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The provisional programme for the International Mountain Conference 2019 has now been announced. This conference aims to encourage in-depth cross-disciplinary discussion in order to develop and enhance global understanding of mountain systems and their responses and resiliencies. The International Mountain Conference (IMC) 2019 will take place 8-12 September 2019 in Innsbruck, Austria. It aims to build upon the Perth mountain conferences, continuing this special scientific conference series with a focus on mountain-specific topics. Taking place in the Alps, the IMC 2019 will provide an excellent opportunity for experts from different disciplines to come together and discuss mountain-related issues.
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On the 15 June in Chamonix, France – directly following the Sustainable Summits Conference 2018 – the MRI convened a day-long event to discuss ‘An agenda for sustainable mountaineering, mountain tourism, and recreation: identifying research needs, projects, and partnership opportunities.’ The Sustainable Summits Conference 2018 (SSC 2018), held 12-14 June 2018 in Chamonix, France, brought together researchers, practitioners, public and private sectors, mountaineers, and the general public to reflect on some of the key questions that hang over the sustainability of mountaineering and mountain tourism and recreation. In a complex context of global change in mountain environments, including the effects of climate change and demographic change, it was a timely and important event.
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A new paper published in Mountain Research and Development explores the impact of commercial flower and vegetable farming on river water resources in Mount Kenya’s Upper Ewaso Ng’iro River Basin. We talk to paper author Nora Lanari about the implications of large-scale land acquisitions for water use and governance. With jagged, glacier-clad peaks that rise to over 5,199 meters, Mount Kenya looms over the arid and semi-arid lands below – and serves as a critical water tower for the region. In an area in which water is seasonally scarce, however, Mount Kenya’s rivers have become a potential source of conflict, particularly following the introduction of large-scale commercial flower and vegetable farms in the early nineties.
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Working on species range shifts in mountain areas? Submit an abstract or propose a mountain-specific session or workshop.
The Species on the Move Conference invites you to submit an abstract that can contribute to discussions on understanding and responding to climate driven species redistribution. The global redistribution of the planets’ species is widely recognised as a fingerprint of climate change. However, the mechanisms that underpin such range shifts are poorly understood. Additionally, the pervasiveness of range shifts, from poles to the equator, and depths of oceans to tops of mountains, provides a unique opportunity to advance theories of biogeography, evolutionary ecology, and macroecology.
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The Afromontane Research Unit (ARU), University of the Free State (UFS), is an active and growing mountain research hub situated at the foot of the Maloti-Drakensberg in the eastern Free State Province, South Africa. The vision of the ARU is to become a continental leader in African mountain research, with a focus on the sustainability of the Maloti-Drakensberg as a social-ecological entity.The ARU is advertising a Post-Doctoral Fellowship focusing on plant diversity & endemism in southern African mountains, and related concepts around ecological and historical biogeography. In addition to the academic research commitments, the Fellow will also have the opportunity to be exposed to the wide range of mountain-related activities being driven by the ARU.
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Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI. The aim of this special issue is to compile the latest developments in AVHRR pre-processing (calibration, geo-coding) and ECV retrieval. Submission deadline is 7 December 2018.
The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) has defined many essential climate variables (ECV) to be monitored to understand changes of land systems (biosphere, cryosphere, and hydrosphere). The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported that a time series of at least 30 years is needed to retrieve statistically significant changes of ECVs. Considering that these are extended periods of time, only a limited selection of satellites and sensors can be used for global monitoring—one of these is the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensors onboard NOAA satellites (since 1981) and on the EUMETSAT platform MetOp (since 2006).
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The journal Mountain Research and Development has issued a call for papers related to the role culture plays in our transition towards sustainable development in mountains for its three peer-reviewed sections: MountainDevelopment, MountainResearch, and MountainAgenda. Notices of intent should be submitted by 30 September.
In 1996, the World Commission on Culture and Development (WCCD) published a report on Our Creative Diversity. The WCCD wanted to emphasize the fundamental relevance of culture in sustainable development and to address questions such as: What are the cultural and socio-cultural factors that affect development? What is the cultural impact of social and economic development? How can valuable elements of a traditional culture be combined with modernization? What are the cultural dimensions of individual and collective well-being? Through this Focus Issue, Mountain Research and Development aims to highlight the importance of these questions for sustainable development in mountains.
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Session proposals are invited for the Global Land Programme's 4th Open Science Meeting, 'Transforming Land Systems for People and Nature,' which will be held 24-26 April 2019 in Bern, Switzerland. Land use is key for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in an increasingly threatened global environment. Should land system science produce a unifying vision for the planet? How do global narratives for use of land correspond to what people want when striving for access to land across diverse and distinctive regions? How can we support transformations that mutually reinforce global sustainability visions and goals, and people’s aspirations and needs?
