On October 7th, EDGES and Program on Water Governance member Graham McDowell presented at the Mountains of our Future Earth conference in Perth, Scotland. The conference was part of the larger Future Earth programme, which aims to develop knowledge for responding effectively to the risks and opportunities of global environmental change. This event sought to advance understanding in three key Future Earth thematic areas: 1) Dynamics of the Planet (mountain systems focus), 2) Global Sustainable Development (UN Sustainable Development Goals focus), and 3) Transformations towards Sustainability. Graham presented in a special session on ‘Generating knowledge for climate change adaptation’ where he discussed the methodological approach and findings from his paper ‘Adaptation to climate change in glaciated mountain regions’ (Climatic Change, 2014). He argued that formal systematic review methods provide a cogent basis for knowledge synthesis and tracking in the context of information needs related to rapidly changing high mountain socio-ecological systems. He also discussed the implications of limited scholarship in this area, noting that scholarly investigation of adaptation has only been carried out in 40 % of countries with alpine glaciation. Graham’s talk supported mountain-related Future Earth endeavors by providing systematically collated information about on-the-ground adaptation processes and outcomes in high mountain systems.

Related Publication: McDowell, G., Stephenson, E., Ford, J. (2014). Adaptation to climate change in glaciated mountain regions. Climatic Change 126:77-91