International Mountain Conference

• Provide a general understanding on the benefits and challenges of TD for mountain sustainability, based on practical experiences from panellists of different mountain regions and professional backgrounds.
• Have a better overview of how TD approaches are implemented in mountain regions, and which challenges they address.
• Stimulate discussions on whether there are specific characteristics related to mountain regions, which need to be considered when implementing TD approaches.
• Stimulate discussions on whether relevant innovative inputs into TD scholarship from a mountain perspective can be developed.

Many challenges of mountain regions need to be addressed by inter- / transdisciplinary approaches due to complex interlinkages of natural and social-cultural processes within steep terrain. In 2021, during a workshop on inter- and transdisciplinary mountain research institutions, participants from several mountain regions shared experiences and ideas. The group decided to continue exchange on challenges and ways forward, to better understand and facilitate transdisciplinary (TD) practices in mountain regions as well as to maximize the transformative effect of this research.

During the session, we will follow up on the workshop results, while inviting colleagues from mountain regions across the world to contribute their experiences.  We will map existing TD projects, considering specific characteristics of mountain regions that may be relevant for implementing TD research, identifying future research fields where TD research has the potential to add the greatest value, and addressing formation of TD research partnerships within mountain research networks.

• Presentation of the session’s goals and program, introduction of the keynote (5’).
• Keynote input: Carolina Adler, Mountain Research Initiative (10′).
  • Basic notion of TD, setting the ground for the panel discussion with presentation of main challenges for mountain regions for which we may need TD, and provocative questions to encourage discussion.
• Panel discussion: 5 panellists from different professional backgrounds (representing six mountain regions) will be asked three questions. (50’)
  • Caucasus: Nina Shatberashvili, The Caucasus Network for Sustainable Development of Mountain Regions (Sustainable Caucasus)
  • Andes: Luis Daniel Llambí C., CONDESAN (virtually)
  • Hindu Kush Himalayas: Sunita Chaudhary, ICIMOD
  • South Africa: Ralph Clark, Afromontane Research Unit, University of the Free State
  • Alps and Carpathians: Iago Otero, Interdisciplinary Centre for Mountain Research, University of Lausanne
• Open discussion: we take questions from the participants
• Concluding remarks and next steps