Call for participation: ESRS Summer School 2024 – Entanglement of farming and tourism
RHN 50/2024 | Call
https://www.ruralhistory.eu/newsletter/2024/rhn-2024-050
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Organisers: European Society For Rural Sociology and Department of Sociology (Universität Innsbruck)
18–22 September 2024, Obergurgl, Austria
Deadline for submissions: 22 April 2024
Call for participation:
Entanglement of farming and tourism
ESRS Summer School 2024
Several tourism destinations in the Alpine Areas developed from poor mountain communities in the 18th and 19th century. This societal transition from farming communities focusing on the production of food, towards communities that gains their livelihood from service provision took place in a short period of time. Today, mountain farming in Europe is under severe pressure, for instance from out-migration of young people, loss of agricultural land to construction and infrastructure, continued afforestation of agricultural land, integration into the globalized market and other factors, which put its continued existence at high risk. These mountain farms are mostly family-owned and family-operated, and these, in particular, have to cope with growing uncertainty caused by these pressures. Even if the economic importance of farming has decreased, rural life is still substantially shaped by farming activities. Furthermore, farms contribute to the social-ecological resilience of rural areas, for example through the provision of ecosystem services. Additionally, mountain farming has a high value for tourism in these areas that goes beyond the provision of agritourism. One example is the newly establishing mountaineering villages in Austria, Italy, Germany and Switzerland (see: https://www.bergsteigerdoerfer.org/). These classified villages do not only provide professional tourism services for mountaineers, but also respects the traditional landscape and environmental quality and is committed to preserving local cultural and natural values.
The upcoming summer school ‘Entanglements of (mountain) farming and tourism‘ aims to illuminate these entanglements in different ways. Therefore, we welcome contributions that highlight perspectives on:
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Theoretical and conceptual approaches to grasp these entanglements (e.g. social-ecological resilience, farming resilience, foodscapes, …)
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Empirical examples of these entanglements from different rural (mountain) areas
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Empirical examples that highlight certain aspects of this entanglement (e.g. the meaning of farming for winter tourism, provision of ecosystem services, safeguarding of local traditions, local provision of food, …)
We want to discuss these perspectives to broadly understand what farming contributes to the viability of rural areas.
Scientific committee
- Ass. Prof. Dr. Rike Stotten (Univ. of Innsbruck, Austria)
- Dr. Thea Wiesli (Univ. of Innsbruck)
- Prof. Dr. Markus Schermer (Univ. of Innsbruck)
- Assoc. Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Ph.D. Dr. Ika Darnhofer (Univ. of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria)
- Prof. Dr. Hilde Bjørkhaug (Norwegian Univ. of Science and Technology, Norway)
- Dr. Rebecka Milestad (Royal Institute of Technology–KTH, Stockholm, Sweden)
- Prof. Dr. Mike Peters & Univ. Dr. Michael Traugott (Univ. of Innsbruck, Austria)
Participation
PhD students and early PostDocs in the field of Rural Sociology and rural studies from all universities are invited to an interdisciplinary social scientific dialogue of their ongoing work as well as to a scientific discussion of current concepts and issues of Rural Studies.
Benefits for PhD students
- Input lectures from hosting professors
- Interdisciplinary exchange
- Presentation and discussion of PhD work
- Face to face feedback from a professor
- Reflection sessions to integrate new aspects into your work
- Networking with other PhD students and professors in the field
- Short field trips and natural activities (e.g. cold-water swimming)
- 3 ECTS (by full-filling course requirements)
Application
The Summer School is available to a maximum of 12 persons. Students/PostDocs interested in applying should submit a short biographical note and an extended abstract (max. 500 words) related to a selected output from their research project, such as PhD thesis chapter, academic paper intended for publication or any other academic text. Abstracts should be sent to: rike.stotten@uibk.ac.at.
Deadlines
22/04/2024 (extended) submission of applications (extended abstracts)
30/04/2024 results of evaluation (information for the applicants)
31/08/2024 submission of full papers (approx. 4.000 words)
More Information and Call (pdf) here.
Source: https://www.uibk.ac.at/de/soziologie/