MRD Talk #03 | How can social innovations contribute to local mountain economies? Learnings from science and practice

Limited opportunities for economic development and related depopulation trends are a common challenge faced by many mountain communities worldwide. But mountain communities are also a fertile ground for social innovations and new ways of envisioning the future. In this online dialogue, MRD authors as well as other practitioners and researchers will share inspiring experiences of social innovations from different mountain regions of the world and reflect on how such innovations can be fostered for the benefit of mountain economies.

An article soon to be published in MRD shows how a regional initiative in the Swiss Alps led to new social arrangements, increased collaboration, and augmented economic growth independence among small- and medium-sized enterprises. Other contributions from academia and civil society will present insightful experiences of social innovations and how they are helping to revive mountain economies, from cases in the Hindu Kush Himalaya to heritage crafts in Georgia as well as local food networks and agroecological transitions in Ecuador. This online dialogue is an opportunity to harvest lessons and recommendations for policy and practice, with a view to promoting social innovations—including alternative economic pathways—for the benefit of mountain economies.