of the "Magnificent Community". The Community represents a form of collective management of common goods: mountain pastures, meadows and, above all, woods. It has been able to protect and enhance its environmental resources and make the timber trade an important and profitable economic activity for the valley. The main question of the excursion and the workshop is: how is this historical form of local institution capable of addressing current environmental challenges? We will take students to see how the Community dealt with the damage from Storm Vaia and how it is responding to the bark beetle infestation.

The workshop will count on the presence of invited experts in Social Ecology, Environmental Economics and Cultural Anthropology. We also want to experiment with forms of Game-based Learning. 

The excursion and the workshop is organized by Angelo Besana, economic geographer, UniTN, Konrad Kuhn, European ethnologist, UIBK and Tobias Boos, mountain geographer, UniBZ and will be supported by Nicola Gabellieri (Historical Geographer, UniTN) and Daniela Salvucci (Sociocultural Anthropologist, UniBZ.

During the field trip the students, whit teachers and experts, will know and explore the environmental, socio-cultural, historical and territorial characteristics and issues of this valley in situ by guided visits and applying research methods such as observations, short interviews and mapping.

To pass the course, 1) preparatory text reading, 2) participation in the preliminary meeting, 3) participation in the excursion itself, and 4) a written reflection (approx. 5 pages) on an aspect of the student's choice afterwards are expected.

Successful completion of the course (2.5 ECTS) requires at least a satisfactory completion of all coursework.

Preliminary Meeting: Thuesday 18th of March 2025, 14.00-15.30.

This excursion and the workshop is part of the EUREGIO network project "Changing mountain communities and villages in the EUREGIO and beyond“ together with the universities of Bolzano and Trento. The students' travel costs (Innsbruck-Trento-Innsbruck) and accommodation costs (youth hostel and meals) will be covered by EUREGIO.