The rural landscape of the Bistrita Valley is today in a constantly changing. The new rhythm of activities, the use of new architectural forms, new functions, new materials and resources are through the main pressures on the present mountainous territory. The specific mountain landscapes which define the Romanian rural areas are found today in front of a new paradigm. The changes that have taken place over the past years in the Romanian mountain rural environment bring changes even in the middle of the identity landscape by introducing new architectural forms, new plants and new ways of using the land. The research focuses on the new forms built in rural areas, who use unsustainable and non-specific materials on detriment of an adapted architecture that has demonstrated its durability over time. The rural landscape of villages in Bistrita Valley is characterized by the creation of an identity image with vernacular accents that has been compose in time. All the exterior things situated outside the rural framework have been gradually integrated, transformed and adapted on place resulting new forms perfectly incorporated in the territory and in harmony with the landscape. The study questions about the rhythm of transformation and the evolution of the new rural landscape in the present. The territory still retains a vernacular landscape, but increasingly blends with an eclectic contemporary image with inadequate textures and shapes. This new framework has the tendency to dilute the value of rural areas.

This study presents a trajectory of socio-environmental changes in the Pays de la Meije, in the French Alps, using an innovative interdisciplinary approach. It is based on the Trajectories research program (https://trajectories.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr) coordinated by Université Grenoble Alpes to investigate the sustainability of alpine socio-ecological systems in the context of climatic, economic and socio-cultural changes. A team of PhD and early career scientists produced this poster with the aim of developing interdisciplinary practice within a group of researchers originating from a wide variety of disciplines such as Ecology, Climatology, Palynology, History, Geography, Computer and Political science.

This initiative began with a 3-day field trip in the Pays de la Meije, where participants shared their perspectives and approaches and set a common objective of co-analysing the spatio-temporal dynamics of the local social-ecological system.

Pays de la Meije is mostly known as a historic center for mountaineering and for its extreme skiing resort; it is also an important transit route for traffic to Italy. This high-altitude mountain region has been, and continues to be, affected by major climate, social, cultural and economic changes. By collecting historical data on agriculture, tourism and climate, our poster highlights the drivers of the past and the current evolution of this area’s socio-ecological system, as well as the adaptation strategies used by the local communities in both short and long-term perspectives. The critical links between socio-economic activities and environmental changes that have affected this region since 1850 were identified. Having highlighted the past trajectories of the area’s socio-ecological systems, we suggest potential future changes and vulnerabilities in the context of different climate scenarios until 2050. This poster illustrates a rich interdisciplinary experience highlighting the evolution of a socio-ecological system in a mountain area affected by climate change.

How to understand the tourist trend in winter sports resorts to propose activities mixing sport and festive atmosphere? It aims to ensure the sustainability of these territories subordinated to the leisure economy. If this is not new, the holiday is no longer an "atmosphere" related to skiing but an offer in-itself. Should the secondary position attributed to skiing be read as an adaptive response to climate change? The facilities reflect a search for sensation and fun experiences, like the Wetterleuchten festival (Austria), which combines in the high mountains skiing and party. The purpose of our communication is to question this hybridity between sport and celebration as an alternative strategy to skiing. We will measure the evolution of practice from a longer historical perspective. In France, located southeast of Grenoble, Oisans, and more particularly Alpe d'Huez, partly forged its fame on sports events: bobsleigh events of the 1951 World Championships and the 1968 Olympic Games, and the almost annual presence of the “Tour de France” since 1976. In 2019 the territory becomes the winter theater of a world-renowned Belgian electronic music festival: Tomorrowland. This gathering awaits 25,000 festival-goers for a week, a young and international clientele with a high purchasing power. Tomorrowland materializes new considerations of space and new cultural aspirations, inviting to understand the contradiction between the desire for recreational excesses (hubris) and the search for naturalness. We will analyze the sociocultural heritage of events through a historical reading. Different types of sources (local press, municipal council reports, stakeholder interviews) will be mobilized to take into account the evolution of representations. Tomorrowland raises questions about the eviction of certain populations (secondary residents). If the mountain territories have always been able to adapt, we will observe their capacity to renew themselves, in the light of new constraints.