Livek: A Mountainous Border Area’s Transformation from a Ski Paradise to a Resilient Community

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the resilience, capacity, and role of the sociocultural context in climate change adaptation in a small and marginal local community that prides itself on an affluent past based on ski tourism and agriculture. The empirical part is built on a case study of Livek in the hilly northwestern part of Slovenia on the border with Italy, and it includes data from available literature and a series of interviews with two local opinion leaders. The results show that, in the absence of local-specific and targeted national or regional measures, the path of transition has relied on the community’s internal strength and motivation, mostly stemming from flexibility, stubbornness, identity, and place attachment. A crucial role was played by several NGOs and the Livek Agrarian Community, promoting various activities to improve the quality of life in both tangible and non-tangible aspects. In a favourable regional and national context, the community of Livek succeeded in turning its negative development trends around and adapting to current climate conditions.