Mountain Governance

Overview

Governance of mountain regions faces pressing challenges with significant implications for the future sustainability of human societies. Mountain communities and environments are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of global change, yet they also provide invaluable benefits through ecosystem services, sociocultural resilience, and rich biocultural diversity.

The Mountain Governance Working Group aims to address the critical need for improved understanding of mountain governance challenges and opportunities. By bringing together researchers and practitioners from around the world, the Working Group explores how governance systems, institutions, policies, and decision-making processes can support the sustainability of mountain social-ecological systems.

Established: 2017
Current Phase: Third Phase

The MRI Working Groups are open to all members of the MRI network. Information on how to join can be found at the bottom of this page.

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Objectives 

The Working Group aims to:

  • Identify common problems, risks, and challenges that undermine effective governance for the sustainability of mountain social-ecological systems.
  • Analyse governance contexts, principles, and practices associated with successful sustainability outcomes, and assess the extent to which promising approaches can be adapted across different mountain regions.
  • Integrate and enhance the geospatial representation of the socio-ecological data on web-based-GIS platforms to facilitate governance decision-making in the light of human and physical data/patterns.

 

 

Research Questions

The Working Group explores three overarching questions:

  1. Which theoretical frameworks are most effective for contextualizing mountain governance?
  2. What are the in/formal multi-level regulatory spaces and instruments which recognises or designates an area as ‘mountainous’?
  3. What baseline and advanced characteristics should geo-databases and geospatial platforms include to support complex mountain governance decision-making?

 

 

Focus Areas

The Working Group focuses on:

  • Biodiversity, commons, and ecosystem services
  • Laws and regulatory spaces, and collaborative governance (in/formal systems)
  • Conventions/treaties, regionalism, and autonomy
  • Mountains as transitional geographies — transformations, transitions, and spatial strategies
  • Adaptive governance, sustainability, and climate change
  • Hazards and disaster risk reduction, and watershed management
  • Protected areas, open spaces, heritage resources, and tourism
  • Geo-databases and geo-visualisation and knowledge production for effective governance
  • Governance and spatial planning

 

 

Activities, Outputs, and Achievements

Ongoing Work

Current priorities include:

  • A Global Mountain Governance Survey to improve understanding of formal and informal governance systems and decision-making processes across local, regional, national, and supranational scales.
  • Strengthening the global Mountain Governance Working Group network through partnerships with mountain research institutes, projects, and related initiatives.
  • Maintaining and expanding the online Mountain Governance Bibliography.
  • Continuing participation in international conferences, workshops, seminars, and MRI activities.

 

Future Initiatives

Looking ahead, the Working Group aims to:

  • Organise a summer school on Mountain Governance for postgraduate students in collaboration with MRI and partner institutions.
  • Expand regional representation within the Working Group through the election of representatives from major mountain regions around the world, ensuring diverse geographic perspectives and balanced participation.

 

Publications and Research Outputs

Key publications include:

 

Resources and Knowledge Products

The Working Group maintains:

 

Events and Presentations

Selected activities include:

 

News and Community Updates

Recent news includes:

 

 

Working Group Participants

Working Group Lead

 

Members

  • Alexey Gunya, Russian Academy of Sciences
  • Carla Lostrangio, AEIDL Association (EU)
  • Catherine Tucker, University of Florida
  • Elizabeth Jiménez Zamora, Universidad Mayor de San Andres
  • Fritz Bayong, Cameroonian Landscape Engineers Association (CALEA)
  • Gavin Heath, University of KwaZulu-Natal
  • Gina Berrones, University of Cuenca
  • Hannes Gamper, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
  • Irasema Alcántara-Ayala, National Autonomous University of Mexico
  • Julia Klein, Colorado State University
  • Kerstin Ströbel, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
  • Krishan Kumar Yadav, Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA)
  • Marco Pütz, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
  • Marta Moschetti, Gran Sasso Science Institute
  • Matthias Buchecker, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
  • Sam Kellogg, New York University
  • Sara Di Lonardo, National Research Council of Italy
  • Willem (van) Schendel, University of Amsterdam
  • Xu Jun, Sichuan University & Himalayan University Consortium

 

 

How to Join

MRI Working Groups are community-led initiatives open to all members of the MRI network. Researchers and practitioners from all backgrounds and career stages are welcome to participate. Early career researchers (typically within five years of completing a postgraduate degree), women, and colleagues from developing countries and underrepresented mountain regions are particularly encouraged to get involved.

The first step to joining an MRI Working Group is becoming part of the MRI network. You can do this by creating a profile in the MRI Expert Database. By joining the network, you become part of a vibrant international community of more than 10,000 experts working across research, policy, and practice, united by a shared commitment to mountain regions worldwide.

As a member of the MRI network, you can apply for MRI funding opportunities, participate in Working Groups, and engage in a range of collaborative activities.

Once you have joined the MRI network, you can become a member of the Mountain Governance Working Group by completing the form below. You will be added to the Working Group mailing list and receive updates on research collaborations, events, knowledge exchange activities, and other opportunities to contribute to the group’s work.

If you have any questions about the Working Group or its activities, please contact Working Group Lead Ahmed Shams.

Join the MRI Mountain Governance Working Group​

Images by Ahmed Shams.