The idea for Mountains: Sources of Water, Sources of Knowledge began with the constitution of the Association Montagne 2002, whose mission was to celebrate the International Year of Mountains in the alpine canton of Valais, Switzerland. The year 2002 was the occasion for diverse activities ranging from exchanges with Bhutan and the construction of a traditional hanging bridge, to a contest for schoolchildren and roving photography exhibits. An international scientific colloquium was also organized at the University Institute Kurt Bösch. Committee members of the Association Montagne subsequently agreed that the presentations should be gathered into a book. The topic seemed particularly approp- ate for the Martin Beniston-edited series, "Advances in Global Change Research," which regularly publishes the results of the annual Wengen Workshops on Global Climate Change Research as well as of other conferences. This volume was a collective effort. The dedication of the Assoc- tion Montagne committee members was unflagging. The commitment to the overall project of State Councilor Jean-Jacques Rey-Bellet and of Gabrielle Nanchen, then President of the Fondation pour le développement durable des regions de montagne, was particularly noteworthy and is gratefully acknowledged here. We appreciate the support of numerous financial sponsors of the Association Montagne 2002 and its International Year of Mountains activities, who made the conference and the book possible. Martin Beniston deserves thanks for including the volume in his series.
From the reviews:
"This book, the latest volume in the 'Advances in Global Change Research' series, is a compilation of presentations from a 2002 international scientific colloquium in Sion, Switzerland. ... Readers can select any of the papers and find opening abstracts, well-written and scientifically supported text, and conclusions and/or recommendations. A bibliography lists over 500 entries. ... is a valuable contribution to the literature on regulating water resources that emanate from mountain sources. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional water resource planning and management collections." (M. J. Zwolinski, CHOICE, Vol. 46 (1), September, 2008)
"This book addresses the diverse challenges facing water resources within mountain environments, including temporal and spatial variability ... . Overall, the book contains useful and valuable examples and case study reports relating to a variety of water resource issues. ... This volume presents a collection of interesting papers that are well presented; most images are of good quality. ... it will be of value as a library reference source ... ." (Neil Macdonald, Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 29 (2), May, 2009)
"This book, the latest volume in the 'Advances in Global Change Research' series, is a compilation of presentations from a 2002 international scientific colloquium in Sion, Switzerland. ... Readers can select any of the papers and find opening abstracts, well-written and scientifically supported text, and conclusions and/or recommendations. A bibliography lists over 500 entries. ... is a valuable contribution to the literature on regulating water resources that emanate from mountain sources. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional water resource planning and management collections." (M. J. Zwolinski, CHOICE, Vol. 46 (1), September, 2008)
"This book addresses the diverse challenges facing water resources within mountain environments, including temporal and spatial variability ... . Overall, the book contains useful and valuable examples and case study reports relating to a variety of water resource issues. ... This volume presents a collection of interesting papers that are well presented; most images are of good quality. ... it will be of value as a library reference source ... ." (Neil Macdonald, Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 29 (2), May, 2009)