Introduction

Global Mountain Safeguard Research (GLOMOS) is a collaborative scientific program between the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and Eurac Research (Figure 1). GLOMOS conducts applied and transdisciplinary research to support mountain livelihoods and sustainable mountain development. Hence, it facilitates a greater recognition of mountain issues within science-informed policymaking and international frameworks, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

FIGURE 1

(A) UN Campus in Bonn, Germany; (B) Eurac Research building in Bolzano, Italy. (Photos by V. Lannert and Eurac)

By co-creating knowledge to be applied in practice and in policymaking, GLOMOS aims to strengthen multistakeholder synergies and complementarity (see Box 1). This function is enabled by UNU-EHS's official mandate to function as a bridge between the international academic community and the United Nations system within the field of risk and adaptation related to environmental hazards and global change. It is further supported by Eurac Research's competency in solution-oriented and innovative scientific approaches that are tailor-made for mountain environments.

History of mountain research at UNU

As a mountain-focused scientific program, GLOMOS builds upon previous achievements of UNU's “Highland–Lowland Interactive Systems” project, which started in 1978 and was later renamed “Mountain Ecology and Sustainable Development.” This international project led to significant scientific output and policy impact. Notably, UNU, together with governments and other international research organizations, lobbied for the inclusion of the first mountain-specific article within a global UN framework agenda: Chapter 13 of Agenda 21 of the 1992 Rio Declaration (UNDSD 1992). The program's research results were summarized in the 1997 book Mountains of the World: A Global Priority (Messerli and Ives 1997). UNU was also a founding member of the International Mountain Society (IMS), which was established in 1979, inter alia, to serve as a publisher of the international journal Mountain Research and Development (MRD), launched in 1981.

Vision and mission

At GLOMOS, mountains are placed at the core of research and practice, with a focus on the challenges of the Anthropocene (climate change, environmental hazards, pandemics, poverty, inequalities, etc). GLOMOS's transdisciplinary approach to climate change adaptation and mitigation, disaster risk reduction, and emergency response preparedness operates toward strengthening resilience of global mountain communities, in addition to protecting their highly sensitive social-ecological systems from the loss of biodiversity, cultural diversity, and ecosystem services (Figure 2).

FIGURE 2

GLOMOS research topics (in green, orange, and black) and related UN frameworks (in blue).

With the overarching mission of turning science into action, the program conducts transdisciplinary research and technology transfer in specific socioeconomic, institutional, ecological, and cultural contexts (see Box 1). It seeks to bridge science and the global UN conventions and frameworks (see Figure 2) (UNGA 2015; UNISDR 2015; UNCCD 2015; UNFCCC 2016; UN 2016, 2017).

International activities and strategic partnerships

Unfortunately, research and development activities that work toward the UN frameworks in Figure 2 are often still dominated by Western narratives that can obscure traditional and local knowledge and ignore the cultural and spiritual importance of specific mountain areas.

“Localization” of research and development activities is therefore paramount to transformative resilience in mountain regions, and governance structures need to be redesigned with local actors taking the lead in implementation. However, “local” actors are a complex collective of diverse actors working from varying and often distinct ideologies at different levels and scales. This is reflected in the many entities with which GLOMOS interacts (see Box 2), which include the following: the Mountain Partnership (MP) hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); other UN agencies, such as United Nations Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the United Nations Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD), the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA); international organizations, such as the Alpine Convention; academic networks, such as the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI); practitioners in the field; political and local stakeholders; government representatives; nongovernmental organizations; and, finally, the private sector.

Embracing the importance of localization and of collaboration with regional partners, GLOMOS is currently focused on establishing strategic partnerships (see Boxes 2, 3). In 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) of the University of the Free State (UFS), South Africa. Further institutional bonding is foreseen with regional associations, such as with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the Consortium for Sustainable Development of the Andean Ecoregion (CONDESAN), and the Albertine Rift Conservation Society (ARCOS).

The future

GLOMOS is carefully listening to the urgent calls of concerned mountain communities to emphasize the importance of nature-based solutions and cross-cutting approaches, to recognize ancestral knowledge, to address inequalities and rural–urban–rural mobility schemes, and to enhance the livelihoods and resilience of rural mountain communities. Therefore, the program will continue to localize cutting-edge solution-oriented research, inclusive capacity development, and technology transfer. The coherent work with local actors, according to their specific requirements, provides the foundations for bridging the science–policy–action gap, with the overarching goal of leaving no one behind in global mountain regions. To this end, among the current lead initiatives of GLOMOS are the 1st Global Mountain Sustainability (GMS) Forum, where scientists and practitioners gathered to discuss “Sustainability governance: International frameworks and local contributions,” as well as an edited volume that features contributions from scientists and key multistakeholders, Safeguarding Mountains: A Global Challenge—Facing Emerging Risks, Adapting to Changing Environments and Building Transformative Resilience in Mountain Regions worldwide (see Box 2 for further details).