Research

Tourism and livelihoods in the Caucasus

This project aims to understand the transformation of livelihoods linked to tourism development in the Greater Caucasus. The case study in Kazbegi Municipality analyzes tourism development and linkages between the tourism sector and other branches of economy, such as agriculture.

Selected publications:

Gugushvili, T., Salukvadze, G., & Salukvadze, J. (2017). Fragmented development: Tourism-driven economic changes in Kazbegi, Georgia. Annals of Agrarian Science, 15(1), 49–54.

Gugushvili, T., Salukvadze, G., Leonhäuser, I.-U., Durglishvili, N., Pavliashvili, N., Khelashvili, J. et al. (2020). Participatory policy review: “Supportive Tourism” concept for hand-in-hand rural and mountain development. Annals of Agrarian Science, 18, 269–281.

Salukvadze, G., & Backhaus, N. (2020). Is Tourism the Beginning or the End? Livelihoods of Georgian Mountain People at Stake. Mountain Research and Development, 40(1), R28–36.

Salukvadze, G., Khokhobaia, M., Gugushvili, T., & Khartishvili, L. (2021). Tourism in Georgia: From Past Lessons to Future Perspectives. Caucasus Analytical Digest, 122(July).

Nature conservation and protected areas

In different research projects we explore socio-economic impacts of protected areas in the Caucasus, the Alps, and beyond. Our interests in conservation processes are diverse:

• We engage with questions of equity and justice in environmental negotiations and participatory processes.
• We analyze how landscape perceptions are intertwined with emotions and how these influence values attached to nature.
• We explore the role of trust in national park expansions and establishment.
• We want to learn more about human-nature relationships. 

Selected publications:

Salukvadze, G., Gugushvili, T., Dolbaia, T., Salukvadze, J., & Durglishvili, N. (2021). Park-people interaction in mountainous Georgia. Dela (55), 69–86.

Michel, A. H. (2019). How conceptions of equity and justice shape national park negotiations: The case of Parc Adula, Switzerland. eco.mont, 11(1), 25–31.

Michel, A. H., & Backhaus, N. (2019). Unraveling reasons for failed protected areas: Justification regimes and ideas of worth in a Swiss national park project. Environmental Values, 28, 171–190.

Michel, A. H., & Wallner, A. (2020). How can local populations be won over to protected areas? Swiss Academies Factsheets, 15(5).

Michel, A. H., et al. (2021). The Role of Trust in the Participatory Establishment of Protected Areas – Lessons Learnt from a Failed National Park Project in Switzerland. Society & Natural Resources, 35(3), 1–19.

ValPar.CH - Values of the Ecological Infrastructure in Swiss parks

Within this transdisciplinary research project, we assess the social values of the ecological infrastructure (EI) and ecosystem services in regional nature parks in Switzerland. Using a mixed-methods approach, we seek to understand locals' perceptions of landscapes and landscape elements and the meanings attributed to them. Furthermore, we analyze how emotions tied to landscape experiences and practices are connected to underlying values. With go-along interviews, such as transect walks, and researcher-generated photography, we will receive an in-depth understanding of people's relations to landscapes and ecosystems and will be able to understand interlinkages over space and time. Additionally, participatory mapping brings together perceptions, meanings, and emotions with ecological and economic values of EI. 

Learn more about ValPar.CH!