From 8th to 10th October 2023, the Italian project partner UNIMONT – University of Milan participated with a stand at the Futura Expo in Brescia. The exhibition about the economy for the environment was focused on the topic of sustainability and in this context the Interreg Alpine Space TranStat project was placed and presented to the public.
In the three days of exhibition, the activity of TranStat was disseminated both at the local level, with a focus on the two Italian Living Labs of Maniva and Valmalenco, and at the Alpine Space level. TranStat was also connected with the activity dedicated to another European project, the Horizon Europe MountResilience, of which UNIMONT – University of Milan is the Lead Partner. Indeed, the two projects are united by the topic of climate change in the mountain context and during the exhibition visitors were involved in a participatory activity about this issue. Starting from the assumption that the Alps and the life in the mountains are undergoing important changes due to climate change, visitors were invited to place a sticker on the aspect that they perceived as the most affected by the impacts of climate change.
Agriculture, environment and landscape, tourism, health, lifestyle, economy and work, energy and infrastructures were the eight thematic areas among which visitors could express their opinion. At the end of the event, it turned out that most participants perceive the impact of climate change on the environment and landscape due for example to the recent natural disasters and visible changes such as the reduction of glaciers. Moreover, specifically regarding tourism, there are concerns about the disappearance of tourism destinations, the lack of snowfalls and the commodification of the mountains and an interesting question was witten by someone: “How can the ski industry become more sustainable in face of global warming?”. This is indeed one aspect that TranStat, with its 10 European Living Labs, is investigating across the Alpine Space Regions.
