Global News


11 - 16 June 2018, Longyearbyen, Svalbard.


As part of the Earth Observation (EO) Science for Society – Scientific Exploitation element of EOEP-5 program, the European Space Agency (ESA) is organizing an advanced training course on remote sensing of the Cryosphere, devoted to training the next generation of scientists and specialists to exploit EO data for science and applications.


wind farm 200x150The GSDR is being drafted by an independent group of scientists (IGS), supported by a task team of six UN-system agencies. As part of its outreach efforts, the IGS is soliciting inputs from a diverse group of scientific and non-scientific communities. 


Contributions are sought in four major areas:
  • Interactions among Sustainable Development Goals and their targets
  • Transformation pathways towards sustainable development
  • Looking beyond the SDGs (major issues identified by research which are not explicitly taken into account in the SDGs)
  • The role of science for sustainable development.


ama dablam himalayaExperts gathered in Fiji to begin drafting the IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) - and a call for contributions on Indigenous and Local Knowledge for the IPBES Global Assessment has been issued.

IPCC - Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC)
From 2-6 October 2017, Coordinating Lead Authors (CLAs) and Lead Authors (LAs) selected for the SROCC met in Fiji for the first author’s meeting to define the process and content for the approved outline of the report, including Chapter 2 on 'High Mountains' in which MRI's Executive Director, Carolina Adler, participated as one of the chapter's eleven LAs. 

mountains from aboveA new tool gives the most detailed view yet of the world’s mountains – and is as close as your computer or mobile phone. 

Mountains occupy between 12 and 31 percent of the land surface of the globe, are home to diverse populations, ecosystems, and wildlife, and are a key provider of essential resources. But despite their importance, attempts to scientifically define and map mountain regions worldwide have been limited up to now.

The Global Mountain Explorer, launched at the recent GEO WEEK 2017 in Washington DC, is a new, web-based tool that allows users to explore mountain regions in greater detail than ever before. Harnessing the best available data, the tool provides information ranging from global mountain distribution to local topography at a resolution 16 times greater than has been achieved in previous mapping efforts. In doing so, it is hoped that this tool will be of use to a variety of individuals and organizations, from scientists and policymakers to hikers planning their next adventure.

farming and mountainsJoin the PEGASUS team in Vienna for a workshop exploring the potential for provision of public goods by farming and forestry in remote and marginal areas, including mountains

This one day event aims to share and discuss the emerging findings and outputs from the EU-wide PEGASUS project. The workshop will discuss the potential, particularly for collective forms of action by farmers and other rural stakeholders, to increase public goods delivery in remote and marginal areas, including mountains. It will explore what this means for future policy and practice on the ground. The intention is for these discussions to feed into the debate on how national and EU policies, including the Common Agricultural Policy, might evolve post 2020.

The workshop will take place at the Federal Institute for Less-Favoured and Mountainous Areas in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday 30 November from 9:30am to 4:30pm.

firth court sheffield university The University of Sheffield is offering a PhD project on the storage and release of legacy atmospheric pollutants from mountain glaciers

This project will quantify a potentially major unknown global reservoir of organic contaminants in temperate and cold-based glaciers and investigate the impacts of climate change on the quantity and quality of water supplies from glacier-fed catchments. 

Funding Opportunity!The Belmont Forum and BiodivERsA have announced a joint call for research proposals on 'Scenarios of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.'

Twenty-five nations are participating, with a provisional sum of over EUR 25 million having been committed. This collaborative funding effort aims to address the following major (non-exclusive) priorities: 

  • Development and application of scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services across spatial scales of relevance to multiple types of decisions
  • Consideration of multiple dimensions of biodiversity and ecosystem services in biodiversity scenarios

4 - 7 April 2018, Monte Carasso, Switzerland

The 3rd LabEx ITEM International Winter School on 'Innovation and Mountain Territories' seeks to promote young researchers working on mountain territories. It is aimed at doctoral students, post-doctoral and junior researchers, and also at researchers in integration, or MA students planning on doing a PhD.

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