LTSER Platform Oberes Paznaun - Austria

The LTSER platform Oberes Paznaun includes the communities of Ischgl and Galtür (225 km²), and covers an elevation range from 1263 to 3384 m.a.sl.. The village of Galtür is one of the highest permanently inhabited places in the Alps. Fluchthorn, the highest peak of the largely glacier-covered Silvretta, was taken down by about 30m in 2023, when a major rock fall occurred as a result of reducing permafrost. Both the effects of climate and those of land use change affect the very sensitive livelihoods in the are, exposed as they are to natural hazards, such as avalanches, rock fall and floods. The region was economically weak until winter tourism boomed from the 1970s. Skiing as dominant source of income now has an impact on land use as well as on social and economic structures in the region. Management issues arise from the high number of incoming tourists. Local stakeholder networks involved in spatial planning and hazard management are also part of the LTSER Platform. The local Alpinarium museum is dedicated to presenting the livelihoods of mountain communities and acts as a local hub for linking science and society. Apart from the long-term monitoring of the environmental parameters, initiated in 1895 with glacier length changes, the socio-economic research in the Paznaun area dates back to the 1960s. Socio-economic and socio-ecological research in the region focuses on the multiple feedbacks between environmental and socio-economic changes in the region. The avalanche disaster of Ischgl and Galtür in 1999 affected disaster management and related structures in many ways, not only for the region, but for all of Austria, for instance leading to the foundation of crisis intervention teams. The question of how to deal with impacts of climate change, for example on hydrology and water management, is part of research projects in the area connecting stakeholders and scientists. The overarching aim of the platform Oberes Paznaun is linking up geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere research with local political and administrative processes for sustainable development in a warming future.