Enhancing the Elaboration of an Inspiring Mountain Narrative

Over the last decades, mountains have been recognized as “sentinels of change” for climate warming trends and global change. The rising attention for local and regional action in mountain areas has therefore not only been oriented at long-standing challenges due to their specific topographical location, but increasingly fostered considerations of resilience and global sustainable development pathways. However, perspectives for mountain regions are overwhelmingly set in bleak pictures of remote and less-favoured areas that fail to catch up with more favourable lowland and central areas. This mainstream narrative is hardly beneficial to nurture emerging concepts of innovative futures and renewed visions for an increased valuation of nature-based assets of mountain regions. This paper intends to synthesize the increasing stock of inter- and trans-disciplinary studies on the complexity of "mountain" development. They argue that research issues need to be focused on a wide range of local to global levels, and underline the need for trans-disciplinary perspectives to understand the challenges for sustainable development. This also implies convincing arguments for a reinforced focus on storylines of mountain agency that regard placespecific assets and enable development strategies that harness the respective potential. This conceptual shift implies policy approaches that highlight the specificity of social-ecological systems of mountain areas and incite actors at the various administrative levels to enlarge their perspectives and raise confidence to shape place-sensitive opportunities of mountain areas.