The Sustainable Development Research Area is mainly addressed to scientific and practical problems regarding the sustainable use of natural resources. The consequence of human activities is the main topic treated within all our research projects.

Because of the multifaceted challenges and the sophisticated research hypothesis, over the years three different Research Institutes developed from the original research area.
Within this new structure each Institute is specialized on an important aspect of sustainable development. To avoid a high degree of specialization we strive to cooperate and share knowledge to a large extent.
The "Alpine Convention – International Mountain Agreement" Co-ordination Unit is also part of this research area.

Institute for Alpine Environment 
The central topic of all our research projects is the sustainable development of mountain areas. Our key aspects range from the analysis of land use changes in mountain areas and the ecological consequences arising from these changes, to the investigation, whether cultural differences have an influence on regional development, and finally to the attempt of quantifying sustainable development.

Institute for Regional Development and Location Management 
The collaborators of the Institute for regional development concentrate on problems arising from the area of conflict between the acting man and the space he is living in. Apart from the scientific research activities, one of the main aims of the institute is to resolve actual problems within this context.

Institute for Applied Remote Sensing
The aim of this institute is to develop remote sensing applications for the Alps and other mountainous areas. Our products cover a wide range of topics such as monitoring air quality, identifying the status of crops or observing conditions of snow an ice. By means of an own receiving station for satellite date we can provide such information in near real-time.

Institute for Renewable Energy
The institute works in strong cooperation with industry partners on the realization of new technologies in the field of renewable energy. The objective is the implementation of applied research in order to assist enterprises and for a sustainable development of the society.

Alpine Convention - International Mountain Agreement" Co-ordination Unit
On behalf of the Eurac, the Co-ordination Unit organizes and manages the collaboration between national and international institutions in order to realize projects of the Alpine Convention and other international agreements like the Carpathian Convention and the Global Mountain Partnership.