The Belmont Forum has issued a call for funding of international collaborative research to enhance our understanding of mountain ecosystems, related ecosystem services, as well as dynamics linked to hazards, vulnerability, risks, adaptation and resilience.

Forum-sponsored research is expected to generate knowledge needed for action to mitigate and adapt to detrimental environmental change and extreme hazardous events.

According to the call, the mountain regions of the world have global societal relevance and it is necessary to quantify the ongoing and expected changes in mountain environments, with special emphasis on the water cycle, ecosystems and biodiversity. A global network of mountain research and monitoring stations needs to be developed in order to identify common problems as well as regional issues that should be addressed. It is also necessary to implement a modelling framework in order to develop climate, societal and environmental change scenarios specifically designed for mountain regions. This call therefore will fund research on climate, environmental, and related societal change in mountain regions, considering new measurements, recovery of existing data, and the development and use of integrated modelling strategies by adopting a strong trans- and inter-disciplinary approach.

International consortia applying for funding should consist of partners eligible for funding from at least three of the participating agencies (ANR, France; CNR-DTA, Italy; DFG, Germany; FAPESP, Brazil; NSFC, China; and NSF, USA). Consortia may also include partners from countries not participating in the call. Within each selected consortium, funding of the participating researchers will be provided by their respective national funding organizations according to their normal terms and conditions for project funding. Funding decisions will be made in early 2016. The total funding available for collaborative research projects through this call is approximately EUR 8 million. Pre-proposals are due 1 June 2015.

A research matching application is available to all researchers interested in the IOF Call. To register, basic information will be required including discipline, area of expertise, and a 1-2 sentence summary of topical interest within the IOF theme. This database is available now on this website and searchable for those interested in finding a collaborator with a certain background or within a specific topic area. All researchers should please consider registering for this service.

For more information, see: Belmont Forum Collaborative Research Action on “Mountains as Sentinels of Change”