SEE More

Mission

The SEEmore network has been launched in April 2009 in Borovets, Bulgaria. It is the response to a growing need to better integrate global change research and to further problem-oriented and demand-driven approaches in the mountain regions of the Balkan Peninsula and Turkey. The 'Strategy Development and Networking Conference' in Timisoara, Romania (2010) identified twenty-one priority topics for future research activities within five themes with high relevance to the region: Tourism, Institutions, Mining, Climate Change Adaptation and Paleoscience (SEEmore Research Topics). Paleoscience was addressed by a thematic workshop on 'CC in the Carpathian-Balkan Region during the late Pleistocene and Holocene' in 2011 (Suceava, Romania).

In 2011, the network connects almost 400 researchers working in mountain regions of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey.

Objectives

• Develop a joint Research Strategy based on the specific needs of the Balkan region

• Promote new research partnerships and the development of international project proposals

• Facilitate the development of peer-reviewed papers and synthesis articles

• Contribute to capacity building by creating exchange opportunities and providing a review support for proposals and publications

• Foster sustainable development and conservation in the Balkan mountains.

Tools 

• SEEmore supports the organization of international conferences targeting at interdisciplinary themes relevant to the sustainable development of the region 

• The SEEmore website, the SEEmore Newsflash  and the MRI Newsletteprovide access to SEEmore network members and to 7'000 global change scientists around the world: resources.

• The MRI expert database  stores comprehensive information on the scientific activities of individuals. The SEEmore Who's who List (LINK) is a search tool for project partners interested in international research collaboration.

History

Three factors led to the launch of the SEEmore network: the wish to support the process for the development of a Balkan Convention; the insight that mountain research in the Balkans needs a joint vision; and the encouraging example of the northern neighbors, namely the ‘Science for the Carpathians’ initiative (LINK), demonstrating how effectively a joint initiative can steer mountain research towards concerted actions. The SEEmore network was launched to steer research in the Balkans to foster mountain development in the region. 

Departure point was the 1st SEEmore Conference on 'Identifying the Research Base for a Sustainable Development of the Mountain Regions of Southeastern Europe' (April 2009 Borovets, Bulgaria  organized by Institute of Geography, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Austrian Science and Research Liaison Office (Ljubljana and Sofia). The 54 participants agreed to launch a new mountain science network for the Balkan region. The Borovets Declaration  highlights the specificacies of the mountains of South Eastern European and elaborates on topics that emerged from the conference. In particular, the participants declare to develop the SEEmore network to advance research in the field of Global Change to support sustainable development in the region; and to formulate recommendations to the national and international institutions and organizations for initiating the development of a Balkan Convention, based on the experience of Alpine and Carpathian conventions. A refined survey of priority topics  http://mri.scnatweb.ch/download-document?gid=376) was conducted after the event. Workshop presentations were recorded (webcast LINK) and compiled in an edited book 'Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions - Southeastern Europe' (Zhelezov ed. 2011 LINK).

The 2nd SEEmore Conference  organized by Prof. Constatin Vert, Department of Geography at West University, Timisoara, Romania, aimed at the identification of research capacity in the region and at making use of untapped resources both for the advance of mountain science in Southeastern Europe and the inclusion of Balkan researchers in the European research area. By generating several future-directed working documents the conference achieved an important milestone towards sustainable mountain development in Southeastern Europe. At this stage of network development, gaining knowledge on 'Who-is-who' was central. For this reason, a 'Catalogue of Research Summaries'  was prepared to make the available human resources visible. Based on a spreadsheet with the various themes and sub-themes from the GLOCHAMORE Research Strategy, with additions from the first SEEmore meeting in Borovets, the participants of the Timisoara meeting identified priority topics for the Balkans (LINK). Reflecting the regions economic underdevelopment, topics such as poverty, depopulation of rural areas, migration and urbanization processes, the closure of mines, new means for income generation, environmental pollution and land use and cover changes, mainly land abandonment, are most prominent. Like in most mountain regions, hazards including floods, wildland fires, mass movements and avalanches are important. Research in the Balkans has, more distinctly than in Western Europe, a felt obligation to contribute directly to regional development.

The SEEmore Roadmap (LINK) listed concrete activities in the field of communication, institutional development, events and project development foreseen for the next two years.

In November 2010, the Balkans in Global Earth Observation Project (BalkanGEOnet) started with a kick-off meeting in Novi Sad, Serbia, where Dr. Björnsen represented SEEmore as a member of the Advisory Board. Under the leadership of Dr. Vladimir Crnojevic, Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 16 partners from 13 countries and a few members of the advisory board launched the FP7 project, which aims at the inclusion of the Balkan countries into global earth observation initiatives.

In May 2011, Dr. Mariyana Nikolova organized a Bulgarian SEEmore workshop 'Sustainable Development of Mountain Regions: Science and Practice' at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia. The national workshop informed representatives from scientific and governmental institutions of current mountain research priorities and challenges in Europe and Bulgaria. The 32 participants welcomed the dialogue between science and governmental institutions and recommended organizing such meetings on a regular basis. They encouraged the wider dissemination of research results to local authorities and the government.

Paleoscience was identified as a key thematic field during the 2nd SEEmore Conference in Timisoara. As a consequence, Prof. Marcel Mindrescu, University of Suceava, organized the workshop 'Climate Change in the Carpathian-Balkan Region during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene' hosted by the Department of Geography, University of Suceava, Romania, 9-12 June 2011 (LINK). Aiming at discussion and promotion of opportunities for collaboration on topics such as glaciations, palaeolimnology, historical vegetation, speleothemes, dendrochronology, geoarcheology, palaeorivers and paleosoils in the Carpathian-Balkan region, the workshop was sponsored by the Past Global Changes (PAGES) Office and MRI.

The 3rd SEEmore Conference organized by Prof. Mehmet Somuncu will take place 5-6 July 2012 at the Faculty of Languages, History, and Geography, Ankara University, Ankara. This SEEMore event goes beyond the network’s original delineation, as it includes mountains systems of the Caucasus, Iran, Levant, Middle East and Israel. The conference is also an expansion in terms of expertise. Apart from Global Change researchers, it invites representatives from practice to enter the dialogue with the research community, ultimately aiming at making mountain research problem- and user oriented. As such, it aims at expanding and strengthening Global Change research in mountains of Southeastern Europe, Turkey and neighboring countries; Supporting the dialogue between representative from mountain research and practice; and capitalizing and providing access to scientific knowledge and experiences on mountain research and development in the region.

Read more:

Björnsen Gurung A. (2010). Tapping resources in the Balkans: South Eastern European Mountain Research Network (SEEmore) Conference, Timisoara, Romania, 26-29 August 2010. Meeting Report. MRI Newsletter 5: 35-37. 

Gyuris Peter (2011). The BalkanGEOnetProject. MRI Newsletter 6:20-21. 

Zhelezov G. ed. (2011). Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions - Southeastern Europe. Springer Dordrecht, 291pp. DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0131-1  (see also book cover icon attached) (LINK)

Funding

SEEmore is a joint effort of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research.

Contact

Dr. Astrid Björnsen Gurung, MRI Europe, University of Berne, Switzerland +41 (0)31 631 51 41; astrid.bjoernsen@giub.unibe.ch

Prof. Mariyana Nikolova, Regional SEEmore Contact Point, Director Department of Geography, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences +35 92 973 3684; mn@bas.bg