Neue Pioniere in ostalpinen Peripherräumen: die Wiederbelebung von Geisterdörfern und partiellen Wüstungen in Friaul

Abstract

Abstract. This study is based on amenity migration as theoretical concept and thus on the assumption that new in-migration improves the appearance, resilience and socioeconomic situation of remote alpine regions. Current revitalisation processes in Friulian alpine villages, having become sparsely inhabited or indeed real ghost villages, are particularly suitable for such studies. The research builds on the one hand on analysis of the current state of the art as well as on analyses of official statistical data. It is on the other hand derived from own surveys in the course of investigative visits to a large part of the Friulian ghost towns. In these remote areas locals and newcomers were interviewed personally. The results show that newcomers bring innovation and new impulses in agriculture, tourism, artistic and cultural sphere and play a key role in renovating existing buildings, reusing fallow plots of land and establishing a creative dynamic. Their activities increasingly enable the regeneration and maintenance of alpine cultural landscapes, resulting in new social and agrarian structures, which are emerging as „new farming“ in the study area. The village of Dordolla in Val Aupa has recently established itself as a centre of innovation in the Friulian mountains. The influx of new pioneers and their achievements are also evident in the rest of the valley. The regeneration processes analyzed in the study area could also be transferred to other remaining partially abandoned settlements in Friuli. The motivations, solutions and ways of thinking of new pioneers combined with the increasingly positive connotations of such areas make the regeneration of the cultural landscape and potential repopulation in other isolated areas by no means unrealistic.

Two Close-to-Nature Lifestyles, One Benefit for the Cultural Landscape: Comparing Lifestyle Movers and Lifestyle Farmers in the Remote European Eastern Alps

“…Although forced, labor, and lifestyle modes of mobility certainly all aim at a better life, individuals pursuing lifestyle mobility are usually more affluent (Donoso and Sarmiento 2021: 1916). Their relative affluence is double-edged and may lead either to revitalization (Löffler et al 2016; Gretter et al 2017; Beismann et al 2022) or gentrification of the Alpine cultural landscape (Perlik 2011; Boscoboinik 2018; Cretton 2018). While gentrification associated with consumption-oriented lifestyle mobilities seems to prevail in the Western Alps, I did not identify similar tendencies in the thinly populated, remote Eastern Alps, for 2 reasons: First, the community areas and numbers of newcomers are manageable for local authorities.…”

“…However, the exogenous potential of lifestyle mobility inherent in the deliberate maintenance of the cultural landscape as well as ties to the lowlands and its metropolitan regions (cf Dax 2020; Barbera and De Rossi 2021; Bona et al 2021; Membretti, Dax, and Machold 2022) cannot be ignored by policymakers and demographic research. Ultimately, local development related to newcomers depends less on the quantity of inputs than on the benefit for local society and the environment (Beismann et al 2022: 81 f). Thus, impacts on the cultural landscape hinge on whether lifestyle mobilities are studied in tourism agglomerations in the valley bottom or in remote communities at the valley end (cf Steinicke et al 2012), as well as on the lens applied for analysis.…”

“…Albeit rarely, due to land access restrictions, immigrants also adopt farming activities and employment (Pereira and Oiarzabal 2018; Farinella and Nori 2020) or take over entire farms (Grubbström and Joosse 2021). Using “new farming” approaches (Gretter et al 2019), these “new pioneers” (Beismann et al 2022) innovatively recombine local past knowledge and practices with exogenous resources to foster wellbeing and advance socioeconomic relationships among locals, newcomers, and visitors to marginalized mountain communities.…”

“…Crosscurrents along the European Alpine arch are not solely economically driven, as illustrated by studies on amenity migration (Bender and Kanitscheider 2012;L€ offler et al 2016;Mayer and Meili 2016;Beismann et al 2022), lifestyle migration (Boscoboinik and Cretton 2017;Friedli and Boscoboinik 2023), as well as leisure migration and multilocality (Borsdorf 2013;Sonderegger and B€ atzing 2013;Perlik 2020;Bourdeau 2021). These studies address conscious, (semi)permanent relocation for a better way of life (cf Benson and Osbaldiston 2014) that is linked to tourism, leisure, and consumption (Torkington 2012) and thus to the concept of lifestyle mobility (McIntyre 2009;Casado-Diaz 2011;Cohen et al 2013).…”

“…In predominantly Western Alpine winter resort regions, the negative impacts of lifestyle mobility seem to prevail: Rising real estate prices, stress on local supply and disposal infrastructures, and displacement of traditional building stock related to multilocal dwelling are trends of ''Alpine gentrification'' (Perlik 2011;Boscoboinik 2018;Cretton 2018). The southern European Alps present a more positive picture, with small numbers of in-migrants moving to formerly abandoned remote communities and reviving local traditions, business, and infrastructure (L€ offler et al 2016;Beismann et al 2022). Further east, Austria-the country with the largest share of Alpine area (Alpine Convention 2018: 13)-lags behind in lifestyle mobility research.…”