From "Polytraps" to Regeneration: A New Vision for Mountain Communities

Are our rural mountain regions merely "surviving," or can they truly thrive?

For many of us living in or working with European mountainous regions, the challenges are all too familiar: depopulation, shrinking services, and economic uncertainty. We often feel that our communities are stuck in a cycle that is hard to break.

A recent expert study on European rural mountainous regions offers a powerful new way to understand these challenges. It suggests that we are not facing a single problem, but rather a "Polytrap"—a complex web of interlocking issues. However, alongside this diagnosis comes a hopeful solution: a shift from simple "survival" to Regenerative Development.

Photo by Feri & Tasos on Unsplash

Here is what this means for the future of our communities.

1. Understanding the Challenge: The "Polytrap"

Why do standard development policies often fail in mountain areas? According to the experts, it is because we are not dealing with just one trap, but a Polytrap: a condition where multiple, interlinked social, ecological, and economic traps coexist and reinforce one another.

These traps manifest in four distinct ways that lock communities into their current state:

• Rigidity Traps (Institutions): When policies are too inflexible to meet local needs. We often see this in a "one-size-fits-all" approach from central governments that creates mistrust between locals and authorities.

• Poverty Traps (People): A lack of livelihood opportunities forces people—especially the youth—to leave, which further reduces the opportunities for those who stay.

• Regional Development Traps (Economy): Persistent low growth and productivity compared to urban centers.

• Lock-in Traps (Sectors): Being stuck in old ways of doing things (like relying on a single fading industry) because it is too expensive or difficult to switch to new, innovative livelihoods.

  
  

Crucially, the study warns against the wrong kind of resilience. Sometimes, being "resilient" just means "bouncing back" to the same struggling state. Instead, we need "bounce-forward" resilience—the capacity to transform and adapt to a better future.

2. The Shift: Beyond Harm Reduction to Regeneration

To escape the Polytrap, we need a paradigm shift. Traditional sustainability often focuses on "doing less harm" or maintaining the status quo. Regenerative Development goes further.

• Systemic Renewal: Instead of just mitigating damage, regeneration aims for the vitality and renewal of the whole system. It seeks to heal and enhance the health of both our human communities and our ecosystems.

• Co-evolution: We must stop seeing nature and economy as separate. In mountain regions, human activity and nature are deeply intertwined. A regenerative approach uses this connection to accelerate positive change.

3. The Power of Place: Our Unique Advantage

One of the strongest tools we have is our "place." Mountain regions like ours possess unique territorial capital—our distinct landscapes, biodiversity, and cultural heritage.

• Anchoring in Place: Development strategies cannot be imported from the city; they must be rooted in the unique character of our locale.

• Leveraging Assets: Rather than viewing our remoteness or terrain as an obstacle, we can view our Human-Nature Connections (HNCs) as assets. Our deep emotional and philosophical connection to the land is a driver for stewardship and unique local knowledge.

4. The Path Forward: Governance and Livelihoods

How do we make this transition practical?

• Decentralized Governance: We need to move away from top-down control. Successful examples, such as the co-management of parks in Portugal, show that when local actors are given a real voice, trust is rebuilt and collaboration flourishes.

• Diversified Livelihoods: We must break the "lock-in" of relying on single industries. The future lies in diversification—combining traditional practices with new models of endogenous development and regenerative economy.

  
  

References:

• Sarkki, S., Lynn, T., Hiedanpää, J., et al. (2025). "Polytraps in European rural mountainous regions: an expert view." European Planning Studies, 33:5, 757-777. DOI: 10.1080/09654313.2025.2473380.