Susanne Wymann von Dach

Global Change and the World's Mountains— Research Needs and Emerging Themes for Sustainable Development

Abstract The conference on Global Change and the Worlds Mountains held in Perth, Scotland, in 2010 offered a unique opportunity to analyze the state and progress of mountain research and its contribution to sustainable mountain development, as well as to reflect on required reorientations of research agendas. In this paper we provide the results of a three-step assessment of the research presented by 450 researchers from around the world. First, we determined the state of the art of mountain research and categorized it based on the analytical structure of the Global Land Project (GLP 2005). Second, we identified emerging themes for future research. Finally, we assessed the contribution of mountain research to sustainable development along the lines of the Grand Challenges in Global Sustainability Research (International Council for Science 2010). Analysis revealed that despite the growing recognition of the importance of more integrative research (inter- and transdisciplinary), the research community gathered in Perth still focuses on environmental drivers of change and on interactions within ecological systems. Only a small percentage of current research seeks to enhance understanding of social systems and of interactions between social and ecological systems. From the ecological systems perspective, a greater effort is needed to disentangle and assess different drivers of change and to investigate impacts on the rendering of ecosystem services. From the social systems perspective, significant shortcomings remain in understanding the characteristics, trends, and impacts of human movements to, within, and out of mountain areas as a form of global change. Likewise, sociocultural drivers affecting collective behavior as well as incentive systems devised by policy and decision makers are little understood and require more in-depth investigation. Both the complexity of coupled social–ecological systems and incomplete data sets hinder integrated systems research. Increased understanding of linkages and feedbacks between social and ecological systems will help to identify nonlinearities and thresholds (tipping points) in both system types. This presupposes effective collaboration between ecological and social sciences. Reflections on the Grand Challenges in Sustainability Research put forth by the International Council for Science (2010) reveal the need to intensify research on effective responses and innovations. This will help to achieve sustainable development in mountain regions while maintaining the core competence of mountain research in forecasting and observation.

Mountains and Climate Change: A Global Concern

Abstract Editors note: The text of this article originally appeared as the final chapter of a brochure entitled Mountains and Climate Change—From Understanding to Action, prepared at the Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Switzerland, for presentation by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) at a side event at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on 12 December 2009. Chapters of the brochure deal with various aspects of climate change and its impact in mountain regions. In light of the significance of the Copenhagen COP 15 conference, the editors of this publication believe MRDs readers will be interested in reading this summary written from the perspective of Swiss researchers and development experts. The full brochure may be viewed and downloaded at www.cde.unibe.ch/Research/MA_Re.asp

Will International Pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals Alleviate Poverty in Mountains

Abstract Since September 2000, when world leaders agreed on time-bound, measurable goals to reduce extreme poverty, hunger, illiteracy, and disease while fostering gender equality and ensuring environmental sustainability, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have increasingly come to dominate the policy objectives of many states and development agencies. The concern has been raised that the tight timeframe and financial restrictions might force governments to invest in the more productive sectors, thus compromising the quality and sustainability of development efforts. In the long term, this may lead to even greater inequality, especially between geographical regions and social strata. Hence people living in marginal areas, for example in remote mountain regions, and minority peoples risk being disadvantaged by this internationally agreed agenda. Strategies to overcome hunger and poverty in their different dimensions in mountain areas need to focus on strengthening the economy of small-scale farmers, while also fostering the sustainable use of natural resources, taking into consideration their multifunctionality.

Mountains of Our Future Earth: Defining Priorities for Mountain Research: A Synthesis from the 2015 Perth III Conference

The Perth conferences, held every 5 years in Perth, Scotland, bring together people who identify as mountain researchers and who are interested in issues related to global change in mountain social-ecological systems. These conferences provide an opportunity to evaluate the evolution of research directions within the mountain research community, as well as to identify research priorities. The Future Earth Strategic Research Agenda provides a useful framework for evaluating the mountain research communitys progress toward addressing global change and sustainability challenges. Using a process originally set up to analyze contributions to the 2010 conference, the abstracts accepted for the 2015 conference in the context of the Future Earth framework were analyzed. This revealed a continued geographic underrepresentation in mountain research of Africa, Latin America, and South and Southeast Asia but a more even treatment of biophysical and social science themes than in 2010. It also showed that the Perth conference research community strongly focused on understanding system processes (the Dynamic Planet theme of the Future Earth research agenda). Despite the continued bias of conference contributions toward traditional observation- and conservation-oriented research, survey results indicate that conference participants clearly believe that transdisciplinary, transformative research is relevant to mountains. Of the 8 Future Earth focal challenges, those related to safeguarding natural assets, promoting sustainable land use, increasing resilience and understanding the water-energy-food nexus received considerable attention. The challenges related to sustainable consumption, decarbonizing socioeconomic systems, cities, and health were considerably less well represented, despite their relevance to mountain socioeconomic systems. Based on these findings, we outline a proposal for the future directions of mountain research.

Special Issue: Gender and Sustainable Development in Mountains—Transformative Innovations, Tenacious Resistances

Despite years of ‘‘gender mainstreaming’’ in development, many challenges remain. A decade ago, Anand and Josse (2002) noted the persistence of gender discrimination, exploitation, and disenfranchisement of women in mountain regions. Although there have been some innovations and progress towards gender equality since their article appeared in MRD, tenacious resistances and contestations persist in the face of rigorous feminist research, knowledge, agency, and activism (Cornwall et al 2007; Sandler and Rao 2012). Both institutional barriers and global drivers of change (eg climate change, globalization, geopolitical shifts, economic crises, and gender-blind development interventions) are worsening the conditions of women’s lives, as well as widening socio-economic inequalities between women and men (Pearson 2004; UNICEF 2009). For women and men living in harsh mountain conditions, challenges have a different set of complexities compared to those of people living in the plains (Anand et al 2002). Innovative and strategic approaches to gender transformative change have never been more necessary. However, their potential within development institutions requires serious reflection, stocktaking, analysis, and resources, as well as profound changes to gender power relations in both institutional and applied development contexts (Verma 2014, in this issue).

Special Issue: Central Asian Mountain Societies in Transition

While there is growing recognition of the scope of challenges and opportunities that Central Asian mountain societies have before them, there is a lack of natural and social science analysis of current realities and of the impact of development practices. Rigorous research on Central Asia and analysis of existing and potential development practices are needed to both fill known gaps and explore blind spots in knowledge of Central Asian mountain societies. Such findings are essential for further developing options for sustainable livelihoods and sound ecosystems, together with the people of Central Asia’s mountains (Kerven et al 2012, in this issue; Kreutzmann 2012).

Integrated Mountain Development: A Question of Gender Mainstreaming

Abstract “Development without women is like a bird trying to take off with only one wing,” according to Abeba Habtorm, director of the Ministry of Education in Asmara, Eritrea. Are mountain women adequately integrated in development cooperation efforts internationally, by region, nationally, and in local communities? Has the vital role of women in sustainable development of mountain communities been sufficiently documented, understood, and especially taken into account in development projects? Mountain womens concerns have been the subject of debate during the last 3 decades, and some efforts have been made to develop more gender-sensitive policies and programs as well as more opportunities for mountain women, especially at the local level. Yet, there is still a great lack of disaggregated data on womens roles and responsibilities, on their access to and control over natural resources, services, and infrastructure, and on their knowledge of and participation in the elaboration of strategies to improve the situation they face as a result of male out-migration, globalization, and hence marginalization. The “bird” can take off only if women and men have equal opportunities to design policies and take part in decision making on more sustainable forms of mountain development at all levels.Abstract “Development without women is like a bird trying to take off with only one wing,” according to Abeba Habtorm, director of the Ministry of Education in Asmara, Eritrea. Are mountain women adequately integrated in development cooperation efforts internationally, by region, nationally, and in local communities? Has the vital role of women in sustainable development of mountain communities been sufficiently documented, understood, and especially taken into account in development projects? Mountain womens concerns have been the subject of debate during the last 3 decades, and some efforts have been made to develop more gender-sensitive policies and programs as well as more opportunities for mountain women, especially at the local level. Yet, there is still a great lack of disaggregated data on womens roles and responsibilities, on their access to and control over natural resources, services, and infrastructure, and on their knowledge of and participation in the elaboration of strategies to improve t...

Focus Issue: Water Governance in Mountains

The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development recognized that ‘‘mountain ecosystems play a crucial role in providing water resources to a large portion of the world’s population’’ in its Rio+20 outcome document, The Future We Want (UNGA 2012). While the role of mountains as a water resource base is well recognized, their role in sustainable use and management of water—for food and agriculture, for livelihoods and poverty alleviation, for drinking water and sanitation, for energy, cities, and industries, and in combating desertification, land degradation, and drought—is significant but underappreciated. The role of water governance in mountains, and how mountains relate to the plains, is a ‘‘blind spot’’ in the literature, especially when compared to water governance in the plains, where there is a large body of work on integrated water resource management.

Focus Issue: Water Resources in the Upper Indus Basin and Beyond

The Indus river basin supports the world’s largest irrigation system. Climate change is definitely adding risks to the prime sectors of agriculture, energy, disaster management, and sanitation, where water plays the most critical role. The main issue is uncertainty in the volume and seasonality of future water supply. The recent incidence of extreme rainfall and flooding has led to devastation. At the same time, all scenarios predict a serious shortfall in future water supply in the basin and point to the need for better (transboundary) management. Since the integrated water resources management (IWRM) approach at basin level has successfully addressed similar problems in other river basins, we feel that an integrated river basin management (IRBM) approach for the Indus will not only enhance supply by storing water during high flow but also increase use efficiency by allocating water amongst the sectors and users more judiciously. What is needed are policy and institutional reforms that ensure both equitable access and remove disincentives to conserving water. In MRD 31.3 (August 2011), 3 initial papers focusing on the Indus Basin and water resource management were published; in this issue, 3 additional papers discuss the linkages between climate, precipitation, glaciology, and river runoff.

From fragmented to integrated knowledge for sustainable water and land

The crucial role mountain ecosystems play for mountain communities and people living in the lowlands is emphasized by the 3 mountain-specific targets of Agenda 2030 (targets 6.6, 15.1, and 15.4). To achieve these targets, sound and integrated knowledge is needed for policy- and decision-making that fosters sustainable management of water and land resources in mountain areas, including equitable negotiation of trade-offs between stakeholders. The Water and Land Resources Centres in Kenya and Ethiopia and the recently approved Global Land Programme working group on Land Systems for Mountain Futures are just 2 of a number of initiatives launched by the Centre for Development and Environment and its partners to integrate and share knowledge for evidence-informed policies and practices aimed at safeguarding key mountain ecosystem services.