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Hitting the heights in mountain research
Scotland's high peaks are rated some of the most dramatic in the world and Scotland's mountain researchers are winning global attention for their discoveries.
Scotland's mountains and glens are awe inspiring, but the country is now forging a global reputation in how these wonders of geography continue to thrive.
This year, the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) in Perth hosts the most important international summit on mountain development anywhere in the world.
The conference, entitled: 'Global Change and the World's Mountains', takes place at UHI's Centre of Mountain Studies the first purpose-built hub of its kind and now a centre of excellence with growing influence wherever upland ranges are found.
The world's most prominent mountain researchers will travel to Perthshire to probe the issues facing Europe's high altitude environments, the people who depend on them, and their sometimes fragile, economies.
It will also set an agenda for 2012 when the UN Commission for Sustainable Development re-focuses its attention on the world's upland regions.
From Scotland to the Himalayas
Organiser of the event is Professor Martin Price, a self-confessed mountain lover, whose research work has taken him to high regions of North America, Europe, Canada and Siberia.
Centre Director and architect of a ground-breaking MSc Course, the programme he is delivering to postgraduate students at UHI is the only online qualification of its nature in the UK, and one of the very first in the world.
Delivered across Europe, it is now being adapted so scholars at Universities in the Andes and Himalayas can access it.
"The conference here in September will be THE big mountain research conference globally," he says. "We will also use the final day to bring the key people in global research together to look at talking points and future issues with regard to 2012."
International Recognition
Professor Price moved north from Oxford to establish UHI's frontier course in 1999. He was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the UN Panel on Climate Change. He is also the holder of the first UNESCO Chair in Scotland, the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Mountain Development, based at the Centre in Perth.
It is not surprising Scotland should lure an academic of Prices standing. With mountains covering around 70 per cent of the land surface in this country, it is the perfect base for progressive research and field work.
Already, UHI has undertaken the most comprehensive survey of Scotland's upland regions, helping policy makers take informed decisions on the future of Scotland's mountainous areas.
The first study of its kind into Sustainable 21st Century Scottish estates will soon be published. However, it is its work in international fields which is stretching boundaries and boosting Scotland's reputation.
Taking the Lead in Europe
The Centre for Mountain Studies is currently leading and managing a 2.4 million euro international project on how Northern communities adapt to climate change.
Researchers from Norway, Sweden, Greenland and Finland will be guided from Scotland on the Clim-ATIC programme. This far-reaching work examines ways in which potentially vulnerable communities can minimise the negative impacts of changing climate patterns.
The final information service will be delivered in collaboration with the University of the Arctic, an existing network of 109 Universities and colleges across the Arctic region.
Partners in High Places
"The UHI was actually the biggest Millennium Project in Scotland. When I came here, it was initially myself and a part-time administrator but it has grown a great deal since then," says Price, who rates Ben Vrackie, near Pitlochry, one of his favourite Scottish climbs.
"Having our students influencing mountain policy across Europe in the future is the ultimate goal. Most of our students are from the UK and half are from Scotland. However, we now have two European students in particular who could influence events on mountains in Europe.
"Sustainable Mountain Development is about how we can make mountains good places for people to work and live, long term. It is about the environment but also the people.
"Through the UNESCO chair, we are looking at how we can develop the Masters degree we deliver in Europe, but put it into a context to help people do something similar in their mountain situations, in places like Nepal and India, for example.
It is about international exchange and cooperation."
Scotland is not only one of the best places to enjoy stunning mountains, it is also one of the leading places to study them with the help of some of the best mountain brains in the world.
UHIs top five research areas in Managing Sustainable Mountain Development.
- Clim-ATIC (climate change adaptation)
- Integrated Assessments of Europes Mountains
- Sustainable Estates For The 21st Century
- Mountain Sustainability: Transforming Research Into Practise for European Commission
- Wild Land and Biosphere Reserves studies
Scotland's Ten Highest Mountains:
- Ben Nevis (Lochaber) 1344 metres
- Ben Macdui (Cairngorms) 1309 metres
- Braeriach (Moray/Aberdeenshire) 1296 metres
- Cairn Toul (Moray/Aberdeenshire) 1291 metres
- Sgor an Lochain Uaine (Moray/Aberdeenshire) 1258 metres
- Cairn Gorm (Cairngorms) 1244 metres
- Aonach Beag (Lochaber) 1234 metres
- Carn Mor Dearg (Lochaber) 1223 metres
- Aonach Mor (Lochaber) 1221 metres
- Ben Lawers (Perthshire) 1214 metres
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