Social innovations in mountain areas : levers for an ecological transition of the territories?

Reminescent of a situation of crisis and the awareness that there is a need to make a transition towards more sustainable social systems., social innovations - resulting from a civil society and offering solutions to the societal needs in an economic and institutionnal context failing to do so- are multipling in Europe (Commission Européenne, 2013). In some mountainous areas, they are particularly intense, they are structured into local networks which are a specific part of the environment to the point of being considered as an "alternative" territory. This thesis aims at exploring the articulation between these social innovations and the territories by analysing the modes of appropriation of the alternative principles and practices by the territorial actors. The thesis will evaluate the potential of social innovations to revitalize the mountain areas on the margins, whilst introducing the dynamics revealing an ecological transition