PEOPLEChristian Hoffmann

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Christian Hoffmann

Senior Researcher
Institute for Regional Development

T +39 0471 055 328

christian.hoffmann@eurac.edu

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9291-2570

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About

Christian Hoffmann has done his doctor in Forest Economics at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences at the BOKU, Vienna during his training as a scientific assistant at the Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Economics (2002 to 2006). Since 2006, he is employed as a Senior Researcher at the Eurac Research Institute for Regional Development. There he takes responsibility for extending the network of the institute and for acquiring and coordinating of regional and European funded projects. Empowered with his long-term experiences, he leads the research group on rural resources. The scope of that group is to uncover the great potential to use the material and immaterial resources of rural areas sustainably. This requires creating innovative business models to strengthen local value chains and to enhance the resilience of bio- and circular economy. In addition, the research group also deals with pathways to attain balanced living conditions in line with the UN sustainable development goals. And finally, he is also a steering committee member in Science for Carpathians (S4C) and a deputy of the IUFRO sub-group on forest based value chains.

Scientific Publications

Journal article2025

Der ‚Deckungsbeitrag I‘ – eine forstökonomische Spitzenkennzahl = Net timber revenue – a key figure in forest economics

Sekot W, Hoffmann C, Rothleitner G, Metzker M

Christian Hoffmann

Der Deckungsbeitrag I (DB-I) ist eine zentrale Größe in der Ökonomie der forstlichen Urproduktion. Im Beitrag werden einleitend definitorische und methodische Aspekte behandelt. Dabei wird die potenzielle Vielfalt an Kennzahlen aufgezeigt. Von den vier möglichen, betriebswirtschaftlichen Betrachtungsebenen wird in weiterer Folge auf den kostenrechnerischen Ansatz fokussiert. Der Artikel setzt sich mit der Frage auseinander, welche vielseitige Bedeutung der im Rahmen der Betriebsabrechnung ermittelte DB-I für die Unternehmenssteuerung bzw. das interne Controlling hat. Dabei wird auch auf mögliche Verzerrungen und Fehlinterpretationen eingegangen. Die Ergebnisse einer online-Umfrage zum DB-I unter Forstexperten bieten ein erstes Meinungsbild der Branche zum Thema. Anhand der Daten des Testbetriebsnetzes im österreichischen Großwald werden empirische Befunde vorgestellt und methodische Aspekte erörtert. Der über Jahrzehnte akkumulierte Datenbestand ermöglicht die Auseinandersetzung mit langfristigen Entwicklungen, wie sie gerade in der Forstwirtschaft mit ihren extrem langen Produktionszeiträumen von besonderer Bedeutung ist. Anhand der jüngsten Daten (Abrechnungsjahrgang 2023) werden alternative Eingangsgrößen und daraus abgeleitete Kennzahlen exemplarisch quantifiziert. Abschließend erfolgt eine Auseinandersetzung mit Kostenelementen, die anknüpfend an den DB-I bei der Ermittlung des Kalamitätsgewinns von Bedeutung sein können.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.53203/fs.2502.3

Report2025

Klimarisiken und Anpassung - Wege zu einem klimaresilienten Südtirol

Zebisch M, Pedoth L, Pörnbacher M, Renner K, Fritsch U, Alberton M, Bertoldi G, Bisignano J,

Chiara Pellegrini, Mariachiara Alberton, Giacomo Bertoldi, Federica Maino, Uta Fritsch, Andreas Hilpold, Andrea Omizzolo, Wolfram Sparber, Nikolaus Obojes, Lydia Pedoth, Kathrin Renner, Marc Zebisch, Alice Crespi, Philipp Corradini, Giacomo Strapazzon, Chiara Crippa, Christian Hoffmann, Matteo Prina, Giulia Roveri

Progetto: Sviluppo di una strategia di adattamento ai cambiamenti climatici per la Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano, Legislazione e politica ambientale in sistemi multilivello, Eco-Idrologia di bacini idrografici alpini

Der Bericht „Klimarisiken und Anpassung – Wege zu einem klimaresilienten Südtirol“ untersucht die möglichen Klimafolgen und Klimarisiken sowie deren Ursachen für Südtirol für neun Sektoren und schlägt Strategien und Maßnahmenbündel für eine notwendige Klimaanpassung vor. Er soll die Klimaanpassungsstrategie des Landes vorbereiten sowie informieren und setzt daher die Schwerpunkte auf Klimarisiken, die weite Teile Südtirols oder mehrere Systeme, Sektoren oder Handlungsfelder gleichzeitig betreffen und sich kaskadenartig ausbreiten. Außerdem fokussiert diese Studie auf Anpassungsstrategien und Maßnahmen (wie z.B. Politikinstrumente), die auf der Ebene der Provinz eingeführt und umgesetzt werden sollten, und weniger auf technische Maßnahmen in einzelnen Handlungsfeldern.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.57749/4ehb-1753

Report2025

Rischi climatici e adattamento - Verso un Alto Adige resiliente al clima

Zebisch M, Pedoth L, Pörnbacher M, Renner K, Fritsch U, Alberton M, Bertoldi G, Bisignano J,

Progetto: Sviluppo di una strategia di adattamento ai cambiamenti climatici per la Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano

Il documento “Rischi climatici e adattamento – Verso un Alto Adige resiliente al clima” analizza i possibili impatti, i rischi climatici e le loro cause per l’Alto Adige in nove settori e propone strategie e pacchetti di misure per il necessario adattamento. Lo scopo è quello di preparare e informare la strategia di adattamento ai cambiamenti climatici della Provincia; pertanto, si concentra sui rischi climatici che interessano vaste zone dell'Alto Adige o che colpiscono contemporaneamente diversi sistemi, settori o campi d'azione e si diffondono a cascata. Inoltre, questo studio si concentra sulle strategie e sulle misure di adattamento (come gli strumenti politici) che dovrebbero essere introdotte e implementate a livello provinciale, piuttosto che sulle misure tecniche nei singoli campi di azione.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.57749/q8y8-tv70

Conference proceedings article2023

Political and socio-economic limits to counteract the bark beetle calamity in South Tyrol

Hoffmann C

Christian Hoffmann

Significant transitions are taking place in South Tyrol’s forests. In recent years disturbances like windthrows (VAIA 2018) or snow-pressure events (2019/2020) have formed an optimal substrate for an explosive bark beetle calamity, which had never been experienced before in South Tyrol. Each bark beetle pair has a reproduction rate of 2.5 generations per vegetation period, including at least one sibling brood. 6,400 ha of spruce forests were destroyed in 2022 alone. With high probability it is expected that the calamity will continue even more extremely in 2023. Thus, South Tyrol, with its 50 % forest landcover in the middle of the Alps that hosts millions of tourists every year, fears enormous societal and economic consequences, as 24 % of these forests are object protection forests. Accordingly, this has risen an enormous media attention and awareness among society on the health situation of local forest ecosystems.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.20315/SilvaSlovenica.0022

Journal article2023

The future of agritourism? A review of current trends of touristic commercialisation in rural areas

Streifeneder T, Hoffmann C, Corradini P

Thomas Streifeneder, Philipp Corradini, Christian Hoffmann

Progetto: Centro di competenza per l'agriturismo

Tourism in rural areas has enjoyed increasing demand and experienced new forms of
implementation. The expanding quantitative and qualitative development of highquality agritourism establishments in South Tyrol/Italy is an interesting and exemplary case for the commercialisation of rural tourism. For this scope, we analysed the websites of seventeen high-quality agritourism businesses in this region. We studied, how they conduct the commercialisation of agricultural and touristic features and to
what extent offers and services have been commodified. Our findings show in most cases very professionally managed websites that feature high-quality hotel-like facilities. At the same time, they provide significantly less information on farming and related activities. Thus, our results highlight the characteristics of this growing touristic commercialisation of high-quality (commercial) agritourism establishments. Furthermore, we discuss the implications for the objectives of this sector, in which authentic everyday experiences of agriculture and rurality are a crucial feature for the target groups and the perception of farming and the image of the sector.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1007/s00168-022-01126-w

Report2021

Analisi dello stato dell'arte: Report sui settori e attività produttive per promuovere l'Economia Circolare

Bastos J, Rizzari M, Agosti E, D'Alonzo V, Hoffmann C, Vettorato D

Daniele Vettorato, Valentina D'Alonzo, Christian Hoffmann

Progetto: IT SNSvs SEC - Strategia per l'Economia Circolare nella Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano

L’obiettivo dell’azione A.1 del progetto Strategia per l’Economia Circolare nella Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano (SEC) è quello di analizzare lo stato dell’arte sulla penetrazione dell’economia circolare (EC) nella Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano (PAB). Questo report dell’azione A.1 contiene una breve descrizione dello stato dell’arte con lo scopo di contestualizzare e supportare la definizione dell’ambito e della strategia del progetto.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6389393

Journal article2020

Soziale Landwirtschaft in Südtirol und ihre Rahmenbedingungen im europäischen Vergleich

Gramm V, Giuliani C, Hoffmann C

Christian Hoffmann

Soziale, ökologische und ökonomische Transformationsprozesse in Europas ländlichen Räumen haben zur Folge, dass innovative Konzepte wie die soziale Landwirtschaft stärker nachgefragt werden. Auch in Südtirol wird dem Thema immer mehr Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. Der vorliegende Artikel beschäftigt sich mit den Rahmenbedingungen und Strukturdaten der Diversifizierungsstrategie soziale Landwirtschaft in Südtirol. Dabei werden die Rahmenbedingungen der sozialen Landwirtschaft in Fallbeispielen ausgewählter europäischer Länder analysiert, um die Situation in Südtirol in Bezug auf einen größeren Kontext zu betrachten.

Die Südtiroler LandwirtInnen bieten vorwiegend Kinderbetreuung, Schule und Seniorenbetreuung am Bauernhof an. Angebote in den Bereichen Rehabilitation, Therapie, soziale- und Arbeitsintegration werden hauptsächlich durch Fachkräfte aus dem Sozial- und Gesundheitssektor auf landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben umgesetzt. Insgesamt ist die Bedeutung der Sozialgenossenschaften als vorwiegende Organisationsform innerhalb der sozialen Landwirtschaft in Südtirol – wie auch im restlichen Italien – hervorzuheben. Die Kriterien Ausbildung, Finanzierung, Kooperationspartner, gesetzlicher Rahmen und Zertifizierung sind einige der wichtigsten Einflussfaktoren für die Entwicklung sozialer Landwirtschaft in Europa. Deren Adaptierung im Kontext Südtirols könnte neue Entwicklungschancen für die soziale Landwirtschaft in der Provinz eröffnen.

DOI

DOI: 10.1007/s11614-020-00390-4

Inbook2019

Fostering Rural Urban Relationships to Enhance More Resilient and Just Communities

Ravazzoli E, Hoffmann C

Christian Hoffmann, Elisa Ravazzoli

Rural-urban relationships have been defined broadly as the reciprocal flows of people, goods, services, money, and environmental services that link rural, mountain, and remote areas to cities. Historically, urban-rural interdependency was under urban dominance and was conceived as a hierarchical system.

New social, economic, and environmental situations require us to rethink rural-urban relationships as less asymmetrical: rural communities are no longer dependent on the economy of urban areas; they establish connections not only with their neighbours but also internationally. Relations are embedded in a network with a multitude of different actors at various levels (urban, periurban, and rural) and territories (OECD 2014). Thanks to this polycentric spatial structure, the dependency of rural areas on central cities has declined. Due to rural transformation and structural changes in the economy, there has been a “rural renaissance” for rural businesses and rural areas are at the core of sustainability transitions. Moreover, both rapid urbanization and (counter-) urbanization processes coexist which give rise to a new innovative businesses, cross-sectoral linkages, or new arrangements for sustainable food systems. Urban and rural areas are mutually dependent on each other for natural resources, raw materials, and finished products, as well as financial flows, social interaction, and transport links (e.g. the rural population commutes or migrates to urban areas for work or access to services, while the recreation of urban citizens occurs in rural areas). We observe similar lifestyles in both rural and urban areas. The relationship between urban and rural areas should now be understood in a broad sense, and not only as the relationships between urban areas and their hinterland or rural areas. Consequently, the rural and urban economies are interdependent, intertwined, and complementary.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-71061-7_109-1

Journal article2019

Transmitting and Transforming (Agri)-Cultural Values of Mountain Farming: Farm-Based Educational Services in South Tyrol

Gramm V, Hoffmann C, Cattivelli V

Christian Hoffmann

Social farming helps mountain farms to bear with the current socio-economic challenges that threaten the cultural identity and traditions of mountain areas. It is an innovative bottom-up initiative that addresses societal needs and complements institutionalized social services. In the north Italian province South Tyrol, social farming is mainly implemented by women farmers offering educational services on their farms. This paper explains how these activities influence the transmission and transformation of (agri)-cultural values of mountain farming in South Tyrol. Therefore, we extracted data from an online survey to farms offering educational services, carried out in 2017. The results demonstrate that farms offering these services are well accessible for the target groups because of their distribution through the whole region. With the variety of topics included in their lessons, farmers have a key role in transmitting (agri)-cultural values and traditions to non-farmers. Although educational services in general may increase the farming income, our results show that the investigated offer contributes only little to the economic viability of the farm. Nevertheless, they provide an interesting field of action, where all the family members can bring in their ideas and get in contact with new people, children, teachers and parents. In parallel to cultural transmission, farm-based educational services therefore transform traditional (agri)-cultural values in family farms, linked to patriarchy: especially for women farmers it is an opportunity to acquire new skills and a personal salary, independent from agricultural production. Therefore, the provision of educational services contributes to the social sustainability of family farms.

DOI

DOI: 10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-19-00009.1

Journal article2018

Impacts of climate change adaptation options on soil functions: A review of European case‐studies

Hamidov A, Helming K, Bellocchi G, Bojar W, Dalgaard T, Ghaley BB, Hoffmann C, Holman I,

Georg Niedrist, Christian Hoffmann

Soils are vital for supporting food security and other ecosystem services. Climate change can affect soil functions both directly and indirectly. Direct effects include temperature, precipitation, and moisture regime changes. Indirect effects include those that are induced by adaptations such as irrigation, crop rotation changes, and tillage practices. Although extensive knowledge is available on the direct effects, an understanding of the indirect effects of agricultural adaptation options is less complete. A review of 20 agricultural adaptation case studies across Europe was conducted to assess implications to soil threats and soil functions and the link to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The major findings are as follows: (1) adaptation options reflect local conditions; (2) reduced soil erosion threats and increased soil organic carbon are expected, although compaction may increase in some areas; (3) most adaptation options are anticipated to improve the soil functions of food and biomass production, soil organic carbon storage, and storing, filtering, transforming and recycling capacities, whereas possible implications for soil biodiversity are largely unknown; and (4) the linkage between soil functions and the SDGs implies improvements to SDG 2 (achieving food security and promoting sustainable agriculture) and SDG 13 (taking action on climate change), whereas the relationship to SDG 15 (using terrestrial ecosystems sustainably) is largely unknown. The conclusion is drawn that agricultural adaptation options, even when focused on increasing yields, have the potential to outweigh the negative direct effects of climate change on soil degradation in many European regions.

DOI

DOI: 10.1002/ldr.3006

Inbook2018

Smart Territorial Relationships: A Conceptual Framework to Cope with the Rural-Urban Divide in Mountainous Regions

Ravazzoli E, Götsch H, Hoffmann C

Christian Hoffmann, Elisa Ravazzoli

ISBN: 978-3-319-75774-2

So far the literature discussed rural-urban linkages as an instrument that has the capacity to reduce the rural-urban divide and to improve the living conditions of rural and mountain areas. However, structural changes in the economy and society, advance in transportation and communication technology as well as transformations in the cities’ functions and structures have significantly modified the dynamics between rural and urban areas from a mono-dimensional and univocal relationship to a multifaceted conceptual framework. Interaction today happens in non-contiguous spaces and are not only based on physical proximity; they actually occur in a broad territorial space that is no longer limited to geographical boundaries. In order to understand the new types of relationships that are occurring today between different territories and to comprehend their nature as well as to suggest governance tools to enhance them, it is necessary to develop a new conceptual framework. A new conceptual framework, based on the concept of “smart territorial relationships”, will allow to re-frame, adapt, explain and describe linkages and interactions as they appear nowadays in our society. It does not consider anymore the dichotomy between “rural” and “urban", but it rather promotes a rural urban continuum within territories.

Keywords: Smart territorial relationships; Rural-urban divide; Proximity; Rural mountain area; Spatial justice

DOI

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-75774-2_41

Journal article2016

Determinants of local food purchase: Insight from a consumer survey in South Tyrol

Brozzi R, Stawinoga AE, Hoffmann C, Streifeneder T

Agnieszka Stawinoga, Thomas Streifeneder, Christian Hoffmann

A large number of previous studies relate local food purchase to the demographic and financial profile
of consumers. This article provides an innovative insight into the sociocultural and spatial factors influencing
local food purchase in the multilingual region of South Tyrol (Italy). To derive a representative sample for
the South Tyrolean population, 498 consumers have been interviewed through Computer Assisted Telephone
Interviewing (CATI). The differences in the consumer attitudes towards local food were tested for significance
using both parametric and non-parametric statistical tests. The results show that consumers’ cultural
background and spatial typology (according to their urban, predominantly urban and rural place of residence)
have a significant influence on specific attitudes towards local food purchase. More specifically, differences in
urban/rural consumers are observable with regard to the preferred stores to purchase at and in the level of
expenditure on local food. The cultural background influences the meanings associated with local food and the
reasons attributed to its purchase.

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.18030/socio.hu.2016en.99

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Inbook2019

Fostering Rural Urban Relationships to Enhance More Resilient and Just Communities

Ravazzoli E, Hoffmann C

Christian Hoffmann, Elisa Ravazzoli

DOI Fonte

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-71061-7_109-1

Christian Hoffmann

About

Scientific Publications

Der ‚Deckungsbeitrag I‘ – eine forstökonomische Spitzenkennzahl = Net timber revenue – a key figure in forest economics

Klimarisiken und Anpassung - Wege zu einem klimaresilienten Südtirol

Rischi climatici e adattamento - Verso un Alto Adige resiliente al clima

Political and socio-economic limits to counteract the bark beetle calamity in South Tyrol

The future of agritourism? A review of current trends of touristic commercialisation in rural areas

Analisi dello stato dell'arte: Report sui settori e attività produttive per promuovere l'Economia Circolare

Soziale Landwirtschaft in Südtirol und ihre Rahmenbedingungen im europäischen Vergleich

Fostering Rural Urban Relationships to Enhance More Resilient and Just Communities

Transmitting and Transforming (Agri)-Cultural Values of Mountain Farming: Farm-Based Educational Services in South Tyrol

Impacts of climate change adaptation options on soil functions: A review of European case‐studies

Smart Territorial Relationships: A Conceptual Framework to Cope with the Rural-Urban Divide in Mountainous Regions

Determinants of local food purchase: Insight from a consumer survey in South Tyrol

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Scientific Publications

Der ‚Deckungsbeitrag I‘ – eine forstökonomische Spitzenkennzahl = Net timber revenue – a key figure in forest economics

Klimarisiken und Anpassung - Wege zu einem klimaresilienten Südtirol

Rischi climatici e adattamento - Verso un Alto Adige resiliente al clima

Political and socio-economic limits to counteract the bark beetle calamity in South Tyrol

The future of agritourism? A review of current trends of touristic commercialisation in rural areas

Analisi dello stato dell'arte: Report sui settori e attività produttive per promuovere l'Economia Circolare

Soziale Landwirtschaft in Südtirol und ihre Rahmenbedingungen im europäischen Vergleich

Fostering Rural Urban Relationships to Enhance More Resilient and Just Communities

Transmitting and Transforming (Agri)-Cultural Values of Mountain Farming: Farm-Based Educational Services in South Tyrol

Impacts of climate change adaptation options on soil functions: A review of European case‐studies

Smart Territorial Relationships: A Conceptual Framework to Cope with the Rural-Urban Divide in Mountainous Regions

Determinants of local food purchase: Insight from a consumer survey in South Tyrol