Mountain research across boundaries:
A portrait of the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR)

The Alpine Convention is a comittment with the status of international law signed in 1991 by all alpine states. The parties Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the principalities of Liechtenstein  and Monaco, Slovenia and Switzerland, and the European Union agree to cooperate with regard to sustainable development in the Alps. The domains and modalities of cooperation are designed by a framework convention and 8 sectoral protocols (energy, soil, etc.).

Impacts by the ForumAlpinum 
Research cooperation among all alpine states – but without a specific thematic focus – is one of the tasks listed in the framework convention. To encourage such cooperations, the Swiss Academies of Sciences (SAS) and Humanities and Social Sciences (SAHS) invited in 1994 scientists and stakholders from all alpine countries to the first ForumAlpinum in Disentis. The ForumAlpinum was intended bringing together scientists from all alpine countries (to be interantional), from all disciplines (to be interdisciplinary), and with stakholders from society, policy and economy (to be transdisciplinary). The result of the first ForumAlpinum was an Action plan for alpine research. The concept of the ForumAlpinum has been successful in three directions:

1) In the following years, the biannuel ForumAlpinum was organised in all larger alpine states, 1996 in Chamonix (France), 1998 in Garmisch (Germany), 2000 in Bergamo (Italy), 2002 in Alpbach (Austria) and 2004 in Kranjska Gora (Slovenia), dedicated to different topics of broad scientific and social interest.
(documentation see: www.alpinestudies.ch/iscar/forumalpinum)

2) In all organising states, the ForumAlpinum initiated national cooperations and organisations in alpine research. Today, all alpine states have national or over-regional bodies (boards, committees, or even institutes) for alpine or mountain research.

Foundation of ISCAR
3) International cooperations resulting from the organising committee of the ForumAlpinum finally lead to the foundation of the International Scientific Committe on Resrach in the Alps (ISCAR). In 1999, the following, mainly  national research Institutions signed the ISCAR-Convention :
Austria:          Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna
France:         Pôle européen universitaire et scientifique, Grenoble
Germany:          Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Munich
Italy:     National Mountain Institute, Rome
Slovenia:          Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ljubliana
Switzerland: Swiss Academy of Sciences (SAS), Berne
         Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences,
All partners delegate 2 members into the Committee and contribute to the costs of the Committes office, hosted by SAS in Berne. The Presidency remains for two years in the country, which is organising the ForumAlpinum or the AlpWeek (see below).

Four main objectives are outlined in the ISCAR-Convention:
- Stimulate scientific research of relevance for the Alps as well as their implementation within international or mountain research programmes
- Promote interdisciplinary research on the Alps as well as the transfer of scientific knowledge to responsible authorities and to the general public.
- Ensure the continuity and the scientific quality of the ForumAlpinum to promote international co-operation in Alpine research.
- Take up research topics in the interest of the Alpine Convention and advise the responsible authorities for that Convention.

Main ISCAR activities since 2000 and outlook
In 2000, the Alpine Conference recognised ISCAR as an official observer of the Alpine Convention. In this function, ISCAR represents research in the official bodies of the Alpine Convention, and  takes up research needs from the Convention, and cooperates with other obeservers like CIPRA, EUROMONTANA or Alpine Club. Since 2000, ISCAR developped several activities beyond the traditional ForumAlpinum:

– in 2001 ISCAR proposed to elaborate a tehmaic Atlas of the Alps, to be able to compare different situations in  alpine space. Prof. Axel Borsdorf (Innsbruck, Austria) started first projects (GISALP, DIAMONT), which provide important information towards a thematic Atlas of the Alps. Such an Atlas will be a contribution to the Information and observation system  (SOIA) of the Alpine Convention.

– In 2002, ISCAR joined, together with CIPRA and  teh Network of alpine protected Areas, the alpine (ecoregion) programme of WWF. In a common workshop about 70 scientists iodentified 23 priority areas for biodiversity conservation in the Alps. In a next stepp will be identified main connectivity areas linking areas with important biodivertsity (protected areas, priority areas, lowlands, other mountain ranged).

– In 2004, ISCAR enlarged the concept of FormuAlpinum together with CIPRA, the community network „Alliance in the Alps“ and the  Network of alpine protected areas to the concept of AlpWeek, which is oriented mainly towards dabates among scientists, politicians, adminstratives, stakeholders and NGO`s.
The next Alpweek will take place in France in 2008 and deal with innovation for sustainable development in the Alps.

In 2004, the Alpine Confernece (= biannual Minister Confernece of the Alpine Convention) approved a multi-annual working programme (2005-2010). ISCAR took up key issues of the multi-annual porgramme and analysed them from a scientific perspective. Abaout 50 scientists from a wide range of disciplines participated in two workshops and two consultations. The result is a list of 22 topics, for which are specified resrech gols, actions and stakholders. The Research Agenda is building a bridge between topics of both, political and scientific relevance. The Rerach Agenda to teh multi-annual working programme of teh alpien Convention 2005-2010 will be published in eary 2007.

– The Mountain Resrach Initiative (MRI) und UNESCO Man and Biosphere released in 2005 the Research Strategy on Global Change in mountain regions (GLOCHAMORE Research Strategy). Intending the implementation of this Research Strategy, ISCAR and MRI are establishing since 2006 a Network for Global Change Research in Europe. Main partners are Mountain Biosphere Reserves and protected areas, because such areas will allow long-term research along altitudianal and land use gradients. In this context, cooperations between ISCAR and alpine protected areas will be closer in future: For 2007 ISCAR and the Network of alpine protected areas (ALPARC) are planning the installation of an international research council for ALPARC.

ISCAR was so far successful in interceding and providing scientific expertise for socially motivated projects and in sharing competences with the Alpine Convention and ist observers. In future, ISCAR will foster its activities on addressing research to relevant issues on sustainable dveleopment in the Alps and European mountain areas.

 

President:  Prof. Heinz Veit, Berne, 2005-2006; Dr. Jean-Jacques Brun, Grenoble, 2007-2008

Managing Director:  Dr.Thomas Scheurer

Secretariat: Vera Kaufmann