Action for mountain adaptation: Solutions beyond the boundaries of science, policy, and practice
This working paper details the key recommendations that emerged from the international conference on ‘Mountain People Adapting to Change: Solutions beyond boundaries bridging science, policy, and practice’, held in Kathmandu from 9 to 12 November 2014. The event sought to find holistic approaches to adaptation that extend beyond political, sectoral, and national boundaries, and that bridge mountain and non-mountain interfaces. A third of mountain dwellers are vulnerable to food insecurity and acute hunger, often due to climatic stressors coupled with economic, political and social changes.
The recommendations made by the panellists and participants are the following (p. ix-x):
- knowledge generation:
- address climate data constraints by developing region- and topography-specific climate models based on comprehensive local data;
- scale up regional information to general circulation models to improve the accuracy and relevance of these models to mountain regions.
- regional and global cooperation:
- engage in specific and targeted communication across local, national, regional, and global levels to highlight the urgency of adaptation action in the world’s mountains;
- generate a unified mountain voice through strong regional and global cooperation between communities, institutions, and non-governmental actors.
- multistakeholder engagement:
- create and support mechanisms for collective reflection and learning among diverse stakeholders (particularly researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and communities);
- increase consultation with stakeholders across local and subnational levels and across upstream and downstream communities, to enhance benefit sharing across communities.
- technological and financial innovation:
- develop needs-based technological solutions for disaster warning, favouring hand- or solar-powered technology over complex technology;
- use information and communications technology solutions including SMS-based technology for real-time communication of early disaster warnings and more regular seasonal information.
- communication and engagement:
- enhance collaboration with the media and civil society to facilitate a better communication of the science on adaptation and climate change to the public;
- focus on locally-relevant issues and communicate new and existing knowledge in simple language to facilitate informed policy making that is relevant to local communities.