Colleagues from Caucasus and Carpathians started the series of webinars about the role of regional scientific networks in the Carpathians and Caucasus!

The Caucasus and Carpathian scientific networks signed an agreement this June, to collaborate on sustainable development of these unique and threatened mountain regions.

In both Carpathian and Caucasus regions scientific networks have been created, with the contribution to the regional sustainable development among their objectives:
• Science for the Carpathians (S4C) network has been established in 2008, connecting international researchers and those from the Carpathian countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Serbia, Ukraine)
• In 2014, representatives of the six Caucasus countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, the Russian Federation, and Turkey) formally created the Scientific Network for the Caucasus Mountain Region (SNC-mt). 

The event was moderated by Tamara Mitrofanenko, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU); United Nations Environment Programme, Vienna Programme Officer, Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention.

Joanna Zawiejska, Chair of the Science for the Carpathians (S4C) network, Institute of Geography, Pedagogical University, Kraków, Poland, and Nina Shatberashvili, Executive Director, Sustainable Caucasus, Coordination Unit of the Scientific Network for the Caucasus Mountain region (SNC-mt) made inputs about Carpathian and Caucasus scientific networks and regional and historical context with respect to the Caucasus and Carpathian universities collaborating with non-academic actors, and universities contributing to policy and practice. Inputs on the integration of Transdisciplinary Approaches in the Caucasus region was provided by Tigran Keryan, a postdoc researcher in the Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal.

Representatives of both networks provided the background and facilitated the discussions on the following questions: to what extent do universities located in these regions and the members of these networks play a role in sustainable development processes? What are the challenges and opportunities in this respect in the Carpathians and the Caucasus societies? How can regional scientific networks support a stronger role of scientists and enhance the co-creation of knowledge among science, non-academic actors, and policymakers in these regions?