On the 26 November 2024, 32 participants from around the world joined the second GEO Mountains General Meeting of 2024 virtually. Opening with words of welcome and introduction were given by the Initiative’s Co-Leads.
As her responsibilities as Professor at the University of Turin continue to grow, it was announced that Elisa Palazzi will step down as a co-lead. We are extremely grateful for the guidance and support that Elisa has given GEO Mountains over recent years, and are delighted that she will continue to participate on a technical level. We are equally delighted to announce that Dr. Antonello Provenzale, Director of Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), will be CNR’s new Co-Lead. Since Antonello played a key role in the original formation of GEO Mountains, we know that we are in very good hands!
MRI Executive Director and GEO Mountains Co-Lead Dr. Carolina Adler then presented an update regarding the status of GEO Mountains’ proposal for inclusion in the post-2025 GEO Work Programme. The presentation emphasised the new structure that the Work Programme will take, the associated timelines, and the process that will be followed with Core Partners to elaborate GEO Mountains’ full proposal in 2025.
GEO Mountains’ Senior Scientific Project Officer Dr. James Thornton and Scientific Project Officer Ms. Alex Massot then summarised various recent, ongoing, and forthcoming GEO Mountains activities, including (but not limited to) an announcement of the recipients of the Small Grants 2024–25, progress on the UHOP initiative, and plans to enhance our inventories through one of the GEO Mountains Task Groups. Updates were also provided by GEO Mountains’ representatives in each of GEO’s Working Groups. For example, a policy brief on the UN’s Early Warmings for All (EW4A) initiative, produced in collaboration with the Climate Change Working Group for the recent COP29, was highlighted. In the Data Working Group, a GEO strategy for in situ data is being developed, and various tools that could help with various stages in the data lifecycle are being promoted (e.g. Libinsitu and OPIDoR).
The second half of the meeting included two updates. First, Dr. Claudia Notarnicola (Eurac Research, Italy) gave an overview of her recent research and associated open-access dataset which provides insights into global changes in snow phenology over the last two decades.
Ms. Alba Brobia (CREAF, Spain) then introduced G-reqs, a GEO-oriented tool thatenables the requirements of different communities for in situ data to be systematically collected. GEO Mountains Members interested in participating in a dedicated G-reqs session to discuss and document their specific requirements and needs are cordially invited to register using this form by 6 December (affiliation to GEO Mountains should be indicated in #5).
The General Meeting concluded with a focus on events in 2025 which GEO Mountains will contribute to. For example, it was mentioned that more information on the IYGP2025 conference in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in May 2025 is expected to be posted here shortly.
We look forward to meeting many GEO Mountains Members in person at these events, and working closely together in all other aspects to further the contributions that diverse mountain data and information can make to science, policy, and practice.
Cover photo by Photo by Marina Lisova on Unsplash.
