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Paper short abstract:

This paper compares two situated initiatives regarding ecological transition in the Alps and takes into account the attributes, aspirations, and social positions of their promoters within local communities. Moreover, it focuses on how forms of locality are renewed by such frames of meaning.

Paper long abstract:

In the Alps, uncertainties induced by climate change have rapidly propagated the idea that ecological transition represents a necessary shift for the viability of local economies and ways of life. However, propositions on how such change should be achieved are still modest and tend to ignore the ways these discourses circulate and are understood at the ground level, for example when being appropriated by farmers, entrepreneurs, and public administrators. A closer exploration of the cultural and relational resources of people promoting ecological conversions in such contexts appears promising, especially for anticipating the outcomes of these processes, whilst allowing, through a scrutiny of the conflicts and negotiations that actions for sustainability produce, to inquiry into the persistence of local social structures.

Based on a comparative ethnographic research project in the Swiss and Italian Alps, this paper explores ecological transition as a peculiar form of desired social change within Alpine contexts marked by socio-demographic recompositions, and considers the attitudes and attributes of such change-makers, as well as their position in the local social space. It describes their perceptions of ways for achieving a sustainable life in the Alps, while considering how ecological transition enters in their aspirations on locality and is used to relocate their territory within the national imagery. In the end, the paper calls for a renewed attention to the multifold manners in which such "will to improve" take place in multi-scalar arenas shaped by institutional configurations, economic interests, and informal networks.