Potential for Applying Intergenerational Practice to Protected Area Management in Mountainous Regions

Abstract

One way of preserving the natural and cultural diversity of mountain areas and supporting their sustainable development is the establishment of protected areas. The scientific literature acknowledges the importance of participation by local stakeholders and of considering social cohesion in protected area management. Intergenerational practice has been shown to enhance participation and improve social cohesion; however, its potential role in natural resource management has not been considered by the research community. This paper explores the potential for integrating intergenerational practice into protected area management in mountainous regions, guided by 3 research questions: What challenges of protected area management could benefit from intergenerational practice? How can intergenerational practice help to address these challenges? And how could intergenerational practice be more strongly integrated into current protected area management? The paper focuses on selected management challenges, mostly related to the development function of protected areas, and suggests intergenerational practice solution pathways for each challenge, derived from qualitative content analysis of the literature, interviews with protected area and regional development experts, and participation in the project Big Foot: Crossing Generations, Crossing Mountains, which tested intergenerational learning approaches in 3 rural municipalities—one each in Bulgaria, Greece, and Italy. Recommendations are proposed for integrating intergenerational practice into protected area management policy and practice at the global, regional, and local levels.