The first International SUNRAISE conference “Trabsboundary Regions under Global Change: Current Challenges and Development Trajectories” was held in Gorno-Altaisk State University (Gorno-Altaisk, Altai Republic, Russia) on November 26-28. The conference united scientists, representatives of NGOs and protected areas from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Bhutan, India, Estonia, Mongolia, Switzerland and different regions of Russia: the Altai and the Tyva Republics, Tomsk Oblast, Altai Krai, Krasnoyarsk Krai and Zabaikalsky Krai.

Opening the plenary session, the Rector of Gorno-Altaisk State University and the Chair of the Branch of the Russian Geographical Society in the Altai Republic Valeriy G. Babin pointed out the importance of international cooperation on conservation of natural and cultural heritage. Welcoming addresses were also made by the Acting Head of the Altai Republic Aleksei S. Tyukhtenev, the Deputy of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Ivan I. Belekov, the Director of Katunskiy Biosphere Reserve Alexander V. Zateev and the Director General of the Katon-Karagaiskiy National Park Zhanbolat B. Tynybekov.

The conference became a platform for new ideas and open discussions. The participants presented more than 50 reports on both general issues of transborder cooperation and the results of their applied research. A special attention was paid to the youth research projects presented at the separate breakout session. All presentations were met with a strong interest and attracted extensive discussions. Within the conference agenda there was also held a round table “Development of Massive Open Online Courses in Order to Promote Sustainable Development of Arctic and High Mountainous Areas”.

The conference was marked by the signing of a cooperation agreement between Katunsky Biosphere Reserve and Karatal-Zhapyryk State Nature Reserve of Kyrgyzstan.