Svaneti is searching for a sustainable future in a continuous field of friction between an emerging local economy and the region‘s rich traditions. Against the background of the region's emerging tourism, the region faces severe changes: An unregulated mass tourism would step by step destroy the ecological heritage of the region and decrease the possibilities of the population to contribute to their self-sufficiency through agriculture. Also, land use has always been closely connected with agricultural and forestry work – so tourism alone cannot contribute to landscape conservation.
In an interdisciplinary field trip, founded by BOELL foundation, students from the German University Ostfalia, Tbilisi State University, and Tbilisi Free University visited Latali/Svanetia for 5 days to document peoples’ ideas, beliefs, and prospects. In addition, traditional objects, houses, and sacred spaces are mapped and presented in a web project. As one of the first approaches to set Latali on the map, this project seeks to envision a sustainable future for Latali’s participation in tourism.