Title: Between Longing and Flight – Migratory processes in mountain areas, particularly in the European Alps
Abstract: Mountain areas, including the alpine region, have always seen a great deal of migration movements.Current migratory processes, however, are related to urban population's new lifestyles and housing needs, to the construction of second homes and to international tourism.They present new challenges to many alpine regions.On 20 November 2009 the Swiss Interacademic Commission for Alpine Studies (ICAS) invited experts to discuss issues of Migration in Mountain Areas, particularly in the alpine region.The contributions in this issue of the Journal of Alpine Research (RGA) originated with that conference, and are complemented by an article on The challenge of reconciling sustainable development objectives in the context of demographic change: Evaluating asset-based development in Appalachia (USA), by John Provo and Mel Jones (Virginia Tech and State University), which identifies parallels with the alpine region. National states promote immigration 2As historian Anne-Lise Head-König (Prof.em., University of Geneva) underscored, the alpine region has seen a multitude of migratory patterns since the Middle Ages.