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mrdjournal.bsky.social
Mountain Research and Development
@mrdjournal.bsky.social
150 followers 130 following 49 posts
The independent, not-for-profit international scientific journal specifically devoted to sustainable development in the world’s mountains.
👉🏽 https://www.mrd-journal.org

Published by the International Mountain Society.
Hosted at @CDEunibe.bsky.social.
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mrdjournal.bsky.social
Does a circular economy lend itself as a sustainable way forward for high mountain regions? In a Delphi survey among stakeholders in Valle d’Aosta, Italy, Domenico Tassone and Dario Musolino found it would—but transitioning requires cultural change and targeted policies: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
View of Valle d’Aosta from Bard Fortress. Photo by Dario Musolino. The flat valley floor with green fields, some trees, and small towns has a powerline, a highway, the river Dora Baltea, and a road running along it. It is nested between steep mountains consisting partly of forested slopes and partly of bare cliffs and rock faces. The stone roof of the fortress is visible in the foreground.
November 11, 2025 at 10:15 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
How can Alpine regions transition to renewables while preserving landscapes and open spaces? Marco Pütz and colleagues discuss the role of spatial planning and propose an agenda for future development and governance: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
@wslresearch.bsky.social @bokuvienna.bsky.social
A snowy, sunny winter scenery, with the upper station of a ski lift and some skiers the foreground and several hills with numerous wind turbines in the background. These are the wind farms of Pretul, Steinriegel, and Hochpürtschling in Styria, Austria. A total of 48 wind turbines produce 115 MW, providing approximately 75,000 households with electricity. © Schindelegger 2020
November 3, 2025 at 2:45 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
ICYMI: We are looking for topic editors to join the team!
Help shape knowledge for sustainable mountain futures and be part of a unique, not-for-profit, community-supported scientific journal aiming for societal impact!

Find out more and apply by 24 Oct: t.ly/PAzBF

#AcademicSky #MountainsMatter
Social media card with a background photo of snow-covered mountains towering over a landscape of rocks, grass, and fir trees, taken by Susanne Wymann von Dach, and the following text: “Mountain Research and Development is looking for Topic Editors to join the editorial team! Apply now and help shape knowledge for sustainable mountain futures!” At the bottom right is the journal’s logo showing the upper left corner of a tilted stack of three papers, resembling a mountain range, and the text “Mountain Research and Development.”
October 14, 2025 at 2:09 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
We are looking for topic editors to join the team!

Help shape knowledge for sustainable mountain futures and be part of a unique, not-for-profit, community-supported scientific journal aiming for societal impact!

Find out more and apply by 24 Oct: t.ly/PAzBF

#AcademicSky #MountainsMatter
Social media card with a background photo of snow-covered mountains towering over a landscape of rocks, grass, and fir trees, taken by Susanne Wymann von Dach, and the following text: “Mountain Research and Development is looking for Topic Editors to join the editorial team! Apply now and help shape knowledge for sustainable mountain futures!” At the bottom right is the journal’s logo showing the upper left corner of a tilted stack of three papers, resembling a mountain range, and the text “Mountain Research and Development.”
September 22, 2025 at 1:58 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Market-driven yak herding in Gatlang, Nepal, is threatening traditional sustainable grazing practices. Policies must recognize and integrate these traditional practices to sustain mountain ecosystems. Read the article by Indra Mani Rai and coauthors: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
#MountainsMatter
A herder takes chauri (female yaks) up a dirt road to the designated pasture for day herding in the village of Gatlang. Photo by Dipak Raj Rai
September 19, 2025 at 9:04 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
This morning’s #IMC25 session on bridging science, policy, business, and practice for sustainable solutions in mountains was great for exchanging experiences and insights, including from the @unep.org/MRD/@cdeunibe.bsky.social project PRIMA. Thanks to all participants!
#SciencePolicy #ResearchImpact
Ansgar Fellendorf of UNEP presenting the PRIMA project.
September 18, 2025 at 2:11 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Big thanks for yesterday’s inspiring training session and energizing networking event at #IMC25. We’re grateful for the learning and connections!

#MountainResearch #Collaboration #MountainFutures
MRD associate editor Susanne Wymann von Dach shares useful tips with a diverse audience of mountain researchers on how to get their papers published in a peer-reviewed journal. Theresa Tribaldos, Managing Director of the International Mountain Society, presents the quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal Mountain Research and Development, which is published by the society.
September 18, 2025 at 6:42 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
📣 Happening this afternoon/evening at #IMC25:

How to get your mountain paper published: A workshop with the editors of MRD and eco.mont
🕓 16:00–17:30 🚩 MCI – SR 303 🔗 t.ly/fJixs

IMS and MRD networking workshop, with snacks and drinks
🕓 19:15–20:45 🚩 MCI – SR 303 🔗 t.ly/GOePE
Two photos, the top one showing a researcher interviewing a villager in Nepal (photo by Lilian Trechsel, CDE) and the bottom one showing people networking (photo by Thriday on Unsplash). The photos illustrate the contents of the events announced in the post.
September 17, 2025 at 11:59 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Are you at #IMC25? Come visit us at SOWI, 2nd floor!
We have a shared MRD/IMS table and are happy to chat about
- publishing your research,
- the possibility of your becoming an MRD topic editor,
- our special issue from #IMC25,
- and anything else you’d like to discuss!
#MountainsMatter
Photo showing shared presentation table of the journal Mountain Research and Development and its publisher, the International Mountain Society, with flyers laid out, posters on the wall behind, and two people standing and talking next to it.
September 15, 2025 at 12:33 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Heading to the International Mountain Conference 2025 in Innsbruck next week? Take the opportunity to meet MRD's associate editors! They are cohosting three sessions designed to support mountain researchers and development practitioners. Check them out: t.ly/0uOSv or 👇🏻
#MountainsMatter #IMC25
Social media card with the following text: Meet MRD’s associate editors at the International Mountain Conference 2025! Cohosted sessions: Training Session: How to Get Your Mountain Paper Published (Session ID: WS 3.132). A hands-on training session with MRD and eco.mont editors, perfect for early-career researchers and anyone looking to boost their submission management skills and their publishing success. Networking Workshop (Session ID: PS 3.110). Offered in collaboration with the International Mountain Society, this will be the perfect opportunity to connect, share your work, and help shape ways to strengthen the mountain research and development community. Innovative Approaches for Mountain Resilience: Bridging Practice, Science, and the Private Sector (Session ID: WS 3.118). Promoting Innovations for Sustainable Development: Learnings from Pilot Activities. Explore real-world examples of innovative projects driving sustainable mountain development and the lessons learned from their implementation.Soci This text is followed by photos of MRD’s associate editors Susanne Wymann von Dach, Brigitte Portner, and Sarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel. At the bottom is MRD’s logo, consisting of three parts: on the left, a schematic image of three stacked sheets of paper with text lines, tilted with the top left corner pointing upwards to make them look like a mountain range; on the right, the acronym mrd in large lowercase letters; and across the bottom, the journal’s full title, Mountain Research and Development.
September 9, 2025 at 9:25 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Just out: Ignacio Palomo’s review of “The Canadian Mountain Assessment: Walking Together to Enhance Understanding of Mountains in Canada,” by Graham McDowell, Madison Stevens, Shawn Marshall, and many others.
doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
@ucalgarypress.bsky.social
#MountainsMatter
Cover of book entitled The Canadian Mountain Assessment: Walking Together to Enhance Understanding of Mountains in Canada
September 5, 2025 at 12:33 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Ecological practices in European mountain product value chains are significantly associated with social innovation and collaborative governance. Policies for a green transition should be focused accordingly. Read the article by E. Schmitt et al: doi.org/10.1659/mrd....
This harvested cereal field is a site of agricultural innovation in Grisons, Switzerland: In one of the 455 value chains analyzed, a cooperative of organic cereal producers revived cereal production at high elevations up to 1600 masl by leveraging a diversity of cereal breeds, ancestral techniques, and modern standards. Photo by Emilia Schmitt
August 28, 2025 at 1:23 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
We are looking for topic editors to join the team!

Help shape knowledge for sustainable mountain futures and be part of a unique, not-for-profit, community-supported scientific journal aiming for societal impact!

Find out more and apply by 24 Oct: t.ly/PAzBF

#AcademicSky #MountainsMatter
Social media card with a background photo of snow-covered mountains towering over a landscape of rocks, grass, and fir trees, taken by Susanne Wymann von Dach, and the following text: Mountain Research and Development is looking for Topic Editors to join the editorial team! Apply now and help shape knowledge for sustainable mountain futures! Find out more: www.mrd-journal.org/topic-editors. Logo showing upper corner of tilted stack of three papers, resembling a mountain range, and text Mountain Research and Development.
August 20, 2025 at 12:48 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Another issue is complete! Read about adaptive pastoralist livelihoods in the Andes, interface areas in the European Alps as a new spatial planning category, sustainability pathways for trail running in Romania, off-piste skiing and climate change in France, and more! t.ly/M6x0A

#MountainsMatter
Cover of Mountain Research and Development, Volume 45, Number 2 | May 2025. The cover photo, taken by Tom Perreault, shows the Andean peatlands, or bofedales, in the community of Caripe in Sajama National Park, with snow-capped Sajama peak in the background. Bofedales provide vital pasture for llamas and alpacas. An article in this issue of Mountain Research and Development shows that community-based land tenure arrangements in these areas can support adaptive livelihoods among pastoralists by incentivizing labor migrants to return occasionally to their home communities to maintain land and animals according to customary practices.
August 14, 2025 at 9:17 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
In their new article, Dominik Bertram and coauthors define and analyze the spatial and functional characteristics of interface areas linking mountains and lowlands in the European Alps, offering a novel spatial category for Alpine spatial development. Read the article: t.ly/NR8g5
#MountainsMatter
Panoramic view of an Alpine interface area, taken from above Garmisch-Partenkirchen, looking towards Munich. Photo by Elias Günther
August 12, 2025 at 9:50 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Heading to the International Mountain Conference 2025 in Innsbruck? MRD is cohosting three sessions designed to support mountain researchers and development practitioners. Check them out: t.ly/0uOSv or 👇🏻
#MountainsMatter #IMC25
Social media card with the following text: Meet MRD’s associate editors at the International Mountain Conference 2025! Cohosted sessions: Training Session: How to Get Your Mountain Paper Published (Session ID: WS 3.132). A hands-on training session with MRD and eco.mont editors, perfect for early-career researchers and anyone looking to boost their submission management skills and their publishing success. Networking Workshop (Session ID: PS 3.110). Offered in collaboration with the International Mountain Society, this will be the perfect opportunity to connect, share your work, and help shape ways to strengthen the mountain research and development community. Innovative Approaches for Mountain Resilience: Bridging Practice, Science, and the Private Sector (Session ID: WS 3.118). Promoting Innovations for Sustainable Development: Learnings from Pilot Activities. Explore real-world examples of innovative projects driving sustainable mountain development and the lessons learned from their implementation. This text is followed by photos of MRD’s associate editors Susanne Wymann von Dach, Brigitte Portner, and Sarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel. At the bottom is MRD’s logo, consisting of three parts: on the left, a schematic image of three stacked sheets of paper with text lines, tilted with the top left corner pointing upwards to make them look like a mountain range; on the right, the acronym mrd in large lowercase letters; and across the bottom, the journal’s full title, Mountain Research and Development.
August 8, 2025 at 8:48 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
🔔1 week left to send your notice of intent!
Are you going to #IMC2025? We invite papers emerging from recent research collaborations across different disciplines, experiences, and geographic and cultural perspectives that will be presented at the conference. Read the full call for papers: t.ly/0MkKb
Call for papers: Collaborative Research for Sustainable Mountain Futures—Special Issue from the International Mountain Conference 2025. Send us your notice of ntent by 15 June 2025 and submit your paper by 15 October 2025! With photo by Wolfgang Gurgiser of Huaraz and surroundings in the Peruvian Andes—one of the world’s many mountain regions facing unprecedented change. And with logos of Mountain Research and Development and the International Mountain Conference in Innsbruck, 2025.
June 8, 2025 at 4:28 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
⏰Almost 2 weeks left to prepare your notice of intent!
Are you going to #IMC2025? We invite papers emerging from recent research collaborations across different disciplines, experiences, and geographic and cultural perspectives that will be presented at the conference. Find out more: t.ly/0MkKb
June 2, 2025 at 12:32 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
❗Reminder❗
Are you participating in #IMC2025? We invite papers emerging from recent research collaborations across different disciplines, experiences, and geographic and cultural perspectives that will be presented at the conference. Read more and send us your notice of intent by 15 June! t.ly/0MkKb
May 15, 2025 at 11:11 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
A new study by Weijia Zhou and Jun He examines how local agency in Southwest China has responded to booms and busts of walnut crops. The authors show how local knowledge, culture, and institutions have evolved to sustain local livelihoods and foster ecosystem conservation. t.ly/J0s_U
The sacred walnut tree and temple in Guangming Village meet local spiritual needs and have now also become one of the village’s tourist attractions. Photo by Weijia Zhou
May 12, 2025 at 9:54 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Invited by the Forum Landscape, Alps, Parks (FoLAP) @scnat.ch, the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps presents the 30-year history of the Alpine-wide ForumAlpinum conference series, highlighting its contributions to research cooperation and sustainable development: t.ly/TPgP-
Participants of ForumAlpinum 2024 “The Alps—a Refuge of Bio- and Geodiversity!?” in Kranjska Gora. Photo by Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention
May 8, 2025 at 3:40 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Our focus issue on woodland resurgence and sustainability in mountains is complete! Articles assess restoration projects in Peru and Nepal, forest structural complexity in Nepal, and the role of farm trees as cultural keystone species in Morocco. Read the issue: t.ly/DL_i8
#MountainsMatter
Cover of Mountain Research and Development, Vol 45, No 1. The cover photo shows a terraced landscape in the Moroccan High Atlas Mountains, with fields interspersed with various trees. More rugged, forested mountains are visible in the background. Caption: The roles of trees differ across landscapes. In Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains, farm trees are of great cultural importance to the local Amazigh communities. (Photo by Tobias Plieninger @plienigerlab.bsky.social)
May 2, 2025 at 7:29 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
In their remote sensing based assessment of a reforestation project in central Nepal that integrated local ecological knowledge, Teruyuki Takahashi and Takuya Soma show that it effectively improved forest health, supporting long-term regeneration. Read their article: t.ly/ZMl7Q
#MountainsMatter
Seedlings in a tree nursery established as part of the reforestation project assessed in this study. Photo by Takuya Soma
May 1, 2025 at 8:49 AM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
A new study by @cristimecotrail.bsky.social, @thartel.bsky.social, and coauthors evaluates trail running events in Romania’s mountain areas and proposes principles for increasing their sustainability through biodiversity protection and community engagement. Read the article: t.ly/WUgxg
Bear tracks along a running trail: the majority of Romania’s trail running events take place in wilderness areas with exceptional biodiversity. Photo by Cristian V. Maloș
April 22, 2025 at 3:31 PM
mrdjournal.bsky.social
Are you participating in #IMC2025? We invite papers emerging from recent research collaborations across different disciplines, experiences, and geographic and cultural perspectives that will be presented at the conference. Read more and submit your notice of intent by 15 June! t.ly/0MkKb
April 1, 2025 at 8:13 AM