The project Transdisciplinarity for Sustainable Tourism Development in the Caucasus Region (CaucaSusT) initiated the integration of transdisciplinary approaches into partner universities in Armenia and Georgia. The aim was to develop cooperation between academics and nonacademic stakeholders from rural communities in the Caucasus mountain region. This paper uses the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) framework for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) beyond 2019 to reflect on the CaucaSusT project process and outcomes. We carried out qualitative research based on document analysis, individual interviews, and focus group discussions with participating students, teachers, and local stakeholders. The results are presented and discussed according to their relevance to the ESD framework's 5 priority areas. We conclude that the CaucaSusT project was successful in contributing to the priority areas of education and training, educators, and youth, but it contributed less to the priority areas of policy and communities within the short project lifetime. We found the UNESCO ESD framework was a useful tool for evaluating the project. Based on our analysis, we provide recommendations for successful ESD project design and implementation in the Caucasus mountain region.

In recent decades, research on mountains has become more inter- and transdisciplinary, but a greater effort is needed if such research is to contribute to a societal transformation toward sustainability. Mountain research centers are a crucial actor in this endeavor. Yet, the literature has not paid sufficient attention to how these centers should (re-)design inter- and transdisciplinary research. In this study, we explored this question with a self-reflexive approach. We analyzed the first 15 months of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mountain Research (CIRM) of the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) through qualitative data collected via interviews and observation. We used a simple model of inter- and transdisciplinarity at the organizational level of a research center. Special attention was devoted to the individual and collective ability to exploit the unexpected (serendipity). Our results indicate an interdependency between the coconstruction of research objects and the creation of integrative partnerships. They also shed light on the types of institutional resources and integrative methodologies that enhance inter- and transdisciplinary research, as well as their challenges. Our experience shows that implementing inter- and transdisciplinarity requires deep changes in research evaluation procedures, research funding policies, and researchers themselves. Serendipity is in turn shown to play an important role in inter- and transdisciplinarity due to its potential to change the research process in creative ways. We speculate that serendipity offers unique opportunities to capitalize on hidden resources that can catalyze a radical transformation of mountain researchers, research organizations, and society in the face of unprecedented global change.

Since 2004, the University of the Highlands and Islands, in Scotland, has delivered an online MSc in sustainable mountain development (SMD). Students have the choice of exiting from the course with an MSc, a postgraduate diploma, or a postgraduate certificate. This paper first describes the history and delivery of the course, complemented with statistics on past and current students. This is followed by a presentation, analysis, and discussion of the results of an email survey of the 62 people who have gained a qualification from the course and could be contacted, achieving a response rate of 81%. The survey gathered information about each individual's motivations for taking the degree; benefits perceived with regard to its online nature; subsequent education; current location and employment; and ways in which the course had enabled them to contribute to SMD. Many quotations from graduates are presented, in response to previous findings that it has been difficult to evaluate long-term impacts of education for sustainable development. The paper concludes with some lessons learned from 15 years of experience.

Target 4.7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aims to ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including through education for sustainable development. To implement this, students at Utah Valley University (UVU) advocate for sustainable mountain development (SMD) in Utah and elsewhere through a student engaged learning (SEL) model. SEL encourages students to solve real-world problems as a group, with a faculty member serving as a mentor. This paper discusses the implementation of a semester-based SEL initiative to observe International Mountain Day (IMD) and analyzes its outcomes. Utah International Mountain Forum, a coalition of student clubs at UVU, is an extracurricular part of the university's SEL model that involves students, especially nontraditional or adult learners, in SMD activities beyond a single semester. Adult students enhance or change their careers while taking care of families. They have diverse experiences, maturity, and responsibilities. To overcome adult students' reluctance or inability to engage in club activities, the model provides incentives, such as flexible activity schedules, integration of their experience into group efforts, and recognition at the United Nations level. Through the curricular programs, mentors build stronger ties with adult students and encourage them to join Utah International Mountain Forum. Since 2010, students have been encouraged to contribute experience and initiatives, solicit funds, and gain recognition for SMD advocacy as part of IMD at UVU. Our assessment shows that students learn how to tie their own experiences to SMD, implement initiatives collaboratively, build partnerships on different levels, and then use accumulated knowledge for engagement in SMD activities beyond the semester. Thus, UVU's model of observing IMD could serve as another important United Nations experiential learning initiative.

Andean pastoralism, like other pastoral systems around the world, is under stress due to climate change, land tenure regimes, pressures to become sedentary, difficulties in interacting with market-based economies, isolation, and youth emigration. Over the years, we have proposed different environmental education (EE) strategies targeting local Andean stakeholders and university students, including interventions in primary schools. This paper presents the results of 4 EE interventions focusing on mountain environments, their biodiversity, environmental calendars, and llama caravans. School children participated creatively in this process by writing poems, drawing, and playing. The resulting work showed sensitivity, experiential knowledge, and a comprehensive vision of the environment. Most of the artworks were printed and disseminated in the children's local communities, where they are highly appreciated. We recognize that the usefulness of EE is constrained by social and economic pressures, including extractive activities. However, we also underscore its huge potential to guarantee sustainability during the inevitable process of change in traditional Andean pastoralism.

This article provides insights from a survey of education programs for sustainable mountain development (ESMD) and comments on the findings from the perspective of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's.(UNESCO) Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) for 2030 framework. Twenty-eight programs implemented by universities, research institutes, and nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are analyzed in terms of program structure, curriculum, and student needs and trajectories. Three-quarters of the programs are based in Europe and North America, the remainder in Central and East Asia and Australia. The programs fall into 6 categories, ranging from traditional university courses to summer schools, university collaborations, distance education, NPO-run skills-focused schools, and research facilities or observatories. Curriculum development toward ESMD has seen considerable progress, even if single-discipline and single-topic programs continue to be widespread. It has embraced fieldwork to offer learners hands-on experience and, increasingly, to work with local stakeholders in problem-oriented settings. Key elements of the ESD for 2030 framework are found, including concern for transformative learning and critical reflection on the structural causes of unsustainability. However, further research is needed to explore less visible aspects such as nonformal and informal education. Policy advocacy and institutional networking are required to scale up innovative approaches.

This article investigates the emergence of female education and its social impacts in a remote and male-dominated mountain community through a case study of Nagar District in northern Pakistan. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 24 women from different educational backgrounds and 15 selected male informants, the study reveals a notable increase in educational opportunities for girls and young women within a relatively short time span, and shows how these changes have affected local perceptions of women's social roles. While there are mixed opinions about the usefulness of education for girls—some find that educated women are better housewives and mothers, while others highlight career opportunities for women—female education has clearly contributed to an increase in self-determination of women. Young women now marry later and have fewer children, parents give their daughters more freedom, and education has contributed to an increase in female mobility and to a more confident and visible role of women in community life. While other aspects of social change also play critical roles, this study shows that female education is one important element in the development of a more equitable society in mountains and elsewhere.

Swiss regional nature parks are intended to be model regions for sustainable regional development in rural areas. It is often claimed that achieving sustainable development requires a transformation. One approach whereby parks could foster this is through transformative learning (TL). This article discusses attachment development (AD) of local people to a park from the perspective of TL. AD and TL have many similarities, and a transformation can be achieved through AD. Furthermore, TL theory offers a theoretical concept for explaining characteristics of AD. Several essential aspects have to be secured: an initial “emptiness” is needed as a “disorienting dilemma” to start the process. Further, there must be enough time and openness for processes and results. If these aspects are given, AD not only enables a transformation, but also increases the park's success.

The Carpathian Convention is a multilateral environmental agreement focused on nature conservation and sustainable development of the Carpathian Mountain region; its articles cover various thematic and cross-sectional areas. Article 13 of the convention outlines provisions for awareness raising, education, and public participation and is central to integrating education for sustainable development (ESD) into the convention documents and activities. We have been involved in ESD-related processes of the convention since 2007, in line with ESD-related guidance provided by the United Nations, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the recently adopted ESD for 2030 framework of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which highlights the importance of implementing ESD. In this paper, we reflect on the participatory ESD-related processes of the convention and provide recommendations for further integration of ESD. Our study is based on a review of the convention documents and the results of participatory workshops conducted in 2018–2019. We conclude that interest in ESD is evident among numerous convention actors and stakeholders. We recommend (1) establishing a convention working group or network of experts focused on education and awareness raising and (2) facilitating stronger support for ESD by the convention presidency.

Montology, the transdisciplinary science of mountains, applied to education incorporates several pedagogical approaches that could be used to energize the transformative change from sustainable to regenerative development from different perspectives. We include pedagogies with learning outcomes that apply 9 different educational methodologies, and we revisit them in the context of montology to focus on integrative, holistic mountainscapes as subjects of scholastic and nonscholastic educational initiatives. We discuss how these pedagogies must engage different stakeholders, including students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines. We conclude that the future of mountain education relies on incorporating the new narrative of regenerative development, not only sustainable development, for the convergent science of mountain teaching and learning to be effective. This paper encourages educators to change paradigms to address the future agenda for education about mountains.

Mountains host about half of the world's biodiversity terrestrial hotspots (Spehn et al 2010) and 30% of all Key Biodiversity Areas (UNEP et al 2020). Mountain biodiversity provides many goods and services to humankind, including food, medicine, and climate and air quality regulation. Yet land use and climate change, overexploitation, invasive species, pollution, and demographic changes are putting mountain biodiversity under pressure. The sustainable management of mountain biodiversity has been recognized as a global priority, and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 Target 4 is dedicated to its conservation. The Mountain Partnership Secretariat has supported the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in the development of the indicator for the mountain target 15.4.2, the Mountain Green Cover Index (FAO nd b), to monitor progress toward the target's achievement. Biodiversity in all ecosystems is in focus in many United Nations (UN) fora, as 2021–2030 is the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and governments are preparing to negotiate the post-2020 global biodiversity framework for adoption in 2021 at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP 15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). To raise awareness of the relevance of mountain biodiversity, it has been chosen as this year's International Mountain Day theme. The Mountain Partnership (MP) at FAO, the only UN alliance dedicated to mountain ecosystems and communities, leads global observance of this UN day.

Population growth, climate change, and unsustainable natural resource management are putting pressure on mountain ecosystems and making mountain communities increasingly vulnerable to climate and disaster risks. The international academic community is committed to finding solutions to the challenges faced in mountain regions. Governments, too, have been developing adaptation plans and policies to improve living conditions and opportunities for mountain communities. However, ensuring that these efforts have a strong impact requires coordinated action between theory and practice. Global Mountain Safeguard Research (GLOMOS) seeks to respond to this need with its mission to turn science into action.