We have been attending the Mountains under Watch 2013 conference in Bard (Valle d’Aosta, Italy) 20-22 February 2013. Georg gave a keynote lecture on “Effects of global changes on mountain ecosystems” (watch video (external link) recorded by Greg Greenwood from MRI) and Albin a talk on “As simple as possible, but not simpler than that: An efficient soil water content model for broad ecological applications”.