• agri-food
• framework
• mountain region
• sustainability assessment

Most of us are aware of the environmental challenges and socioeconomic disparities facing populations around the world. As a response to these threats, mountain areas have a vital role in contributing to the well-being of people by providing valuable goods and services.
Despite their input, mountains around the world are perceived as more fragile and vulnerable to these global challenges than other regions. Therefore, understanding the sustainability and future of mountain areas is crucial.
The primary aim of this thesis is to construct a novel framework to assess the sustainability of agri-food value chains (VCs) in mountain areas.
Previous assessment instruments (tools and frameworks) demonstrated a series of limitations (e.g., complexity of use, not applicable for VCs, do not cover all sustainability dimensions, etc.). Accordingly, the proposed framework combines the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems (SAFA) and The Agri-food Evaluation Framework (TEEB). Additionally, it incorporates concepts such as Socio-Ecological Systems, Assemblage, and Social Practices. It integrates system dynamics to address the complexities of sustainability by emphasising human and natural capital stocks and their users.
The new framework was applied to different case studies, i.e., two chestnut flour VCs in France and Italy. Afterwards, we applied it to other two VCs in eastern Algeria (i.e., apple and timber). Using a participatory approach, involving VC actors and local stakeholders through interviews, focus groups, and workshops, we conducted both assessment and foresight exercises.
Initially, our study presents a narrative review of the history and evolvement of sustainability assessment instruments, introducing the topic to a new audience. Moreover, the study includes three papers presenting our results. The first one explains the process of the new framework construction and details its application. The second part, aimed at strengthening the validation of the framework by applying it to different contexts. The third part discusses the normative foresight for the future of mountain areas in Europe.
The findings presented in these papers contribute significantly to our understanding of sustainability assessment at VC level, in addition to gaining insights about the prospectives of sustainable development in European mountains. Furthermore, the narrative review could be a useful means for new researchers to introduce themselves to the topic of sustainability assessment.
Finally, this thesis contributes to the growing body of knowledge on sustainability assessment, by proposing an innovative framework and actionable insights to promote initiatives for sustainable development in mountain regions.