GEO Mountains Workshop: Interdisciplinary Monitoring, Data, and Capacity Sharing across East Africa

The workshop was part of a series of regional engagements undertaken in 2023-24 by the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) in its role co-leading the Global Network on Observation and Information in Mountain Environments (GEO Mountains) under the Adaptation at Altitude programme (A@A). The workshop in East Africa took place on Friday 27 October 2023, and was convened by multiple partner organisations that included the Albertine Rift Conservation Society (ARCOS), the University of York (UK), and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The workshop was hosted by the Center of Excellence in Biodiversity & Natural Resource Management at the University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda. The workshop coincided with the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Open Science Conference 2023 which was also held at the same the venue and was designated as an official side event of the conference programme.
The workshop sought to bring together data providers and users from a range of disciplines whose work centres on mountains across the East Africa region. More specifically, through a series of short, invited presentation and group discussion activities, the workshop sought to:
1. Establish the current status of monitoring and associated data availability from multiple disciplines and countries / sub-regions, including the identification of best practices;
2. Explore opportunities to enhance capacity sharing in relation to mountain monitoring and associated data availability;
3. Identify potentially high-impact projects that could be conducted collaboratively by integrating observations from different disciplines, sub-regions, and methods represented by the participants, and;
4. Provide opportunities to network and establish personal connections and specific collaborations.
This report presents the workshop proceedings and summarises the key points, outcomes, and recommendations that arose from the discussions.