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In this book I examine the main reasons why the National Park Gesäuse Partnership was established and how it subsequently developed until today. I offer an ethnographic account of the creation and development of this organisation that currently establishes the cooperation between the National Park Gesäuse and a group of 87 local companies. The analysis I present in this thesis highlights that the Partnership was created in order to solve two specific problems, namely the resistance of local inhabitants to the establishment of the National Park and the weakness of the local economy in the Gesäuse area. My analysis shows that the Partnership eventually developed into a solid, but still evolving, actor-network that was successful in overcoming the scepticism of local people towards the park and to convince local companies to collaborate amongst themselves and with the National Park. Furthermore, my analysis points to how the Partnership was able to create a new social capital in the area and contributed to strengthening the local economy.

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Christoph Gahbauer, born in 1986, grew up in Liezen (Austria, Styria) and studied Environmental System Sciences with a focus on Geography (Sustainable Urban and Regional Development) in Graz, where he is currently living.

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