ABSTRACT
The concern with highlands and high-latitude regions emphasized a regional orientation of the Subcommission/Study Group, which was gradually felt to be too restrictive. At the outset, certain similarities between alpine and high latitude areas aroused the interest of group members. Problems such as outmigration, extensive economies, exploitation of water resources, remoteness, similarities in vegetation patterns and ecological cycles called for comparative studies. The new Commission on Marginal and Critical Areas has defined its work programme for the 1996-2000 period. Mountain regions are often considered as marginal, but the reality is somewhat different: tourist areas can be extremely central areas, not only because of their regional economic importance. Marginality is also a state of mind, depending on an individual's, a group's, a community's or a society's expectations and demands. Therefore, the study of the cosmological dimension may help to understand marginality and offer ways out of it.
