In September and October, the first Research and Innovation Session of the project Highlands.3 took place in France and Spain, gathering about 35 participants from 15 countries. This marks the start of the interdisciplinary research activities in this project coordinated by the Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research of the Austrian Academy of Science.
During September and October 2021, the first Research and Innovation Session of the project Highlands.3 took place, gathering about 35 participants from 15 countries. The session was organized by the French partners, Parc Naturel Régional Livradois-Forez, The Livestock Sustainability, INRAE and VetAgro Sup. Due to the pandemic, this was the first large research activity of the Highlands.3 project, led by the Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research of the Austrian Academy of Science.
During four weeks, the group conducted interviews with representatives of around 50 initiatives for local and sustainable development in Massif Central (France) and in the Pyrenees (France and Spain). The main objective of this first session was the definition of a joint methodology, appropriate for inter- and transdisciplinary research on sustainable development in highlands. Scientists from fields as diverse as geography, biology, economics, sociology, animal science, veterinary science, architecture, archaeology, as well as practitioners engaged in this challenging task.
Seven other similar month-long sessions will be organised around the world over the next four years: four in Europe, one in Africa, one in South America and one in Asia. Each session will bring together dozens of scientists from different disciplines, identifying, visiting and analysing about 50 local initiatives following the new pre-established interdisciplinary methodology.
The main goal of these activities is the creation of a decision support platform gathering a large number of initiatives for sustainable development in mountain areas. This platform will inform local actors, stakeholders, decision-makers, managers, technicians, scientists, students... who will be able to select the most relevant initiatives for their territory or interests, contact the key persons of these, interact and learn from each other.
