S4C Science for the Carpathians 2015 Fall Quarterly Newsflash

The fall season is a busy time marked by meetings, international conferences and scientific gatherings. This year, some of us had the occasion to take part in one of the biggest mountain-related conferences in the world - Perth III - Mountains of our Future Earth. Topics on the Carpathians were well represented on the agenda (see The Network section). Thanks to the foresight of the organizers, the conclusions from each session were summarized and made available in a user-friendly form. This is something that, regardless of the content, is important to reinforce the key points and a take home message for every person attending a scientific event. For those of you that were unable to attend, please review and take advantage of the material presented.
Next year, it will be the S4C community that will be quite busy preparing for and hosting Forum Carpaticum 2016 planned for the fall in Bucharest (for detail see Events section).

The Network

The Carpathians at Perth III – Mountains of our Future Earth
More than 400 scientists, practitioners and students took part in Perth III - Mountains of our Future Earth conference, organized by the University of Highlands and Islands of Perth College on the 4-8 October in Perth, Scotland. The Carpathians were also well represented there, both in oral presentation sessions as well as posters. Although, the extended abstracts are not yet available online, each session was summarized in the form of blog post published at https://perthmountains2015.wordpress.com/ . The list of Carpathian related contributions can be found at our LinkedIn Group.

Forum Carpaticum 2016 “Future of the Carpathians: Smart, Sustainable, Inclusive”
“Future of the Carpathians: Smart, Sustainable, Inclusive”, will be the title of the next Forum Carpaticum, in September 2016 in Bucharest. The format of the bi-annual conference will be similar to previous events. The details of the conference are pending but will be announced shortly on www.forumcarpatcium.org and www.carpathisnscence.org.

The Carpathians on MRI blog - Wisent on the rebound?
The Carpathians are visible among other mountain areas of the world through the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) blog posts. The aim of the blog it to present mountain-related issues in short format and simple posts. The latest post by Elżbieta Ziółkowska presents the topic of wisent or European bison (Bison bonasus) in the Carpathians. If you are interested in presenting your research or discussing an interested Carpathian-related issue in this manner, please contact Dominik Kaim – dkaim@gis.geo.uj.edu.pl .

Cooperation towards evidence-based decision making in nature conservation, environmental management, regional & spatial planning - examples from Slovakia
Researchers working in Comenius University, Bratislava are taking part in a wide range of initiatives focused on supporting decision making towards more sustainable solutions incl. infrastructure on Natura 2000 sites, water policy etc. For more info please contact Jano Topercer, Comenius University, Bratislava.

Karpacka Rada Naukowa (Carpathian Scientific Board)
Karpacka Rada Naukowa (Carpathian Scientific Board) was established as one of the initiatives of the "Carpathians Unite – mechanism of consultation and cooperation for implementation of the Carpathian Convention" project. The aims of the Board are focused on fostering cooperation among scientisits and stakeholders towards sustainable mountain development in the Polish Carpathians.
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Research Agenda for the Carpathians 2015-2020 - feedback needed
The New Research Agenda for the Carpathians 2015-2020 is being developed by the S4C network. The aim of the agenda is to define the research priorities for the region over the next five years. The authors of draft chapters are soliciting input and welcome comments on the current status of these documents. Please feel free to choose the chapter with the topic you are familiar with and add your comments, propose changes and improvements. The list of the chapters will be developed in the following weeks.
All the documents can be commented by:

Urban climate in Central European cities and global climate change

Urban areas are among those areas most endangered with the potential of global climate change. The studies concerning the impact of global changes on local climate of cities are of a high significance for the health and wellbeing of urban inhabitants. The project aims to raise the public awareness on those issues in four Central European cities: Szeged (Hungary), Brno (the Czech Republic), Bratislava (Slovakia) and Krakow (Poland), by delivering the results of contemporary scientific research to the decision makers, local authorities and all interested parties. Due to political and economic conditions, the urban areas in Central Europe developed differently than in Western Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War. Therefore, the urban structure is also different and the urban climate studies must include those specific features. Within the project, complex data concerning local geomorphological features, land use and long-term climatological data will be used to perform the climate modelling analyses using the model MUKLIMO_3 provided by the German (DWD) and Austrian (ZAMG) weather services. Brno, Bratislava and Krakow, Poland are located in river valleys with complex relief features, while Szeged, Hungary is located on a plain with little topographic relief. The modelling approach is designed to evaluate possible changes in urban heat load under future climate conditions. The MUKLIMO_3 model is able to include the role of the relief in controlling the urban climate which is a unique feature compared to other similar tools available.

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Forum Carpaticum 2016 “Future of the Carpathians: Smart, Sustainable, Inclusive”
28-30 September 2016, Bucharest, ROMANIA
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Mountains 2016 – X European Mountain Convention
3-7 October 2016, Bragança, PORTUGAL
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Munteanu C., Kuemmerle T., Keuler N.S., Müller D., Balázs P., Dobosz M., Griffiths P., Halada L., Kaim D., Király G., Konkoly-Gyuró E., Kozak J., Lieskovsky J., Ostafin K., Ostapowicz K., Shandra O., Radeloff V.C., 2015, Legacies of 19th century land use shape contemporary forest cover, Global Environmental Change 34, 83-94.

Kolecka N., Kozak J., Kaim D., Dobosz M., Ginzler C., Psomas A., 2015, Mapping Secondary Forest Succession on Abandoned Agricultural Land with LiDAR Point Clouds and Terrestrial Photography, Remote Sensing 7(7), 8300-8322.

Hobi, M. L., Ginzler, C., Commarmot, B., & Bugmann, H. 2015. Gap pattern of the largest primeval beech forest of Europe revealed by remote sensing. Ecosphere 76, 1-15.

Dąbrowska K., Guzik M., (eds.), 2015, Atlas of the Tatra Mountains, Abiotic Nature, Tatra National Park, Zakopane.

Innovation in Rural Tourism - Cases from European Mountain Communities - Final Project Publication

Innovation in Rural Tourism - Transferability Manual

Intergenerational Learning and Innovation for Sustainable Development - Big Foot Final Conference Proceedings

Big Foot. Crossing Generations, Crossing Mountains - Transferability Tool Kit

The oldest stone wall in Poland found in the Polish Carpathians

The oldest example of a stone wall structure in the history of construction on Polish lands - more than two and a half thousand years older than Romanesque architecture - has been discovered by archaeologists from Kraków on Zyndram’s Hill in Maszkowice in the Polish Carpathians.
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Carpathian Photography gallery

We present the photos in the Newsflash by courtesy of Kuba Wierzchowski, photographer extraordinaire interested in highlighting the beauty and diversity of the Carpathians. The photography in the header was taken from Gorc, the Polish Carpathians on the Tatra Mountains. The photography below was taken in Súľovské skaly, Slovakia. His gallery presenting high-quality photographs from many Carpathian countries can be found at http://www.kubawierzchowski.pl/

Science for the Carpathians Newsflash

Highlights