Livelihoods of communities living both in mountain areas and in neighboring lowland regions rely on healthy mountain ecosystems, which provide ecosystems services including (but not limited to) freshwater, protection from hazards, food production, and recreational activities.

The GLOMOS team is advancing research towards a sustainable management of these ecosystems, with a special focus on mountain catchments. This is also done recognizing the role that nature-based solutions play for sustainable development of these areas.

Among the topics addressed by this research field are:

• Analysis of natural hazard processes and related impacts on societies and livelihoods in mountainous environments.
• Improvement of integrated water management approaches in mountains, considering highland-lowland interactions.
• Investigation of land-use dynamics and land degradation processes in mountain social-ecological systems.