Taking place in Vienna, Austria 3–8 May 2020, the EGU 2020 General Assembly will bring together geoscientists from all over the world to explore all disciplines of the Earth, planetary, and space sciences. This year, there are a number of exciting, mountain-related sessions – including three convened by representatives of the MRI.

The EGU aims to provide a forum where scientists, especially early-career scientists (ECS), can present their work and discuss their ideas with experts in all fields of geoscience. Abstract submissions are now invited for all sessions, including those being convened by representatives from the MRI. 

Deadline for abstract submissions is 15 January 2020

More information regarding abstract submission is available here.

The EGU has a travel support programme to assist ECS in attending the conference. Participants from low income countries in Europe are particularly encouraged to apply. More information on EGU travel support is available here. Deadline for abstracts with travel support applications is 1 December 2019.


MRI sessions at EGU 2020


ITS1.10/NH9.27: Inter- and Transdisciplinary Research and Practice: State of Transformative Knowledge to Address Global Change Challenges in Mountain Regions of the World

Co-organized by EOS4/CL4/CR7/GM7
Convener: Carolina Adler (MRI) | Co-convener: Aino Kulonen (MRI)

In this session, we invite contributions that explore diverse experiences with inter- and transdisciplinary research and practice, specifically applied in the mountain context. Taking mountains as complex social-ecological systems, they provide concrete and spatially-defined contexts in which to explore how global change phenomena manifest and how they pose challenges and opportunities for communities and society in general.

Addressing societal concerns, and finding suitable solutions with regards to associated impacts of global change in mountains, requires an inter- and transdisciplinary (IT-TD) approach to research and practice. We invite contributions based on empirical research and/or practical experience with IT-TD to critically reflect on these practices in the mountain context and learn from experiences that explicitly address societal grand challenges such as (but not limited to) climate change impacts and adaptation, transformations to sustainability, disaster risk reduction, or transitions to low carbon economies. We welcome contributions depicting research experiences in European mountain regions and other mountain regions around the world, as well as contributions from ECS.

The session is led and coordinated by the Mountain Research Initiative with the expectation of being able to draw on this session as input for future research agendas and coordination of research collaborations in mountain regions worldwide.

Submit an abstract


CL4.17: Mountain Climatology and Meteorology

Co-organized by AS1/CR7/NH1
Convener: Wolfgang Schöner | Co-conveners: Carolina Adler (MRI), Maria Vittoria Guarino, Elisa Palazzi, Stefano Serafin

Mountains cover approximately one quarter of the total land surface of the planet, and a significant fraction of the world’s population lives in their vicinity. Orography critically affects weather and climate processes at all scales and, in connection with factors such as land-cover heterogeneity, is responsible for high spatial variability in mountain weather and climate.

Due to this high complexity, monitoring and modeling the atmosphere and the other components of the climate system in mountain regions is challenging both at short (meteorological) and long (climatological) time-scales. This session is devoted to the better understanding of weather and climate processes in mountain and high-elevation areas around the globe, as well as their modification induced by global environmental change.

We welcome contributions describing the influence of mountains on the atmosphere on meteorological time-scales, including terrain-induced airflow, orographic precipitation, land-atmosphere exchange over mountains, and forecasting and predictability of mountain weather. Furthermore, we invite studies that investigate climate processes and climate change in mountain areas and its impacts on dependent systems, based on monitoring and modeling activities. Particularly welcome are contributions that merge various sources of information and reach across disciplinary borders (atmospheric, hydrological, cryospheric, ecological, and social sciences). In this respect, the session also invites contributions on outcomes of October 2019's WMO High Mountain Summit.

Submit an abstract


CR3.1: Risks from a Changing Cryosphere

Convener: Christian Huggel | Co-conveners: Michael Krautblatter, Matthew WestobyECS

All components of the cryosphere are strongly impacted by climate change and have been undergoing significant changes over recent decades. Most visibly, glaciers are shrinking and thinning. Snow cover and duration is also reduced, and permafrost in both Arctic and alpine environments is thawing. Changes in sea ice cover and characteristics have attracted widespread attention, and changes in ice sheets are being monitored with care and concern. Risks associated with one or several of these cryosphere components have been present throughout history. However, with ongoing climate change we expect changes in the magnitude and frequency of hazards, with profound implications for risks. New or growing glacier lakes pose a threat to downstream communities through the potential for sudden drainage. Thawing permafrost can destabilize mountain slopes, and eventually result in large landslide or destructive rock and ice avalanches. An accelerated rate of permafrost degradation in low-land areas poses risks to existing and planned infrastructure and raises concerns about large-scale emission of greenhouse gases currently trapped in Arctic permafrost. Decreased summertime sea ice extent may produce both risks and opportunities in terms of large-scale climate feedbacks and alterations, coastal vulnerability, and new access to transport routes and natural resources. Eventually, rapid acceleration of outlet glacier ice discharge and the collapse of ice sheets is of major concern for sea level change. This session invites contributions across all cryosphere components that address risks associated with observed or projected physical processes. Contributions considering more than one cryosphere component (e.g., glaciers and permafrost) are particularly encouraged. Contributions can consider hazards and risks related to changes in the past, present, or future. Furthermore, contributions may consider one or several components of risks (i.e., natural hazards, exposure, vulnerability) as long as conceptual clarity is ensured.

Submit an abstract


Further Mountain Sessions at EGU 2020


Below are some of the other exciting mountain sessions taking place during EGU 2020. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. The full list of sessions can be browsed and searched via the session programme on the EGU website. 

CR1.7: The Third Pole Environment (TPE) Under Global Changes

Co-organized by AS4/CL4
Convener: Yaoming Ma | Co-conveners: Fahu Chen, Fan Zhang, Bob Su, Franco Salerno

GI5.6: Tools and Methods for In Situ and Laboratory Investigations of Plastic Inclusions in Polar, High Mountain, Permafrost, and Remote Areas

Co-organized by AS5/OS4
Convener: Anatolii ChernovECS | Co-conveners: Denys Pishniak, Birgit Sattler

GM4.2: Erosion and Sedimentation in Mountain Landscapes

Co-organized by NH3/SSP3
Convener: Luca C MalatestaECS | Co-conveners: Larissa de PalézieuxECS, Elizabeth DingleECS, Stefan HaselbergerECS

GM7.1: Cold Regions Geomorphology

Co-organized by CL4/CR4
Convener: Andreas Kellerer-Pirklbauer | Co-conveners: Natacha Gribenski, Isabelle Gärtner-Roer, Sven Lukas

GM7.2: Mountain Glaciations: Challenge and Potential - Glacial Landforms and their Palaeoclimatic Interpretation

Co-organized by CR4/SSP2
Convener: Stefan Winkler | Co-conveners: Lauren KnightECS, Giovanni Monegato, Jürgen Reitner

SMP1  - Splinter Meeting (public): The Legacy of Mountain Glaciations - Status Quo and Future of a Collaborative Research Network

Convener: Stefan Winkler

GM9.1: Interactions Between Tectonics, Climate and Surface Processes from Mountain Belts to Basins

Co-organized by TS9
Convener: Dirk Scherler | Co-conveners: Anneleen Geurts, Duna Roda-BoludaECS, Alex Whittaker

Nh3.6: Rainfall-Induced Hydro-Geomorphological Processes in Human-Modified Hilly and Mountainous Catchments

Co-organized by GM12
Convener: Giacomo PepeECS | Co-conveners: Massimiliano BordoniECS, Martin Mergili, Stella Moreiras

SSS8.3: Mountain Trail Activities Impact on Soil, Vegetation and Water Resources

Co-organized by EOS7/GM12
Convener: Artemi Cerdà | Co-convener: David Salesa

TS7.6: The Alps and Neighbouring Mountain Belts (Apennines, Dinarides, Carpathians): A Multidisciplinary Vision (AlpArray)

Co-organized by GD7/SM4
Convener: Anne Paul | Co-conveners: M. R. Handy, György Hetényi, Marco Giovanni Malusa', Irene Molinari


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