The Research Acquisition Unit, with Renate Mayer and Christoph Gahbauer, was part of the organizing team and presented the CSI PhänoBiota project – researching newly arrived plants from around the world, a Talents Regional project aimed at inspiring young people to pursue science and technology. This prime example of regional networking in research and education, encompassing all school levels and regional institutions such as RML Liezen, the Styrian Eisenwurzen Nature Park, public corporations, federal agencies, and companies, illustrates the platform's focus as a hub for knowledge transfer and research, as well as fostering an understanding of the needs, opportunities, and challenges of the Eisenwurzen region's living and economic environment.
Founded in 2004, the Eisenwurzen research platform serves as an information hub between researchers and the region, as well as a network for planning and implementing projects and initiatives. LTSER stands for Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research and investigates how the relationships between people and their environment change over the long term. It considers the entire region where people live and work, shaping the landscape through their land use.
At 12 sites in the border region of Lower Austria, Upper Austria, and Styria, the most important ecosystems of the Eisenwurzen region – forests, grasslands, arable land, and bodies of water – are being closely examined, and the effects of various influences, such as climate change and farming practices, are being investigated. The findings are incorporated into the development of scenarios and action options when addressing specific questions.
Figure: Location of the measurement sites and partner organizations of the LTSER platform Eisenwurzen, © German Federal Environment Agency, 2025
The workshop focused on networking and exchange with KLAR!, KEM, and LEADER managers, as well as representatives from regional development and economic institutions in the Eisenwurzen region. A key contribution was raising the profile of the stakeholders and demonstrating how regional development and research can mutually benefit from the platform. Projects initiated within the platform were also presented as examples of successful collaborations in the Eisenwurzen region. Renate Mayer presented the Talents Regional project CSI PhänoBiota – Researching New Plant Species from Around the World with Children and Young People of All Educational Levels. Stefan Kirchweger from STUDIA presented the EIP AGRI project " Added Value of Mountain Agriculture ," in which the also HBLFA participated. Raumberg-Gumpenstein Hannah Politor presented the initial research findings from her dissertation on participatory research in the Eisenwurzen region
In the afternoon, representatives from regional development, research, and practice discussed in a World Café format what they hope to achieve with the platform, where they see common opportunities , and how future collaborations can be initiated or continued in a fruitful way. The insightful results were summarized by the participants in a concluding reflection, serving as a guide for future participation and cooperation .
Details on the Eisenwurzen research platform with regional contact points and partner organizations:
Further links:
LTER Austria - Austrian Society for Ecological Long-Term Research
A success story - 20 years of the LTER-Austria association - socio-ecological long-term research
LTER-Austria Conference 2024: A strong commitment to long-term ecological research
Agricultural Research and Education Center Raumberg-Gumpenstein - Austria | DEIMS SDR
eLTER - The eLTER Research infrastructure
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