Socio-ecological reference area Stubai Valley

The Stubai valley with a length of 30km is located in the south of Innsbruck. The wide valley where the villages (municipalities of Mieders, Telfes, Fulpmes and Neustift) are located has an altitude of roughly 1000 m. The valley narrows towards the upper part where a glacier dominates the landscape. In terms of traffic the Stubai Valley is well connected via the Brenner motorway. In particular, the front section of the valley is under the influence of the city region of Innsbruck: strong growth of settlements and high commuter rates. Fulpmes and Neustift are two municipalities in the valley with strong economies. Fulpmes has a long history in metal processing. The cooperative “Stubaier Werkzeugindustrie” (Stubai tool industry, well known as provider of gear for alpinism) and relevant training institutions is located there.
The Stubai Valley has developed into a powerful tourist region with Neustift at the upper end of the valley as main center. This is based on the spectacular mountain scenery and the glacier with several ski areas. Neustift ranks on the 10th place within Austria with a total sum of 1.205.613 overnight stays 2012 (Statistik Austria 2013b).
The main part of the mountain area is declared as landscape protection area (Tiroler Landesregierung 2013). Until the 1970s the Stubai Valley has had mainly an agrarian structure, but since then the labor force has shifted massively from agriculture to other sectors such as tourism. Within agriculture an important structural transition has occurred from full-time to part-time farming (1970: 57% part-time farmers, 2000: ~80% part-time farmers, ISIS, Statistics Austria).