News

Canadian Mountain Network funding announcement

08.05.2019

On 16 April 2019, the Networks of Centres of Excellence program announced that the Canadian Mountain Network (CMN) will receive $18.3 million in funding over five years (2019–2024).

With this new funding, CMN will act as a catalyst for improving Canada’s ability to identify and respond to changing conditions in its vast mountainous regions. Collaboration will be a key component of this initiative, with the aim of identifying critical research gaps and opportunities that link Canada’s inter-jurisdictional mountainous regions.

Comprising over a quarter of Canada’s landmass, mountainous regions are essential providers of ecosystem services, such as water, maintenance of biodiversity, recreation opportunities, and cultural and spiritual connection. However, local and global drivers of change are affecting these regions and downstream communities in ways that we do not currently have the capacity to observe, study, forecast, adapt to, or mitigate.

As a Network of Centres of Excellence, hosted by the University of Alberta, CMN’s vision is that all Canadians benefit from state-of-the-art research, tools, and training that embody multiple ways of knowing. The goal is for decision making and action to enhance the sustainability and well-being of our mountain places and peoples. Read a summary of CMN’s application to the NCE program here. The Network’s Leadership Team and Board of Directors are currently working to translate the application into a strategic plan and look forward to sharing more with CMN’s supporters and partners in the months ahead.

A key focus of the Network’s approach and activities is to support reconciliation through research by creating opportunities for collaboration. CMN’s research agenda will support projects based on partnerships across disciplines and sectors, including projects led by Indigenous communities and based on Indigenous research methodologies.

The Network is supported by dozens of diverse organizations across the country, including Indigenous organizations, municipalities, provincial and territorial governments, businesses, post-secondary institutions and not-for-profits.

In addition to its research program, the Network will support the development of a comprehensive mountain observations program, an innovative training program for the next generation of mountain researchers and professionals, and an effective knowledge mobilization program to support evidence-based decision making based on multiple ways of knowing.

The Network’s Leadership Team would like to acknowledge the committed support and effort of many individuals, organizations, and communities across Canada since 2016 to make this initiative a reality. In particular, we recognize the Faculty of Science at the University of Alberta for its leadership in supporting the development of the application, as well as its ongoing contributions. We also recognize the generous contributions of CMN’s other Sustaining Partners, which include the University of Calgary and the Government of Yukon.

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News by the Canadian Mountain Network

Photo by Jay D. Ives