Young Academics Award

This edition of the Alpine Convention Young Academics Award focused on the issue of “Responding to environmental changes and maintaining high quality of life in the Alps” and in particular on these related sub-topics:

• Climate action and biodiversity protection through nature-based solutions (NBS):
  • adaptation and mitigation measures in urban areas (urban water management, greening of settlements, urban heat island prevention, etc.)
  • restoration (and protection) of ecosystems and habitats and biodiversity loss prevention
  • management of landscape characteristics important for biodiversity and ecological connectivity
  • soil protection, sustainable management and use of soil
  • NBS for natural hazard risk reduction
  • NBS for sustainable management of forests, agricultural land, and water
• Governance for resilient communities in light of environmental change (at different levels of governance): quality of life aspects in mitigation and adaptation policies, cross-sectoral approaches (knowledge development, practical implementation, participatory processes, awareness raising, sustainability of lifestyles/behaviour)
• Socio-economic aspects of environmental change adaptation and mitigation: cross-sectoral approaches, balancing adaptation and mitigation measures with environmental measures and the economy

Award-winning theses

The prizes for the Young Academics Award of the Alpine Convention in its 2024 edition were awarded to:

1. Agnese Moroni (IT), University of Amsterdam. Thesis: Snowmaking as Maladaptation: Towards a Socially Inclusive and Sustainable Water Management Approach in the Alps
2. Elena Grace Siegrist (CH), University of Bern. Thesis: Landscapes in a changing climate - Evaluation and illustration of the impacts of climate change on landscapes in Switzerland using the case study landscape Ramosch (GR)
3. Christina Dollinger (DE), Technical University Munich. Thesis: Evaluating the long-term success of currently and historically applied forest management strategies in the management zone of the Berchtesgaden National Park under climate change

Infopoint Prizes 

Additionally, six special prizes were awarded by the Alpine Convention Infopoints:

• Infopoint Chamonix: Fiona Hurrey (AU), Sciences Po Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA). Thesis: Dichotomies of Human-Wildlife Conflict: Drivers of Policy Choice and Barriers to Coexistence in the Context of Wolves in France
• Infopoint Domodossola: Jonathan Ambrogi (IT), Maastricht University/United Nations University. Thesis: Innovation at Altitude: Drivers and Impact of Social Innovation across the Italian Alps
• Infopoint Grand Paradis: Benjamin Buchan (IT), University of Manchester. Thesis: Living With the Glaciers: The Use of Visual Anthropology in Exploring the Lived Experience of Retreating Glaciers [Case Study: Rifugio Quintino Sella al Felik mt.3555, Ayas, Valle D’Aosta, Western Alps]
• Infopoint Mojstrana: Ambrož Černe (SI), University of Ljubljana. Thesis: Location-based game as a mode of revitalization of hay-racks in Upper Sava Valley
• Infopoint Tolmin: Nik Obid (SI), School of Advanced Social Studies Nova Gorica. Thesis: State of traffic and developmental opportunities on the Bohinj railway
• Infopoint Villach: Antonia Wildt (AT), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. Thesis: Effects of soil amendments on growth and survival rate of tree seedlings under field conditions

Jurors 

• Dr. Barbara Goličnik Marušić, head of Spatial Planning research programme at Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia
• Dr. Margreth Keiler, Professor at Department of Geography, University of Innsbruck & Director of Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research at Austrian Academy of Sciences 
• Dr. Ignacio Palomo, research scientist at French National Institute for Sustainable Development, Institute of Environmental Sciences and University of Grenoble
• Dr. Elisa Ravazzoli, vice head of Center for Climate Change and Transformation and research group leader at Institute for Regional Development, both EURAC Research

Abstracts of winning and finalist theses

Call: Responding to environmental changes and maintaining high quality of life in the Alps (closed)