Laying the foundations for research collaboration in the Caucasus There is a long history of scientific collaboration in the Caucasus region, but geopolitical shifts since the early ‘90s have led to changes in international relations. With countries in the region facing many common challenges, it’s important to build strong research partnerships and share expertise with practitioners, as Professor Jörg Balsiger explains The Caucasus experienced
dramatic geopolitical shifts following the fall of the Soviet Union, which also affected scientific infrastructures and research relationships in the region. While there is a long history of scientific collaboration in the region, this was mainly during the Soviet era, and since the early ‘90s international relationships have changed. “When the Soviet Union collapsed in the early ‘90s, three countries were created in the Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Because of these new countries’ ambition to assert their independence, their relations with Russia changed,” explains Professor Jörg Balsiger. Based at the University of Geneva, Professor Balsiger is the coordinator of a project aiming to support research collaboration in the Caucasus, working with scientific institutes across the region. “While the countries that are traditionally thought of as part of the Caucasus are the Russian Federation, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, we’re working at the level of the Caucasus ecoregion, which includes Iran and Turkey,” he says. This work is designed to support the Scientific Network for the Caucasus Mountain Region (SNC-mt), which was formed in the Georgian capital Tbilisi in the Spring of 2013. The network was established in recognition of the need for closer collaboration on transnational issues such as water management, cultural heritage conservation and socioeconomic development which affect the wider Caucasus region. This was reflected in the composition of the project. “We decided from the beginning that we wanted to focus
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on regional issues in the Caucasus, so we wanted to include the surrounding countries,” continues Professor Balsiger. A number of these countries didn’t have the resources required to maintain existing scientific infrastructure following the collapse of the Soviet Union, so in some cases universities and research laboratories went into decline, limiting the scope for scientific collaboration. The project aims to help address this by bringing together researchers from scientific institutions across the region to identify key issues and common challenges. “We aim to identify priority areas of research, to summarise the state of knowledge in the Caucasus. This would then become a tool to be used by scientists, to demonstrate to both potential funders and scientists elsewhere that they have a regional vision, that they do talk to each other,” says Professor Balsiger.
vulnerable to the impact of climate change than others. The topological complexity means that plant and animal species have less room to move,” explains Professor Balsiger. Supporting sustainable mountain development in the region is a key priority, taking into consideration not only the environmental perspective, but also the local economy. “If you come at it from a purely environmental perspective, you might say let people move away, then forests and animal populations can recover. But then you might not have the workforce and local knowledge necessary to maintain the cultural landscape,” points out Professor Balsiger. Research in this kind of area is by nature multi-disciplinary in scope, underlining the wider importance of close scientific collaboration. Professor Balsiger believes the project can have a significant impact in these terms. “The project helps
We aim to identify priority areas of research, to summarise the state of knowledge in the Caucasus. This would then become a tool to be used by scientists, to demonstrate to both potential funders and scientists elsewhere that they have a regional vision Caucasus region The region itself is extremely mountainous and is home to numerous rare plant and animal species, yet this diversity is under threat for two main reasons. One is the issue of rural poverty, which is leading younger people to move away from the area and intensifying pressure on resources, and the other is the impact of climate change. “Mountainous regions are known to be more
scientists to adapt to a changing world by improving organisational capacity with respect to ‘modern’ approaches to teaching, to research collaboration, to the enterprise of science itself and the position of science in society,” he says. One of the key activities within the project is the establishment of an online information and collaboration platform, which provides a basis for continued scientific
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