What is our definition of quality of life? How do we conceptualize it? Why is it important at the local level? What is the role of governance in securing good quality of life? How can you be involved? Find out the answers to these questions – and much more – in our first position paper!
Derived from the 10th Report on the State of the Alps published in 2025 by the Alpine Convention and devoted to Quality of life in the Alps, the GOVQoL project defines the concept as the (perceived) living conditions in a particular location, including the economic, social and ecological conditions of the population living there.
Of course, there is an abundance of definitions and models of quality of life to be found, and the conclusion of inspecting these definitions is that quality of life is a multidimensional concept covering many aspects of people’s lives and living conditions. Within the GOVQoL discussion with the stakeholders, the following topics were identified as relevant to the Alpine communities:
As analysed in the 10th Report on the State of the Alps, the Alpine area on one side offers very good living conditions (due to the living environment and well-preserved nature) that people find very satisfactory, however, there remains room for improvement in certain quality of life aspects, such as housing, work conditions, and governance. Although the area has a long-standing tradition of cooperation networks and joint institutions, the local population is not satisfied with policy and decision-making (over 75% were dissatisfied or neither satisfied or dissatisfied), nor do people really take part in these processes. Thus, their quality of life and its governance are a legitimate concern for Alpine stakeholders, and the GOVQoL project aims at tackling this issue.
In this first position paper – meant for local policymakers, regional and national authorities, and Alpine NGOs, among other interested stakeholders – the GOVQoL partners have therefore analysed the role of local communities in securing a good quality of life and the major challenges of governing quality of life at the local level.
This position paper is the starting point of the project, upon which GOVQoL will build its next steps to support local communities in improving their governance of quality of life. To start with, partners have been investigating over the summer various local communities across the Alps to learn more about their governance practices and how they currently tackle quality of life – and some municipalities have become pilot territories in the process to test new tailor-made solutions!
Download our policy brief to read more [short version available only – full version coming soon!]