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Paper short abstract:

New forms of food production, property and conviviality are emerging in the Western Italian Alps. This paper analyses the tools, occasions and dynamics that foster participation, sharing and co-creation of knowledge and practices among native and new-comer stakeholders in the local foodscapes.

Paper long abstract:

In the Western Italian Alps, different social, political and demographic changes have been observed in the last three decades, such as a clear trend of repopulation, changes in the local food chains and in local community dynamics. The emerging trends of changing actors and practices are bringing new forms of agriculture, food production, property and conviviality in mountain rural foodscapes.

Through a series of case studies from three different valleys, this paper analyses the tools, occasions and dynamics that foster connectivity, participation, sharing and co-creation of knowledge and practices among native and new-comer stakeholders in the local food networks. Furthermore, this paper examines spaces and initiatives where innovative forms of property, food sovereignty practices and community cohesion contribute in building the local food system resilience.

The hybridisation of food knowledge and practices between locals, new highlanders and returning mountaineers brings new understandings and interpretations of the local socio-environmental contexts.

Community gardens and ovens, social breweries and experiments of community supported agriculture are some examples of emerging spaces to ferment new forms of locality, collective identities and stewardship memories.