Austrian federal institute specializing in agricultural economics, mountain farming policy, and rural development with emerging focus on migrant integration in rural regions.
BAB is Austria's federal institute for agricultural economics and mountain farming research, based in Vienna. They specialize in policy analysis for rural development, mountain agriculture sustainability, and the socio-economic dynamics of rural communities. Their H2020 work focuses on understanding rural-urban linkages, social innovation in marginalized rural areas, and more recently the integration of migrants in rural and mountain regions. They provide evidence-based policy recommendations grounded in Austrian and Alpine rural contexts.
Core theme across SIMRA (social innovation in marginalised rural areas), ROBUST (rural-urban linkages), LIVERUR (living labs in rural areas), and PEGASUS (ecosystem services from land management).
Institutional mandate reflected in SIMRA (marginalised rural areas), PEGASUS (land management), and MATILDE (rural and mountain regions).
ROBUST focused directly on rural-urban outlooks, and MATILDE examines place-based policy solutions for integration.
MATILDE (2020-2023) investigates migrants' integration, migration governance, and asylum seekers in rural and mountain settings — a new direction for BAB.
BAB's early H2020 projects (2015-2018) concentrated on traditional rural policy themes: ecosystem services from land management (PEGASUS), social innovation in marginalised areas (SIMRA), and rural-urban connections (ROBUST). From 2020 onward, their focus shifted notably toward migration and integration in rural areas through MATILDE, introducing keywords like migration governance, third country nationals, and asylum seekers. This evolution suggests BAB is expanding from purely agricultural economics into the broader socio-political challenges facing rural Europe.
BAB is moving from traditional agricultural economics toward the intersection of rural development and migration policy — expect future work on demographic change, social cohesion, and inclusive rural communities.
BAB participates exclusively as a consortium partner, never as coordinator, across all five H2020 projects. With 106 unique partners across 25 countries, they operate in large, pan-European research consortia typical of RIA-funded social science projects. Their consistent participant role and broad network suggest they are valued for their domain knowledge on Austrian and Alpine rural contexts rather than for project management capacity.
BAB has collaborated with 106 unique partners across 25 countries, indicating deep integration into Europe's rural development research community. Their network spans most of the EU, with likely concentration in Alpine and Central European partners given their institutional focus on mountain regions.
BAB occupies a rare niche as a government research institute dedicated specifically to mountain farming and alpine rural economics — a focus few European research centres share. Their Austrian alpine perspective makes them an ideal partner for any consortium needing expertise on marginalised mountain regions, rural depopulation, or land management in challenging terrain. Their recent pivot into migration-in-rural-areas research adds a timely policy dimension that few agricultural economics institutes can offer.
