Resources

Extreme Landscape: The Lure of Mountain Spaces

Developed in association with Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre, Extreme Landscape brings together the original work of 19 renowned writers, explorers, adventurers, and scientists who share a passion for, and a commitment to, the world’s extreme environments. Ranging in subject from the culture, spirituality, and psychology of extreme landscapes to their consumption and conservation, the diverse essays in this collection present a thoughtful and complete exploration of the enduring lure of mountains and their wild extremes.

Governance and Decision-Making in Mountain Areas

Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre in Banff, Alberta, Canada hosted the fifth conference in its Mountain Communities Conference Series -entitled Governance and Decision Making in Mountain Areas (GADMMA) - June 4 to 7, 2005. The conference explored the characteristics of effective governance in mountain areas, and how stakeholder and scientific knowledge could be better incorporated into the decision-making process.

Interdisciplinary Research and Management in Mountain Areas

Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre in Banff, Alberta, Canada hosted the fourth conference in its Mountain Communities Conference Series entitled Interdisciplinary Research and Management in Mountain Areas (IRMMA) in Sept 2004. The conference explored the characteristics of interdisciplinary management and research in mountain areas, and how mountain researchers could benefit more from one another's work.

Mountains as Water Towers

Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre hosted a Mountain Summit in November 2003 exploring the role of mountains as fresh water "towers". This international conference explored the subthemes of: integrated watershed management; who owns water and who profits from it; climate change impacts; conservation and restoration of mountain water ecosystems; and the 20-year horizon.

Sustainable Mountain Communities

Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre hosted the third conference in the Mountain Communities Conference Series - Sustainable Mountain Communities - June 14 - 18, 2003. This conference explored the issues of environmental sustainability that face communities when they are heavily impacted by tourism and amenity migration. The conference participants were municipal, regional, state, provincial and federal governments (elected representatives and staff); consulting firms; researchers; students; land managers; NGOs.

Ecological and Earth Sciences in Mountain Areas

Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre hosted the second conference in its Mountain Communities Conference Series in September 2006. Mountain areas comprise about one-fifth of the world’s land surface area and provide direct life support for about 10% of humankind, and indirect life support for many more. Mountain areas are globally important as ecological and hydrological refugia. Although highly valued for their intrinsic beauty and wilderness values, alpine species and habitats are neglected areas for research and management. This conference explored the state of ecological and earth science in mountains.

Human Use Management in Mountain Areas

The first conference in the Mountain Communities series - Human Use Management in Mountain Areas - explored the use of education and regulation to change human behaviour in mountain areas in order to enhance conservation.