The Alpine Convention – IMA (International Mountain Agreements) Coordination Unit came into being during the Italian two-year presidency of the Alpine Convention (2001-2002) in order to guarantee continuity in the activities developed, thanks to an agreement between the Italian Ministry of the Environment and Territorial Protection and the European Academy in Bolzano.

The Unit also operated during 2003-2004, in conjunction with other EURAC organisations, in assisting the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention to carry out operations assigned to the operational branch in Bolzano.

The agreement between the Ministry of the Environment and Eurac has made it possible to contribute, along with other international partners such as UNEP and REC, in developing another international convention for the protection and development of a mountain area, the Carpathian Convention, signed in Kiev in 2003 and now in full operation. The Coordination Unit is also a partner of UNEP and REC in the Umbrella Project, a project funded by the Italian Ministry of the Environment, which has the main purpose of aiding the implementation of the Convention.  For this purpose, the Coordination Unit has organised meetings with experts from the partner Countries of the Carpathian Convention, during the course of which there were discussions on the principal aspects of protection and sustainable development in the Carpathian zone. EURAC's work and commitment has received important recognition in the signing of a memorandum of understanding with UNEP, a tangible sign of the fruitful collaboration instilled between the two partners.

In view of its active involvement in international initiatives for mountain protection, the Coordination Unit has encouraged the participation of EURAC in the Mountain Partnership, a worldwide alliance for the protection of the mountain environment throughout the world that was launched at the world summit for sustainable development in 2002. Within the Global Mountain Partnership, EURAC is leader of the Policy and Law programme and the Europe geographical programme.

The common theme in these programmes is the link between mountain protection and cross-border cooperation, which has already been promoted at European level with the Madrid Framework Convention in 1980. In this context, the Coordination Unit, along with the Eurac Institute for studies on federalism and regionalism and the Aosta Valley Autonomous Regional Authority, has promoted and developed a study on legal instruments for the creation of new forms of territorial sustainable development, taking as a point of reference the Espace Mont Blanc, a cooperation mechanism involving Italy, Switzerland and France.