GEO Mountains TG2.3 & 2.4

GEO Mountains aims to bring together research institutions and mountain observation networks to enhance the discoverability, accessibility, and usability of a wide range of relevant data and information pertaining to environmental and socio-economic systems – both in situ and remotely sensed – across global mountain regions. To this end, in early 2022 GEO Mountains established eleven Task Groups (TGs) to develop its existing observatories and identify key mountain variables and their associated datasets. The herepresented project comprises TG2.3 and TG2.4, which are the identification of Essential Socioeconomic Variables to be monitored across global mountains (TG2.3) and the development of the associated global spatial dataset (TG2.4).

In February 2020, the co-leads  of  GEO Mountains -- the  Mountain  Research  Initiative  (MRI)  and  the Institute  of  Atmospheric  Sciences  and  Climate, National  Research  Council  (ISAC-CNR) -- convened the workshop “Identifying Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) and Essential Societal Variables (ESVs) in Mountain Environments” in Zürich, Switzerland. The workshop aimed to (i) identify  and  select  EMCVs, EBVs, and ESVs  required  for  the understanding and monitoring of key global change processes within mountain social-ecological systems, and (ii) identify monitoring requirements for the collection of data corresponding to those selected Essential Variables (EVs).

The participant group of interdisciplinary mountain scientists produced two preliminary lists of candidate Essential Mountain Variables (EMVs), for EBVs and ESVs, respectively. It was noted in the workshop that the ESV list in particular required further development, hence the establishment of TGs 2.3 and 2.4 by GEO Mountains in early 2022.

The specifc objectives and related activities of each TG are listed below:

Task Group 2.3 Objectives

• Design and host two workshops with mountain scientists to identify a set of inter-comparable ESVs to be obtained across mountain regions of the world and their connected downstream regions.
• Publish a joint publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal based on workshop results

Task Group 2.3 Activities

• Review results from 2020 Zurich workshop and conduct literature review to (1) establish the state-of-the-art on global socioeconomic monitoring; (2) identify methods for the integration of socioeconomic and biophysical monitoring data and (3) produce a preliminary list of desirable ESVs
• Design workshop to be held during the International Mountain Conference (IMC, 11-15 September 2022 in Innsbruck, Austria), using results of 2020 workshop and literature review as support for workshop activities
• Host workshop at IMC to (1) contribute to a list of desirable ESVs and potential associated data sources, based on the Zurich workshop results and our research; (2) define minimum data requirements for ESVs and; (3) identify/develop potential conceptual frameworks for ESV monitoring
• Identification of data sources and data source gaps; assessment of data availability and quality
• Production of a definitive list of ESVs for mountains with data that meets the minimum requirements defined in the IMC workshop
• Host a second workshop in the first quarter of 2023 in order to (1) prioritise variables according to importance in driving social-ecological change; (2) develop/define the methodology for standardisation and mapping of ESV data

Task Group 2.4 Objectives

• Develop a global spatial dataset of ESVs based on the results of TG2.3 that can be used to monitor and account for ongoing changes in mountain SES
• Design and publish an open-access web tool of a global dataset of spatial layers using the results of TG2.3, enabling data download
• Establish a mechanism to continually/periodically update the ESV dataset
• Identify current and emerging possibilities for measuring or otherwise obtaining data on the ESVs identified through TG2.3

Task Group 2.4 Activities

• Development of global spatial dataset of ESVs (specific activities TBD)
• Development of an open-access web tool (specific activities TBD)