Alpine Research 2025: Four institutes join forces for a new alliance!

Alpine Research 2025: Four institutes join forces for a new alliance!

In a remarkable initiative, four important alpine research institutes have joined forces to form the “Swiss Alpine Research Collaboration” (ARC) alliance. This cooperation was initiated to strengthen interdisciplinary research in the Alpine region and to give greater consideration to cultural perspectives, as reported nau.ch.

The participating institutions include the Uri Institute of Alpine Cultures in Altdorf, the Graubünden Institute for Cultural Research in Chur, the Laboratorio di Storia delle Alpi in Mendrisio and the Center interdisciplinaire de la recherche sur la montagne in Sion. These institutes will retain their independence but will coordinate their research projects. Through this collaboration, the stubbornness of Alpine residents should be brought to greater attention in research.

Goals of the alliance and public presentation

The ARC has set itself the goal of counteracting the often urban perspective that predominates in urban research centers. Instead, a focus is placed on the living environments of the Alpine population in order to paint a more comprehensive picture of the mountains. The public presentation of the alliance will take place in Airolo on July 4th, as part of the 30th anniversary congress of the International Society for Historical Alpine Research.

The importance of such interdisciplinary collaboration is also emphasized by the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAGW). This promotes research in the Alpine and mountain regions and emphasizes how important interdisciplinarity is for Alpine research. This includes natural, social and cultural science aspects that take into account special geographical, physical, social and cultural characteristics of the Alpine region sayw.ch.

Interdisciplinary approaches and research questions

The ARC will operate in an environment in which around 200 institutes in Switzerland deal with questions about the Alps. In this context, promoting cooperation and coordination with existing initiatives is of central importance. International research issues, particularly those related to globalization and climate change, require global approaches and collaborations. The focus is on topics such as traffic and transit axes, tourism, water use and migration.

Another committee, the ISCAR (International Scientific Committee on Alpine Research), coordinates international projects and activities in the Alpine countries, which include Germany, Slovenia, France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland. This institution plays a key role in the discussion about the challenges and opportunities that the Alpine region offers.

The ARC and similar initiatives are fundamental to the connection between research, politics, administration and NGOs. The aim is to promote dialogue between Alpine research and society and to enable a better understanding of the complex relationships in the Alps.