Other sessions

• 1 - Site-adapted animals and management to enhance ecosystem services
  Keywords: Ecosystem services, biodiversity, breeding, genetics, robustness, landscape, payments This session explores how site-adapted livestock and tailored management strategies can enhance ecosystem services across diverse landscapes. Emphasis will be placed on breeding and genetic approaches that promote animal robustness and biodiversity, while also considering incentive mechanisms such as payments for ecosystem services.
• 2 - Mountain grasslands and livestock in the context of climate change
  Keywords: Climate change, grazing management, mitigation, resilience, water supply, methane production This session addresses the challenges and opportunities for mountain grasslands and livestock systems under climate change. It will explore adaptive grazing management strategies that enhance resilience, safeguard water resources, and contribute to mitigation through reduced methane production.
• 3 - New ways to maintain the heritage of grassland and livestock
  Keywords: Conservation, biodiversity, traditional breeds, traditional practices, transhumance This session explores innovative approaches to preserving the cultural and ecological heritage of mountain grasslands and livestock farming. It will examine how old practices like transhumance and traditional breeds can help conserve mountain rangelands, while supporting biodiversity. Join us to learn how these time-tested methods are being used in fresh, sustainable ways.
• 4 - Feeding livestock by mountain grassland
  Keywords: Forage production and conservation, pasture management, feeding system, alternative feed stuff This session focuses on nourishing livestock through natural forage resources available in mountainous regions. It examines challenges and strategies for forage production and conservation under variable climatic conditions, emphasizing sustainable pasture management to maintain productivity and biodiversity. Feeding systems adapted to seasonal variations and limited resources are explored, as well as the use of alternative feedstuffs or by-products to complement grazing and local forage sources for improved animal nutrition and farm resilience
• 5 - From pasture to plate: product quality along the production chain
  Keywords: Product quality, marketing, traceability Mountain livestock farming systems are known to generate high quality animal products. However, the concept of quality is quite broad and is changing in response to consumer preferences and throughout the production chain. This session explores innovative approaches to intrinsic and extrinsic quality traits of mountain livestock farming products and the authentication of the associated husbandry systems which enable the production of safe, healthy and tasty animal products while respecting animal welfare and the environment from the farm to the consumers.
• 6 - Economy and social context of grassland-based livestock production
  Keywords: Socio-economy, policy, diversification, recruitment, perception, communication Economic and social factors along with specific policies shape mountain livestock farming systems that rely primarily on grasslands. This session will examine rural development, market dynamics, and labor recruitment linked to grazing-based livestock systems. It also considers how diversification strategies in grassland farming (e.g., integrating tourism, landscape conservation, or renewable energy) influence the sustainability and resilience of these production systems in a changing economic and environmental context.
• 7 - Bits and pixels: software and sensors for grassland-based livestock systems
  Keywords: Sensing, precision farming and feeding, decision support This session explores software tools and sensor technologies that enable precision farming and feeding in grassland-based mountain livestock systems. Presentations will highlight how sensing and data-driven decision support can optimize resource use, improve performance and animal welfare, and enhance sustainability. We focus on research tools, prototypes and practical applications shaping the future of digital technology in mountain agriculture.
• 8 - You never walk alone: land-use conflicts or coexistence?
  Keywords: Predators, wildlife, energy production, tourism, urbanisation New management practices and policies are needed to resolve conflicts between mountain livestock agroecosystems and competing land uses and interests, such as conservation, tourism, and infrastructure development. The coexistence of livestock farming and large predators such as wolves, brown bears and others is especially challenging. This session will focus on the perspectives and needs of farmers, drawing on knowledge from various disciplines, including social sciences, conservation, farming practices, economics and policy design.
• 9 - Shrubs and trees: friends or foes of mountain grasslands?
  Keywords: Silvo-pastoralism, shrub encroachment, land abandonment, shrub regulation, use of woody species, link to forest The reduction of livestock farming has led to an increase in woody species encroachment on mountain pastures, with a loss of grassland areas and negative agro-environmental impacts at the continental scale. At the same time, tree and shrub cover, if kept within certain limits within pastures, can bring benefits such as increased biodiversity, diversification of forage resources, climate resilience, and positive aspects for animal welfare. This session aims to explore woody encroachment and mountain silvopastoral systems, highlighting the challenges, opportunities, and trade-offs between diverging interests in their management.