The Caucasus region is recognized as a biodiversity hotspot. Nature conservation and nature-based tourism are promoted to preserve the region's vulnerable mountain ecosystems. Understanding the cultural value of the ecosystems and the services they provide is essential for conservation efforts. In our study, we use the case of Dilijan National Park, Armenia, to develop a framework to assess the potential of cultural ecosystem services. This framework can be adapted into various assessment matrixes calibrated for local cases in mountain regions. To make the assessment more comprehensive and the results spatially interpretable, we developed a 5-level scoring system using a set of criteria for 2 river catchments in Dilijan National Park. We then conducted an assessment of the rivers' ecological statuses under the condition of no visitors as a reference for further comparisons. To avoid biases, the scoring system for some aspects of the spatial assessment, such as the preference for land use/land cover, was justified using participatory methods. The results highlight a significant potential for cultural ecosystem services in areas where recreational amenities and infrastructure are close to rivers. The mixed-methods approach used for the overall assessment of the cultural ecosystem services potential indicated that, while visitors do exert some pressure on ecosystems, the impacts observed in the 2 catchment areas under study remained relatively low and fell within the carrying capacity of these vulnerable ecosystems.

In recent years, Georgia has witnessed a shift in its general policy orientation from agricultural to rural development, resulting in a transformation of household-based economic activities. Mountain areas have emerged as key focal points for promoting innovative approaches and practices for various reasons, such as lacking access to markets, outmigration, climate change, and generally difficult contexts for small-scale entrepreneurship. Many households in remote areas have limited access to the necessary resources, making it difficult to take advantage of new opportunities and benefits. This research focuses on pioneer entrepreneurial households in Khulo municipality in the Lesser Caucasus. The study's qualitative methodological approach allows a thorough examination of the topic, based on in-depth interviews in 2022 and 2023. We examine adaptation processes and the different forms of capital necessary to start a new business in the mountain environment, as well as motivations for starting a new business and challenges to maintaining economic activities.

In recent decades, the mountains of Latin America have undergone massive rural–urban change. In Peru, this has led to strong growth of population and settlement on the spatially limited valley floors of the Quechua elevational zone, which is part of a sophisticated vertical land use system that includes the adjacent slopes (Suni elevational zone) and high plains (Puna elevational zone). Periurban villagers not only benefit from this rural–urban change, but also bear its negative social and environmental consequences. Future-oriented mountain development in highland Peru could benefit from detecting and understanding the perceived impacts and preferred performance of rural–urban change in periurban villages. In an effort to do so, this study used structured, computer-assisted personal interviews with closed questions, complemented by informal talks, in 2 case study villages near the intermediate cities of Cusco (Huatanay Valley) and Huaraz (Santa Valley): Oropesa and Taricá. The responses of 420 interviewees, selected through nonprobability quota sampling, confirm negative impacts known from comparable studies. However, these perceptions do not lead to a negative overall assessment of rural–urban change. This supposed contradiction becomes easier to understand when considering the periurban villagers' preferred performance of future developments, which point in particular at the desire to preserve cropland and woodland on the valley floor, while, at the same time, making greater use of the high plains as settlement areas. Given these views, performance-based management of rural–urban change could potentially lead the way to a socially inclusive and environmentally balanced development and help in overcoming rural–urban dichotomies in highland Peru.

This article considers different governance structures, policies, and strategies that focus on the sustainable development of mountain areas in the European Alpine region and investigates how different countries integrate sustainable development into their mountain policies. Even though mountain areas cover around one third of European land, only a few countries have established place-based policies for their sustainable development. We analyzed 4 cases (Austria, France, Italy, and Switzerland) to reveal extremely diverse systems in terms of policies and actions. Furthermore, we scrutinized the sustainable development governance frameworks in policies directed at mountain areas, comparing national legislation. We also performed 4 semistructured interviews with national experts in mountain governance. Our results show that interacting with different stakeholders is a precondition for place-based sustainable development processes. We conclude by providing evidence-based policy recommendations for the sustainable development of mountain areas.