Games – convenient location for the climate research center in Ötscher

At the invitation of the Central Institute of Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) and the Ötscher-Türmauer Nature Park, 25 representatives of well-known Austrian research institutions recently met for networking in Hohe Wart and signed expressions of interest for the Climate Research Center about Ötscher.

The mountain was previously identified as a research area for interdisciplinary scientific questions about climate change and its impacts on biodiversity.

On the initiative of the Ötscher-Tormäuer Nature Park, a project team consisting of ZAMG, the University of Continuing Education Krems and the Lacron Planning Office is currently working to establish a research center in the Ötscher region.

An essential step in the current project is to link research institutions together: in order to ideally coordinate future joint research projects in the Ocher region, the exchange of existing experiences is now intensified. Several representatives of various think tanks accepted the invitation and came to Hohe Warte for a morning conversation and to get to know each other.

“ZAMG sees the Ötscher region as an exciting research area that offers a very valuable opportunity to research climate, its changes and biodiversity in a kind of open-air laboratory at several levels at altitudes along with other disciplines,” confirms Andreas Schaffhauser, interim president of ZAMG.

While research on climate change has continued for a long time in the high alpine regions, the living and economic regions of the low mountain ranges have been less researched. It is important to develop concrete solutions for living and working at this altitude – particularly in terms of the already observed impacts of climate change and the inherent loss of biodiversity. This can be achieved through close communication between enthusiastic regional stakeholders and solution-oriented research. Florian Schublach, project manager at Ocher-Tormauer Nature Park, says of the conviction in his opening statement at the Networking event.

The rise of Ötscher with Jäger and Käfer

The feasibility study for the “Ötscher Climate Research Center – Climate Change Solutions for the Alpine Settlement Region” will be completed by June.

At the same time, the first steps of implementation are already underway: the first highlight is the botanical and climatic ascent to Ötscher with climatologist Andreas Jager and master gardener and “radio gardener” Johannes Kaffer on July 16.