PEOPLECristina Dalla Torre

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Cristina Dalla Torre

Post-Doc-Researcher
Institute for Regional Development

T +39 0471 055 431

cristina.dallatorre@eurac.edu

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0252-2630

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About

My work seeks to:

identify transformative actions and practices towards just and sustainable futures
understand how interacting global and regional changes affect collective resource governance in mountain regions
to detect patterns and mechanisms driving these changes
work with mountain communities and stakeholders to catalyze trasformations with a transdisciplinary approach;
contribute to re-define ethical and mutually benefitting relationship between science and society;

My research typically combines qualitative and participatory methods, including local knowledge, with quantitative ones.

Aside from working in academic settings, I am committed to enable thriving mountain communities and habitats by being active in associations and in non governmental organizations.

Scientific Publications

Report2026

Designing Transdisciplinary Collaborations for Climate-Just Societies

Dalla Torre C, Pedoth L, Pörnbacher M, Romagnoli F, Maino F, Lavarello Schettini R, D’Inzeo G, Longariva K,

Federica Maino, Elisa Ravazzoli, Lydia Pedoth, Cristina Dalla Torre, Romina Lavarello Schettini

Projekt: Transdisziplinäres umsetzbares Wissen für eine klimagerechte Gesellschaft

This report presents the results of the TRANSACTIONABLE project, which explored how transdisciplinary collaborations (TDCs) can support the production of actionable knowledge for just and climate-resilient societies. Combining literature review, interviews, participatory workshops, and collective reflection processes, the report analyses enabling conditions, challenges, and power dynamics shaping TDCs across different project phases. A key contribution is the TRANSACTIONABLE analytical framework, which operationalises reflection on TDCs through six interconnected dimensions while integrating power relations and positionality as transversal elements. Based on the findings, the report proposes practical guidelines and peer-learning approaches to support more reflexive, equitable, and actionable transdisciplinary practice.

DOI Quelle

DOI: 10.57749/ceq6-yq52

Journal article2025

Co-creating a festival with and for rural commoning initiatives: a transdisciplinary place-based process

Dalla Torre C, Moriggi A, Elzenbaumer B, Favargiotti S, Ferretti M

Cristina Dalla Torre

Projekt: Innovationen bei der Verwaltung kollektiver Ressourcen für regenerative sozial-ökologische Bergsysteme. Integration von sozialer Innovation und Commons Wissenschaft (PhD project).

Transdisciplinary collaboration is well-established in sustainability science scholarship. Stakeholders from the cultural and artistic sector can significantly enrich the co-creation process by providing diverse perspectives on caring for people and places in marginalized areas. A key challenge is engaging these stakeholders early in the co-design phase to foster a sense of co-ownership and shared responsibility. To date, artists and cultural experts are mostly involved as service-providers, with little opportunity to embed their visions and values in the project at stake. Drawing on a legacy of transdisciplinary and participatory action research, we present an early collaboration involving architects, designers, cultural and sports association members, educators, farmers, workshop facilitators, and artists. This collaboration focused on co-creating a rural festival to showcase and connect commoning initiatives, and to foster a sense of care for community and environment, in a moment of vulnerability and isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our case study illustrates how festivals can catalyze enthusiasm and energy, engaging the wider public in lived experiences of collective care for social-ecological systems, and providing a platform for marginalized voices, challenging dominant narratives about rural livelihoods and well-being. The research highlights the potential for creating actionable knowledge that is reflective of local contexts and needs. Results also demonstrate how arts- and place-based methods can provide boundary objects that blur disciplinary differences and facilitate dialogue on complex and sensitive sustainability-related issues. We discuss how these methods can be further incorporated into transdisciplinary research and reflect on the practical and ethical challenges posed by early co-design and festive events.

DOI Quelle

DOI: 10.5751/ES-16095-300308

Journal article2025

Meaningful transdisciplinary collaborations for sustainability: local, artistic, and scientific knowledge

Mesa-Jurado MA, Novo P, Calderón-Contreras R, Pereira LM, Bisht V, Boffi L, Dalla Torre C, Gianelli I,

Cristina Dalla Torre

Projekt: Innovationen bei der Verwaltung kollektiver Ressourcen für regenerative sozial-ökologische Bergsysteme. Integration von sozialer Innovation und Commons Wissenschaft (PhD project)., Transdisziplinäres umsetzbares Wissen für eine klimagerechte Gesellschaft

Meaningful transdisciplinary collaborations that weave diverse ways of knowing, doing, and feeling are increasingly recognized as central for enabling just and sustainable transformations. This Special Feature explores the unique contributions of artscience transdisciplinary collaborations in addressing complex social-ecological challenges. Drawing from a series of transdisciplinary projects, we examine how co-created processes between scientists, artists, and local knowledge holders foster new relational dynamics,
challenge entrenched power structures, and expand the space for transformative action. The collaborations documented here highlight innovative approaches that emphasize local identities, shared values, emotional and aesthetic engagement, and long-term, caring relationships. We identify key mechanisms, such as participatory visioning, storytelling, material deliberation, and arts-based boundary objects, that facilitate individual and collective agency and deepen connection with place and community. Despite significant challenges, such as time constraints, power imbalances, and institutional inertia, these experiences illustrate the transformative potential of artscience collaborations when designed ethically, reflexively, and with epistemological pluralism. This editorial offers critical insights into the practices, conditions, and innovations that support meaningful art-science engagement, providing guidance for evaluating their impacts. As planetary crises intensify, such collaborations offer hopeful, grounded, and imaginative pathways toward more just and sustainable futures.

DOI Quelle

DOI: 10.5751/ES-16491-300407

Journal article2025

Stakeholders’ feedback integration in spatial planning using Importance Performance Analysis: the case of the Provincial Strategic Plan of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano-South Tyrol (IT)

Ravazzoli E, Dalla Torre C, Labadini A, Maino F

Federica Maino, Cristina Dalla Torre, Elisa Ravazzoli

Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) is a research method employed to comprehend and analyze stakeholder feedback on particular issues. A substantial body of research has demonstrated the efficacy of this methodology as a quantitative approach. To date, there has been a paucity of research using IPA as a methodology for integrating stakeholder feedback into the development of strategic spatial plans. The integration of stakeholder feedback is crucial for the development of inclusive, well-informed, and responsive decision-making processes. The objective of this paper is to contribute to the existing body of knowledge on the utilization of the IPA method in the context of spatial planning. This research presented in this paper employs the Provincial Strategic Plan of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano-Bozen as a case study. In particular, the IPA method was employed to analyze the level of importance and performance of the objectives set out in the Provincial Strategic Plan. Importance refers to the importance of the specific objectives for the future development of the area, while performance refers to how well the specific objectives were formulated. The IPA method has been demonstrated to be an effective assessment instrument. The findings demonstrate that the IPA approach enabled the effective gathering of stakeholders’ feedback in a systematic manner, identifying pivotal issues and potential shortcomings, and providing policy makers with structured recommendations on how to reformulate strategies and plans

DOI Quelle

DOI: 10.3389/frsc.2025.1394025

Journal article2025

Territories of commons: a review of common land organizations and institutions in the European Alps

Pagot G, Šmid Hribar M, Rail LF, Walters G, Hymas O, Liechti K, Haller T, Urbanc M,

Cristina Dalla Torre

Projekt: Innovationen bei der Verwaltung kollektiver Ressourcen für regenerative sozial-ökologische Bergsysteme. Integration von sozialer Innovation und Commons Wissenschaft (PhD project).

Common land organizations and institutions (hereinafter: CLOIs) have been extensively studied worldwide. However, the extent of the European ones is relatively unknown, despite studies and evidence of their long existence. This is the first comparative study on the CLOIs at a European regional scale. This study focuses on the Alps as defined by the Alpine Convention, and presents the first comprehensive review of data, and status of CLOIs across and within 6 alpine countries: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, and Switzerland. The aim is to assess (i) their historical evolution, (ii) their institutional arrangements and governance characteristics, and (iii) their numbers, surface, and land uses. To carry out this analysis, we used secondary data from official statistics, surveys, scientific and grey literature, legislation, and bylaws for each country and each region. The results show that CLOIs emerged in the Middle Ages and went through key changes in the 19th century, primarily due to Napoleon's influence in reorganising public administration structures, and post-World War II centralization processes, especially in eastern European countries. In total, we accounted for between 5785 and 11 063 CLOIs, distributed across 32 types in the 6 countries; among which, CLOIs with full property rights and membership based on farmstead ownership are the most frequent. The main land use for Alpine CLOIs is forest followed by pasturelands. CLOIs holding agricultural land, such as cropland, was instead reported for only one country and was negligible. In this review we have identified and highlighted several scientific gaps for future but urgent research on Alpine commons. This review depicts the need for more systematic and cross-country data collection, which could encourage networking and innovation, stakeholder engagement, and CLOIs' recognition in contributing to the sustainable development goals.

DOI Quelle

DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/add1f4

Journal article2024

Endangered Commons? Modeling the Effects of Demographic Trends Coupled with Admission Rules to Common Property Institutions

Dalla Torre C, Scolozzi R, Ravazzoli E, Gatto P

Cristina Dalla Torre, Elisa Ravazzoli

Projekt: Innovationen bei der Verwaltung kollektiver Ressourcen für regenerative sozial-ökologische Bergsysteme. Integration von sozialer Innovation und Commons Wissenschaft (PhD project).

This study investigates the long-term effects of demographic trends and admission rules on common properties in the Province of Trento, Italy, which we refer to as historical commons. Historical commons have evolved into socio-ecological systems over the centuries, meaning that communities governed collectively natural resources and lands essential for community survival. Communities and the admission rules that determine their composition are an important constituting element of historical commons because they have developed local ecological knowledge and practices of sustainable use of natural resources. Our study hypothesizes that commons continuity is endangered because of the declining trend of the size of communities being influenced by demographic trends coupled with admission rules. Grounding our research in systems dynamics, we use empirical data including demographic projections and existing admission rules to simulate their effect on the site of the community using the Province of Trento, Italy, as our study region. To achieve that, three types of historical commons are identified: open, semi-open, and closed, each with different admission criteria based on inheritance and/or residency. Results indicate that inheritance-based admission rules can significantly reduce the number of commoners over time, potentially endangering the continuity of these self-governance institutions. The study discusses the results in light of the literature on historical commons’ continuity to evaluate different policies affecting the size of the community grounding on different mental models. The study concludes that a simulation approach can promote an anticipatory approach to the co-design of policies to ensure inclusive continuity of historical commons.

DOI Quelle

DOI: 10.3390/land13101704

Journal article2024

Women-Led Social Innovation Initiatives Contribute to Gender Equality in Rural Areas: Grounded Theory on Five Initiatives From Three Continents

Sarkki S, Ludvig A, Fransala J, Melnykovych M, Živojinović I, Ravazzoli E, Bengoumi M, Nijnik M,

Cristina Dalla Torre, Elisa Ravazzoli

Projekt: SIMRA - Soziale Innovation in marginalisierten ländlichen Räume

Ensuring gender equality is an important development challenge, especially in rural areas, where women are often marginalized by economic, socio-cultural and policy structures. Women-Led Social Innovation Initiatives (WLSIIs) are a promising way to address this challenge, but their contributions to gender equality depend on complex interactions between marginalizing structures and agency of women. The objective of this paper is to examine how the relevant elements of agency enable WLSIIs to contribute to progress towards gender equality in rural areas. We examine five WLSIIs located in Canada, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, and Serbia. The cases focus on employment, education, identity, gender roles, and rural development, and are analyzed by grounded theory. We identified 1) gendered identity, 2) (in)dependence of women, and 3) control of women over the “rules of the game” as structural features that can enable or constrain WLSIIs. These concepts are located between grand societal structures (policy, economy, culture, and social organization) and women’s concrete, everyday realities, and as such helped us to understand factors supporting or hindering women’s agency and well-being. We identified women’s self-confidence, women-to-women networks, and self-developed and externally supported capacity as the key elements enabling agency. All these together increased social acceptance of the examined WLSIIs, helping to overcome cultural prejudices and gendered stereotypes. For example, women-to-women networks and self-organization increased economic independence, which reduced skepticism towards “new” roles of women and even changed unequal political dynamics. We conclude that women’s collective agency can be enabled by WLSIIs in diverse geographical and cultural contexts and should be recognized by policymakers as a key mechanism that has great potential for enhancing gender equality and overcoming structures marginalizing rural women.

DOI Quelle

DOI: 10.2478/euco-2024-0028

Report2023

La consultazione degli stakeholder nell’elaborazione del Piano Strategico Provinciale della Provincia autonoma di Bolzano

Maino F, Dalla Torre C, Ravazzoli E

Federica Maino, Cristina Dalla Torre, Elisa Ravazzoli

L'Istituto per lo Sviluppo Regionale ha fornito supporto specialistico per l’elaborazione del Piano Strategico Provinciale (PSP) della Provincia autonoma di Bolzano. Si tratta di uno strumento di pianificazione che sostituirà il vecchio Piano provinciale di sviluppo e coordinamento territoriale (LEROP) e che definirà una nuova visione sullo sviluppo futuro del territorio e del paesaggio dell’Alto Adige. Tra gli elementi particolarmente innovativi portati dalla pianificazione strategica, centrale è il coinvolgimento di una vasta platea di soggetti del territorio. I ricercatori dell’Istituto per lo Sviluppo Regionale hanno curato in particolare la fase di consultazione degli stakeholder attraverso un’indagine online con questionario. La pubblicazione in oggetto descrive brevemente le principali fasi del processo che ha accompagnato la costruzione del PSP, e riporta metodologia e risultati della fase di consultazione degli stakeholder, ovvero dei rappresentanti delle organizzazioni che operano in Alto Adige.

DOI Quelle

DOI: 10.57749/2H90-W221

Journal article2022

Revitalizing Collective Resources in Mountain Areas Through Community Engagement and Knowledge Cocreation

Dalla Torre C, Stemberger S, Bottura J, Corrent M, Zanoni S, Fusari D, Gatto P

Cristina Dalla Torre

Projekt: Innovationen bei der Verwaltung kollektiver Ressourcen für regenerative sozial-ökologische Bergsysteme. Integration von sozialer Innovation und Commons Wissenschaft (PhD project).

The ongoing global and large scale changes in markets, demographics, and use of resources are impacting mountain peoples and regions. In mountain areas, resources have been governed through community-based systems for resource management for centuries, ensuring stewardship and local decision-making over the resources. Due to the importance of such systems to mountain societies, there is a need to understand local effects of global changes and reconfigure community-based resource management (CRM) to meet local needs while tackling global challenges. Changes include biodiversity loss and the climate crisis, as well as increasing social and economic disparities. Studies on the role of knowledge cocreation in the process of CRM innovation in response to ongoing changes in mountain social–ecological systems are missing. This study aimed to explore the reconfigurations that enable CRM to foster sustainable development and thriving communities. The study focused on an intervention promoting community entrepreneurship in community-based tourism for the revitalization of collective resources in 2 mountain communities in Northern Italy. We adopted a transdisciplinary approach and a research action methodology to codesign the interventions and research. Data from focus groups, a survey, participatory activities, interviews, and participant observation were collected and analyzed using a qualitative content analysis method. Results show that emerging reconfigurations in CRM include recognition of new values and uses of collective resources, inclusion of new stakeholders, and innovation of the organizational model, shifting the perspective from resource management to resource governance. The study recommends striking a balance between pushing innovation and increasing power imbalances. It is important to pay attention to the inclusivity of the process and to avoid excessive commodification of resources.

DOI Quelle

DOI: 10.1659/mrd.2022.00013.1

Inbook2022

Thesis 3: It is time for a new rural and mountain narrative

Dax T, Dalla Torre C, Machold I

Cristina Dalla Torre

This chapter explains that regional development action and policy is built on deeply rooted notions of rural and mountain regions as dependent, less competitive and “marginal” places in comparison to urban areas. The analysis evidences long-term narratives that deepen path dependencies and hinder coping with place-specific challenges. To halt the persistent “downward spiral” of these regions, reform of existing policy frameworks seems too short-sighted. Indeed, this chapter agrees with the numerous experts and practitioners who argue that substantial changes in the narratives underlying spatial adjustments policies and action are necessary. Ongoing global and regional trends require to shed light on the specificity of social-ecological systems of rural and mountain areas and stimulate actors at all levels to revise their views on rural and mountain areas and enhance confidence to shape their place-sensitive opportunities.

DOI Quelle

DOI: 10.4324/9781003260486-6

Journal article2021

Can Social Innovation Make a Change in European and Mediterranean Marginalized Areas? Social Innovation Impact Assessment in Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, and Rural Development

Ravazzoli E, Dalla Torre C, Da Re R, Marini Govigli V, Secco L, Górriz-Mifsud E, Pisani E, Barlagne C,

Cristina Dalla Torre, Thomas Streifeneder, Elisa Ravazzoli

Projekt: SIMRA - Soziale Innovation in marginalisierten ländlichen Räume

Social innovation (SI) impacts are long-term changes that affect different dimensions of territorial capital (i.e., economy, society, environment, governance) for the territory in which SI occurs. Yet, systematic empirical evidence and theoretically sound assessments of the impacts of SI are scarce. This paper aims to fill the gap and assess the different aspects of SI’s impacts in European and Mediterranean areas that are characterized by marginalization processes. To assess the impacts of SI in marginalized areas, we use the evaluation framework developed within the Social Innovation in Marginalized Rural Areas (SIMRA) Horizon 2020 project and apply it to nine SI initiatives related to the fields of agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and rural development. Our findings show that SI produces cross-sectoral (societal, economic, environmental, and governmental) and multi-level impacts (on individuals, community, and society), which have improved the societal well-being, and contributed to the reduction of certain forms of marginality, mainly inside the territory in which SI occurred.

DOI Quelle

DOI: 10.3390/su13041823

Journal article2021

Questioning Mountain Rural Commons in Changing Alpine Regions: an Exploratory Study in Trentino, Italy

Dalla Torre C, Ravazzoli Elisa, Omizzolo A, Gretter A, Membretti A

Cristina Dalla Torre, Andrea Omizzolo

Projekt: Innovationen bei der Verwaltung kollektiver Ressourcen für regenerative sozial-ökologische Bergsysteme. Integration von sozialer Innovation und Commons Wissenschaft (PhD project).

Most of rural resources in the Italian mountain territories, such as forests, pastures, huts, mountain paths, have historically been governed through collective organizations and institutions that have guaranteed the balance between productive activities and environmental protection. These systems can be framed according to the literature on commons. Although the model of collective resource management is still strongly rooted in the Alpine region, socioeconomic changes underway call into question the way resources are conceived, used and managed by communities and the very concept of community as a reference for a collective resource. Few studies have focused on the transformation and adaptation of commons to the changes taking place, such as the progressive penetration of global economic and demographic megatrends at the local level, with the aim of decoding the new tension between community needs and societal needs. By referring to the concepts of resilience and transformability of social-ecological systems, this paper aims to reflect on the impact of the socioeconomic transformations underway in mountain rural regions, to search for new approaches for the conceptualization of commons and to investigate how commons can be transformed in order to make them resilient and more socially inclusive. For that, an extensive literature review and an exploratory fieldwork using a case study approach have been performed. The paper´s results are exploratory, from which working hypotheses have been derived to be explored in further studies. These hypotheses relate to socio-economic and cultural practices as well as approaches that would enable the re-embedding of the commons in the economy and society undergoing change.

DOI Quelle

DOI: 10.4000/rga.8589

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Journal article2025

Territories of commons: a review of common land organizations and institutions in the European Alps

Pagot G, Šmid Hribar M, Rail LF, Walters G, Hymas O, Liechti K, Haller T, Urbanc M,

Cristina Dalla Torre

Projekt: Innovationen bei der Verwaltung kollektiver Ressourcen für regenerative sozial-ökologische Bergsysteme. Integration von sozialer Innovation und Commons Wissenschaft (PhD project).

DOI Quelle

DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/add1f4

Cristina Dalla Torre

About

Scientific Publications

Designing Transdisciplinary Collaborations for Climate-Just Societies

Co-creating a festival with and for rural commoning initiatives: a transdisciplinary place-based process

Meaningful transdisciplinary collaborations for sustainability: local, artistic, and scientific knowledge

Stakeholders’ feedback integration in spatial planning using Importance Performance Analysis: the case of the Provincial Strategic Plan of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano-South Tyrol (IT)

Territories of commons: a review of common land organizations and institutions in the European Alps

Endangered Commons? Modeling the Effects of Demographic Trends Coupled with Admission Rules to Common Property Institutions

Women-Led Social Innovation Initiatives Contribute to Gender Equality in Rural Areas: Grounded Theory on Five Initiatives From Three Continents

La consultazione degli stakeholder nell’elaborazione del Piano Strategico Provinciale della Provincia autonoma di Bolzano

Revitalizing Collective Resources in Mountain Areas Through Community Engagement and Knowledge Cocreation

Thesis 3: It is time for a new rural and mountain narrative

Can Social Innovation Make a Change in European and Mediterranean Marginalized Areas? Social Innovation Impact Assessment in Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, and Rural Development

Questioning Mountain Rural Commons in Changing Alpine Regions: an Exploratory Study in Trentino, Italy

Science Shots Eurac Research Newsletter

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Externe Inhalte

Scientific Publications

Designing Transdisciplinary Collaborations for Climate-Just Societies

Co-creating a festival with and for rural commoning initiatives: a transdisciplinary place-based process

Meaningful transdisciplinary collaborations for sustainability: local, artistic, and scientific knowledge

Stakeholders’ feedback integration in spatial planning using Importance Performance Analysis: the case of the Provincial Strategic Plan of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano-South Tyrol (IT)

Territories of commons: a review of common land organizations and institutions in the European Alps

Endangered Commons? Modeling the Effects of Demographic Trends Coupled with Admission Rules to Common Property Institutions

Women-Led Social Innovation Initiatives Contribute to Gender Equality in Rural Areas: Grounded Theory on Five Initiatives From Three Continents

La consultazione degli stakeholder nell’elaborazione del Piano Strategico Provinciale della Provincia autonoma di Bolzano

Revitalizing Collective Resources in Mountain Areas Through Community Engagement and Knowledge Cocreation

Thesis 3: It is time for a new rural and mountain narrative

Can Social Innovation Make a Change in European and Mediterranean Marginalized Areas? Social Innovation Impact Assessment in Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, and Rural Development

Questioning Mountain Rural Commons in Changing Alpine Regions: an Exploratory Study in Trentino, Italy