MCLB2019

Call for Papers

Mountainous regions worldwide are affected by the impacts of an unrestrained exploitation of resources (due to heavy mining and intensive farming) and an ever-expanding tourism industry that seems to know no bounds. These developments put pressure on the biodiversity and on the population that has traditionally occupied them. Against this background, the objective of the conference is bringing together academics, environmentalists, biologists, tourism experts and other interested professionals in order to discuss these issues and to find new and creative solutions to the problems that are increasingly destabilising many of the world’s most impressive regions.

Panel topics will cover the following areas:

1.    Mountain ecosystems, ecology and biodiversity

∙    The role of mountains in shaping ecosystems and biodiversity

∙    Drivers and process of change: recent trends and impacts

∙    Addressing negative impacts to ecosystems, ecology and biodiversity: adaptation and mitigation

2.    Mountain Landscapes:

∙    The importance of physical features in shaping landscapes

∙    Factors influencing landscape and land-use change, trends

3.    Mountain Cultures:

∙    The value of mountain cultures for society.

∙    Socio-economic migration, shifting social structures and their consequences for mountain communities

∙    Finding common ground: balancing optimal solutions with valued outcomes in a climate of rapid social transformations

4.    Mountain Tourism and Recreation

∙    Economic activity and mountain protection: can a balance be found?

∙    Mountains and ecotourism: what role for diverse mountain stakeholders in addressing positive and negative effects?

 ∙    New perspectives and proposals