Turning climate change threats into opportunities

Mountain systems are gradually becoming more vulnerable to both globalization processes and climate change. The urgency to respond to these changes as well as recent disruptive events have highlighted the crucial role of mountains in steering the turn around, be it in the energy, water, food, tourism, or conservation sector. Current solutions are however often highly reactive and do not provide societally valued and needed qualities within the environmental and the social constraints of the complex systems. This keynote will present various principles to better integrate scientific knowledge in local place making to harness the expected changes and accelerate the implementation of socially acceptable solutions. An iterative loop between science and the design of new social-ecological-technical systems embedded in a civic discourse will help moderate the relationships between actions and values while creating co-benefits for people living in and outside mountain areas.