Although the national research programme NRP48 "Landscapes and Habitats of the Alps" dealt intensively with the Swiss mountain area, rather less research had been devoted to the alpine pastures. Therefore, many open questions remained in this area.
In a preliminary study, stakeholder interviews allowed identifying the standard of knowledge, current challenges for alpine pastures and open research questions. The results of this study help to focus the four year AlpFUTUR compound project on the needs of practice and politics.