ForAlps website is online: please help us to disseminate it!
Immigration as opportunity for Alpine regions. The mountains as an economic and human resource. ForAlps aims to shade light and increase the debate about welcoming culture and migrants’ integration in mountain regions
We are glad to announce that the website ForAlps has been launched! ForAlps is an independent international and interdisciplinary research group active in the field of Foreign Immigration in the Alps.
Since 2015, researchers, academics, members of non-profit organisations and journalists investigate the opportunities and challenges stemming from the arrival of refugees in Alpine regions. How does a a welcoming culture for refugees contribute maintaining and reviving local communities? What is the impact of “economic migration” towards the highlands, when met with coherent and community-based approaches? Discussing various forms of migration and evaluating their potential development and consequences in mountain areas is the main focus of the For Alps network.
The experts taking part in it work together to disseminate and increase the debate about welcoming culture and integration, with a focus on best practice related with the specific territory, like the mountain, important to relieve the migration topic from abstract arguments about national cohesion and identity!
The group is self-managed, following a non-hierarchical, multi and interdisciplinary approach that is open to all contributions from its members, including suggestions, concepts and proposals. Network members come from Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France and Germany.
The Network´s main research question is: what can immigrants do for European mountains and the latter do for immigrants?
The basic premise of ForAlps research places the mountains at the centre of Europe. The Alps, which have long been perceived as divisional due to territory-related traits such as altitude, isolated settlements, local communities and distinct traditions, are reconsidered as “hinge areas” where interactions between locals and foreigners can form “elements of positive transformation…, local development and multicultural enrichment”.
The group has organized several meetings since 2015 aiming to enlarge the group’s network, strengthen international co-operation and facilitate information exchange among participants. In addition, they provide a view to developing future joint research, project design, and public and decision-maker awareness initiatives.
We invite you to check the website and link it in your own webpage and social media profiles! Here it is: https://www.foralps.eu/home/
