Intensive research on the Alpine area goes back a long way. Click here to learn more about how this NRP intends to close gaps in the knowledge, reach across disciplinary boundaries, and develop new approaches to research.
General Goals
Scientific Goals
Project Evaluation
Research Foci
The Projects
Organisation
Scientific Co-ordination
Implementation Plan
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Scientific goals
The NRP will analyse and evaluate ecological, economic and cultural processes concerning landscapes and habitats dynamics in the Alpine region in inter- and transdisciplinary research projects; and it will develop target knowledge as well as implementation norms for the sustainable use and shaping of landscapes and habitats (l and h).
The scientific goals of the NRP are outlined below as a set of five guideline questions:
1. In what ways have the Alpine "l and h" changed and developed during the last 50 years? What general and regionally differentiated interrelationships can be found to exist and in what way do such interrelationships influence the need for action?
2. How do values and norms define the awareness and perception of "l and h"? How do such moral concepts come into being, and how do they change?
3. How do the objectives for "l and h" design come about? How can these objectives be co-ordinated? How important are evaluation criteria emanating from scientific disciplines?
4. Which approaches and methods are appropriate – with respect to all relevant claims – for the optimal conservation and development of "l and h"?
5. How significant are "virtual landscapes" as a substitute for real landscapes and as measures/methods (simulation) in the decision-making processes for "l and h" development?
The Steering Committee provides the following definition of landscapes and habitats as a base for the research projects illustrating the extensive scope of the research within NRP 48:
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The lived and experienced environment of humans, covering and fulfilling their physical and psychological needs as individuals as well as social beings; be it as a natural or as a cultural resource. The relevant dimensions of well being are value added, resource supply, disposal, safety, protection worth, recreation and regional identity.
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