Group photo of the MRI at the 2024 retreat
MRI Governing Body Retreat 2024 
MRI News
article written by MRI
28.10.24 | 09:10

The MRI Governing Body, together with the MRI Working Groups Leads and the MRI Coordination Office staff, met on 27-29 August 2024 in Eggberg Switzerland for its annual retreat. The meeting provided a timely opportunity to take stock of the MRI’s work and activities and define future priorities in line with the MRI’s objectives. 

The MRI Governing Body, i.e. MRI Board (Co-Principal Investigators and Executive Director) and Science Leadership Council, together with the MRI Coordination Office staff, met at their annual retreat between 27-29 August 2024 at Berglodge37, in Eggberge, in Central Switzerland.  Given the emphasis placed at this meeting on strategic and programmatic aspects to the MRI work plan, the MRI Working Group leads were also invited to join this retreat in an ex-officio role. This wider participation ensured that the entire MRI leadership team could not only meet and network more effectively, but also exchange on activity progress and identify important opportunities for integration and synergy as priorities are refined for the funding period 2023-2026.   

In attendance were the MRI Chair Jörg Balsiger (University of Geneva) and Co-PIs Adriene Grêt-Regamey (ETHZ), Christian Rixen (WSL), and Theresa Tribaldos (University of Bern), Christian Huggel, with MRI SLC members Margreth Keiler (University of Innsbruck and Austrian Academy of Sciences), Ignacio Palomo (IRD, France), Shawn Marshall (University of Calgary), and our two new SLC members Joyce Kimutai (Kenya Meteorological Department) and Mariana Melnykovych (BFH, Switzerland). Also present were the MRI Working Group Leads Nick Pepin (University of Portsmouth, for MRI Elevation Dependant Climate Change), Maria Shahgedanova (University of Reading, for MRI Mountain Observatories), Rob Marchant (University of York, for MRI Mountain Social-Ecological Futures), Tobias Luthe (ETHZ, for MRI Resilience) and Ahmed Shams (Durham University, for MRI Governance). From the MRI Coordination Office staff, Carolina Adler, James Thornton, Pauline Robert and Alexandrine Massot were in attendance. 

MRI Chair Jörg Balsiger kicked off proceedings by highlighting the legacy and importance of the MRI Governing Body and active engagement from key leaders in the MRI activities, such as the Working Groups. Prof Balsiger also recalled the history of the Science Leadership Council (SLC) as members of the present-day Governing Body, with the first SLC meeting taking place in Kandersteg, Switzerland, in 2014. He emphasized the importance of the SLC in terms of its key links with the broader scientific community and encouraged discussions and connections between the Working Groups, the CO-PIs and SLC members. 

Executive Director Carolina Adler presented a recap of the MRI’s three key objectives for 2023-2026, plus the eight supporting functions that the MRI Coordination office fulfils for the MRI and its network.  These offered a framework in which to discuss programmatic and strategic aspects in more detail, as well as align and prioritise from the many activities that are conducted through the MRI, be it through the Coordination Office or via its members through MRI Flagship and Community-led Activities, along these objectives.  

Some of the topics covered at the retreat included: 

  • The MRI’s work plan, including partnerships, synergies and complementarities based on the work of the Working Groups and MRI flagships activities such as GEO Mountains. 
  • Engagement on mountain-research and academic scholarship, including prospects to enhance this engagement and collaboration with the regions and through regional networks, and in raising capabilities to inform and affect change at the science-practice-society-policy nexus. 
  • Stock-taking on more than 20 years of the MRI, and how to evolve and continue supporting our research community in view of the fast-changing landscape, context, and new knowledge needs that call on adapting more effectively to global changes. 

In between brainstorming and workshops, we found time to explore the surrounding mountains, including a forest hike up to the Hüenderegg, a high vantage point from where the views across to the Swiss Central Alps could be admired and enjoyed in late summer conditions. 

In the following weeks, towards the end of 2024, we will be devoting time to follow up on the outcomes of the MRI Governing Body retreat, including on opportunities for the MRI network to get further involved in these prosects. We look forward to reporting and sharing those with all in due course. 

In the meantime, and in anticipation of these upcoming announcements on new prospects for engagement, we encourage our network members to update and/or create a profile in the MRI Experts Database. This is the main tool and resource used by the MRI Coordination Office to identify and broker meaningful connections between members of the network and activities supported by the MRI, plus much more! Find out more on how to join the network via the MRI Experts Database here

About the MRI Governing Body and the MRI Working Groups 

The MRI Board (Chair and co-Principal Investigators), together with the MRI Science Leadership Council and the MRI Executive Director, constitute the MRI Governing Body. Together, they oversee and provide strategic direction and advice to support the implementation and development of both flagship and community-led activities, with the support of the Coordination Office staff.  The MRI Governing Body and MRI Coordination Office meet once year at an annual retreat to stocktake on strategic and programmatic aspects of the MRI’s work, including future priorities. 

As MRI Community-Led Activities, the MRI Working Groups are primarily led by researchers, with the MRI Coordination Office supporting administration and communications. The Working Groups bring together individual researchers to address research questions and synthesize activities aligned with the MRI’s objectives. These Working Groups provide a platform for discussion, exchange, and research, with time-framed work plans specifying activities and outputs such as peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, or the compilation of datasets. These working groups are open to the community, and all from across the MRI network are encouraged to actively participate in their activities—especially early career researchers. Currently, the MRI comprises five working groups, each encouraged to interconnect ideas and cultivate synergies among themselves. 

Learn more about us: 

MRI Governance 

MRI Community-led Activities (Working Groups) 

All photos by Jörg Balsiger.