This workshop aimed to deliver a synthesis of how mountain long-term social-ecological research (LTSER) programmes support global policy agendas and UN conventions, and how to strengthen their contribution. It was an activity of the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment Working Group on Long-term Social-ecological Research in Mountains, and funded by the MRI as part of the Call for Synthesis Workshops 2019.
In October, 22 experts from 12 different countries came together in the botanical garden of Champex-Lac in Switzerland to discuss the contribution of long-term social ecological research (LTSER) in mountains to global agendas and conventions. The objective of the workshop was to deliver a synthesis of how mountain LTSER currently support global policy agendas and UN conventions, and how their contribution could be improved and strengthened in the future.
The workshop served as a science-policy discussion and collaboration platform. In line with this, the first day kicked off with a series of inputs on present data and information needs from representatives of global conventions and agendas, followed by contributions from the scientific community covering a wide range of scientific contexts, challenges, and practices. The second day was spent in discussion with a view towards developing a series of key messages for publication and dissemination.
Inputs on a global scale were provided by UN Environment, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), and the Integrated European Long-Term Ecosystem and Socio-Ecological Research Infrastructure (eLTER ESFRI). Inputs from the scientific community were delivered by representatives from South and North America, South Africa, China, Australia, Norway, France, and Scotland, with additional thematic contributions on the use of remote sensing and of emerging technologies in LTSER.
This event, which was an activity of the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment (GMBA) Working Group on Long-term Social-ecological Research in Mountains, was hosted by the Jardin Flore-Alpe / Alpine Center for Phytogeography and its new director, Dr. Christophe Randin, and sponsored by the Mountain Research Initiative, which hosts the Group on Earth Observations Global Network for Observations and Information in Mountain Environments (GEO-GNOME), as well as the Swiss National Science Foundation.
This article was written by Davnah Payne.
For details of this MRI Synthesis Workshop, including rationale, objectives, and methods, visit the MRI event homepage.
This workshop was funded by the MRI as part of our Call for Synthesis Workshops 2019.
Cover image: Davnah Payne, GMBA
