The first case study is located in the Pyrenees in the Comarca Pallars Sobirá (Catalunya). The economy and ecology of this high mountain region have been shaped for thousands of years by extensive transhumant pastoral activities and subsistence agriculture, but recently the touristic sector has been increasing. The area is highly exposed to climate change that in concomitance with multiple socio-economic and political changes has driven over time a progressive abandonment of pastoral activities and pastoral lands and increased the re-greening of vast areas of natural pastures at low, middle, and high altitude. Such changes have been accompanied by cultural changes directly influencing the local livelihoods, the role of women in the pastoral culture and activities, and the intergenerational transmission of traditional ecological knowledge. In the last ten years the “Shepherd school” and several initiatives connected to the incipient touristic attraction, e. g. eco-museums; innovative entrepreneurship of cheese production, have been drawing attention to the natural and cultural heritage of this silvopastoral food system, and specifically the role of women and young people in managing novel adaptive responses.
