Bridging worlds

In high-mountain regions, climate change adaptation represents a major challenge, both now and in the future, particularly in issues related to water management and the continued degradation and loss of glaciers. While scientific knowledge on the subject is still limited, local cultures, who are also the most vulnerable to climate change, maintain ancestral knowledge about mountain climate and glaciers, which can help ensure water security for their own communities and those living in larger cities downstream. Here we present the overview of a multidimensional framework for integrating diverse knowledge systems, fostering a dynamic, reciprocal exchange aiming at creating blended knowledge forms that bring together what science and people know about glaciers. We argue that bringing together different approaches to knowledge can help us to develop a more robust, inclusive, and actionable understanding of the changes unfolding in high-mountain environments.