What does the construction of a reservoir in an Alpine valley mean for the people who live and work there? The project explores this question by examining the social and environmental history of geographically and politically peripheral valley communities.
In addition to resettlements, the project also focuses on displacement processes that resulted in the long-term loss of agricultural land or restricted access to water in many places. The economic and infrastructural benefits that a reservoir brought to a formerly structurally weak mountain valley are critically weighed against such socio-ecological consequences.
In order to uncover the power structures and decision-making scope of directly affected residents underlying the construction of a reservoir, the study explains how individual communities, hamlets or mountain farms were involved in the planning and construction of a power plant. This reveals the mechanisms of exclusion and participation of peripheral societies, which vary between federal and central government concession rights depending on each Alpine country. To this end, the project takes a transnational approach in addition to a social and environmental historical one. The critical examination of hydropower use in the Alps contributes to the current debate on an energy future that is not only ecological but also socially acceptable.
The project will run from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2026.
