S4C Science for Carpathians: Research Agenda for the Carpathians 2010 - 2015

This document is the result of policy- and science driven activities stimulated through the growing recognition of the global importance of mountains. The interplay between those activities, in particular the development of the Carpathian Convention facilitated by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), together with the emergence of mountain research networks in Europe enabled the Carpathian science community to take shape. In May 2008, the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management (IG&SM) of the Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, together with Mountain Research Initiative (MRI), European Academy in Bolzano, Italy and UNEP organized a conference inviting scientists from the Carpathian region to discuss the status of research and future needs. On this occasion, the launch of the ‘Science for the Carpathians’ (S4C) initiative set the fi rst milestone for the development of the present Research Agenda for the Carpathians (Ostapowicz and Sitko 2009).