This paper seeks to contribute to a better understanding of cultural sustainability in mountain regions by offering perspectives for sustainable governance at the intersection of intangible cultural heritage preservation and local tourism development. For this purpose, the influence of tourism on intangible cultural heritage was studied in the context of the practice of transhumance, an ancient form of pastoralism. This paper focuses on the case of South Tyrol, Italy, a touristically highly developed region where cross-border transhumance was granted intangible cultural heritage status by UNESCO in 2019. Adopting a qualitative approach, 13 interviews were conducted with cattle and sheep farmers, cultural practitioners, and experts as well as tourism representatives. Highlighting the benefits of including culture in the discussion about sustainability, the paper seeks to inform local governance measures for enhanced cultural heritage preservation and sustainable tourism.

This paper focuses on Design Thinking as a tool for initiating transformation processes both for the enhancement of company resilience, involving challenges connected to current trends such as digitalization and democratic leadership, as well as for the restructuring of a sustainable socio-ecological company organization. Primary findings of this explorative study show that Design Thinking is a suitable method to promote digital, democratic, and innovative business and leadership transformation, but that it is not primarily operationalized in the context of a further-reaching socio-ecological transformation towards more sustainability.