Objectives 

Establishment of a scientific society like HiLS requires a set of strategic goals, and global-to-local actions must be identified to substantially reduce the effects of landslide disasters and environmental changes on life and livelihood of people in the Himalayas over the upcoming decades. To set the goals and to promote appropriate global-to-local actions, HiLS will bring all researchers in the field of landslides and environment in the Himalayas into a single room, and will coordinate landslide and environmental research activities in the Himalayas from a global perspective in order to improve the quality of people's life in the Himalayas. HiLS is intended to facilitate and advocate discussions on the major issues of landslide and environmental research, which must be addressed to design effective methods for landslide disaster reduction and environmental protection in the Himalayan Region. With these issues in focus, the main aims and objectives of HiLS are as follows.

• To establish a mechanism for the effective and efficient sharing of knowledge, experience and resources about landslide hazard, risk, disaster and environmental deterioration in the Himalayan Region.
• To determine the nature of existing technical and institutional gap/s and to establish a means to enhance national and regional capacities to monitor and respond to the landslide disasters and environmental degradation.
• To develop improved mechanisms for cooperation, networking and coordination of actions among different institutions at the global level for landslide and environmental research in the Himalayas.
• To collect and disseminate possible practices for the study of landslides and the environment at the local and regional scale.
• To promote effective integration of landslide disaster reduction actions and environmental protection into development planning and policy of all countries in the Himalayan Region.
• To  develop the  ability  to  effectively  monitor,  forecast,  mitigate  and  respond  to  landslide disasters and environmental changes at local, national, and regional levels.
• To create a regional high quality, reliable and consistent landslide disaster database, providing a framework for promoting community risk assessment in local, national, and regional levels.
• To promote and enhance institutional coping capacity at the national and regional levels, including solutions for formulating effective institutional capacity building programs, skills, and tools for landslide and environmental research.
• To  substantially  reduce the  death  toll  from  landslides  and  adverse  environmental  effects, acknowledging  the  current  and  future  complex  socio-economic  setting  of  the  Himalayan Region.
• To share and document information on good practice and lessons learned in the past landslide and environmental research and mitigation measures practiced in Europe, America, and East Asia.