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event 1597531 1280The deadline to submit your abstract for the International Mountain Conference 2019 is fast approaching! All abstracts must be received by 14 February 2019. 

The International Mountain Conference 2019 (IMC 2019) will take place 8-12 September 2019 at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. Building upon the legacy of the Perth mountain conference series, IMC 2019 aims to encourage in-depth, cross-disciplinary exchange and collaboration, and will provide an excellent opportunity for experts from different disciplines to come together and discuss mountains, their responses to climate and other changes, and their resilience as social-ecological systems.

The MRI is looking forward to number of contributions to IMC 2019 from the MRI community of researchers, and we would like to take this opportunity to encourage more mountain researchers to participate. 

havefun 1754193 1280PhD students! Don't miss the opportunity to attend the International Mountain Conference 2019 Students4Students Summer School. Abstracts must be submitted by 14 February 2019. 

The International Mountain Conference 2019 Students4Students Summer School is aimed at PhD students working in the fields of Mountain Biology, Mountain Hazards, and Mountain Tourism, and takes place 1-7 September 2019 at the University of Innsbruck, Austria.

The summer school is offered in conjunction with and takes place immediately prior to the International Mountain Conference 2019 (IMC 2019) in order to provide PhD students with extended possibilities to discuss their research in detail with fellow students and experts. A strong focus will be placed upon on peer-to-peer interactions to encourage networking among PhD students that can be capitalized on in future research careers. The summer school will also be excellent preparation for IMC 2019, which the students are very much encouraged to attend.

Day 2 Atlas launch K Verbist smallerA new publication maps the retreat of Andean glaciers and the associated loss of the glacier meltwater relied upon by millions – and proposes several measures to address this imminent challenge. MRI SLC member Mathias Vuille was among those in Chile earlier this month to celebrate the launch of the Spanish version of this important resource.

From 24-25 January 2019, nearly 100 scientists, students, practitioners, representatives from NGO’s, and policy- and decision-makers from Andean countries, Europe, and the United States met at the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Santiago, Chile to celebrate the launch of the Spanish version of the Andean Glacier and Water Atlas.

Earlier this month, experts from IPCC Working Group II came together in Durban, South Africa to begin preparing their contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). Among them were representatives from the MRI and ICIMOD, selected to co-lead the Cross-Chapter Paper on Mountains.

From 20-25 January 2019, over 250 authors from the IPCC Working Group II – concerned with climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerabilities – met in Durban, South Africa for the First Lead Author Meeting of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). The authors were selected from more than 1000 nominations submitted by governments and IPCC Observer Organizations, with the selection aiming to balance expertise, gender, countries, and regions to ensure the inclusion of diverse views and scientific disciplines.

Following the announcement last year that Carolina Adler of the MRI and Philippus Wester of ICIMOD had been chosen to co-lead a Cross-Chapter Paper on Mountains as part of the Working Group II contribution to AR6, they too travelled to Durban to meet with their co-authors and begin the process of reviewing the existing scientific literature.

china 2638248Chapter submissions focusing on changing mountain environments in response to climate change and/or land use change are invited. The book 'Mountain Landscapes in Transition: Effects of Land Use and Climate Change' is designed as an interdisciplinary publication which critically evaluates developments in mountains of the world, with contributions from both social and natural sciences. 

Editors: Udo Schickhoff, RB Singh, and Suraj Mal

With c. 25 percent of the world’s total terrestrial surface higher than 1000 meters and 11 percent higher than 2000 meters, mountains considerably influence regional and continental atmospheric circulation as well as water and energy cycles, and provide ecosystem services to about half of humanity. Mountains are an important source of water, energy, forest, and agricultural products, minerals, and other natural resources.

MRD 38 4 20x15cm 200dpiThe latest issue of the journal Mountain Research and Development looks at why mountain people might be more vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition than their average fellow citizens, and explores promising approaches to making food systems in mountain regions more sustainable.

Food security is a key concern for sustainable development in mountain areas. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, in 2012 almost half of those who live in developing countries’ rural mountain areas were vulnerable to hunger, while the global average of food insecure people in developing countries was one in eight. 

As part of its mission, the MRI provides funding contributions for synthesis workshops that bring together global change researchers to address specific topics of interest to the mountain research community. The deadline for proposals is 7 February 2019

Background

The Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) promotes and coordinates research on global change in mountain regions around the world. As part of that mission, MRI provides funding contributions for synthesis workshops that bring together global change researchers to address specific topics of interest to the mountain research community, with the objective of producing synthesis products such as articles for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals or compilation of relevant data into publishable databases.

Jorg B at FC2018Since 2015, the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have become a global blueprint to address global challenges and achieve a “better and more sustainable future for all” – but what does this mean for mountain science? In his plenary presentation at the 5th Forum Carpaticum, the MRI's Co-Chair Prof. Jörg Balsiger explored this question. 

Using illustrations from the MRI's activities and recent scientific developments, Jörg Balsiger suggests three key implications of the 2030 Agenda. First, the 2030 Agenda’s integrated and indivisible character directly relates to the need to reinforce scientific efforts to transcend established boundaries, not only between disciplines but also between highlands and lowlands, between territory and function, and between the meanings of science of, in, and for mountains.

Second, the 2030 Agenda’s call to localize the SDGs, including through regional and subregional frameworks, highlights the important question of scale and thus the scalar positioning of mountain science and scientific organizing. Third, the 2030 Agenda’s transformative ambition should serve to reflect on the role of science in society and societal transformation. He closes with some observations relating to the Carpathians. 

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