Mountain Research and Development
The leading international scientific journal specifically devoted to sustainable development in the world’s mountains

Published by the International Mountain Society (IMS)

Mountain Research and Development Journal
Hybrid innovation—merging old and new technology—in a mountain product value chain in Hungary: a henhouse made of mud, wood, straw, and stones to keep the animals cool, warm, and safe, fitted with a solar-panel-driven door that closes automatically at sunset to keep foxes out. Photo by Gusztáv Nemes
Call for papers/Focus IssuePublished

Innovation Pathways to Sustainability in Mountains

How can innovation contribute to sustainability in mountains? Exploring this from different angles, the issue’s articles reflect the diversified nature, processes, and impacts of innovation in mountains.

A herder takes chauri (female yaks) to the designated pasture for day herding in Gatlang. Photo by Dipak Raj Rai

Yak Herding in Gatlang, Nepal: The Shift from Traditional to Market-Driven Practices

Market-driven yak herding is threatening traditional sustainable grazing practices. Policies must recognize and integrate these traditional practices to sustain mountain ecosystems.

This harvested cereal field is a site of agricultural innovation in Grisons, Switzerland: In one of the 455 value chains analyzed, a cooperative of organic cereal producers revived cereal production at high elevations up to 1600 masl by leveraging a diversity of cereal breeds, ancestral techniques, and modern standards. Photo by Emilia Schmitt

Understanding Innovation in European Mountain Product Value Chains: Empirical Typology, Patterns of Co-occurrence, and Policy Implications

Policy-relevant evidence suggests that innovation in mountain product value chains deserves a new typology and adapted metrics more representative of social and governance innovations.

Andean peatlands, or bofedales, such as the one in the community of Caripe in Sajama National Park—shown here with Sajama peak—provide vital pasture for llamas and alpacas. An article in this issue shows that community-based land tenure arrangements can support adaptive livelihoods among pastoralists by incentivizing labor migrants to return occasionally to their home communities to maintain land and animals according to customary practices. Photo by Tom Perreault
Open IssuePublished

Open Issue

Read about adaptive pastoralist livelihoods in the Andes, interface areas in the European Alps, trail running sustainability in Romania, off-piste skiing and climate change in France, and more.

Panoramic view of an Alpine interface area, taken from above Garmisch-Partenkirchen, looking towards Munich. Photo by Elias Günther

Interface Areas in the European Alps: Defining Functional Regions Between Mountains and Lowlands

This article defines and analyzes the spatial and functional characteristics of Alpine interface areas—a new spatial category for Alpine spatial development.

Meet MRD’s associate editors at IMC25

Heading to the International Mountain Conference 2025 in Innsbruck? MRD is cohosting three sessions designed to support mountain researchers and development practitioners.

Urbanization, mountain entrepreneurs, and more

Articles examine rural–urban change in Peru, cultural ecosystem services in Armenia, rural development in Georgia, and governance for sustainable development in the European Alps.