The Global Network on Observations and Information in Mountain Environments (GEO-GNOME) convened the GEO-GNOME Workshop “Identifying Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) and Essential Societal Variables (ESVs) in Mountain Environments”, on 20-21 February 2020, in Zürich, Switzerland. The workshop was a key activity identified and prioritized at the GEO-GNOME Status and Scoping Workshop held in Bern in May 2018), and listed as part of GEO-GNOME’s Implementation Plan under the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Work Programme for 2020-2022. The workshop was led and coordinated by the GEO-GNOME co-leads Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) and the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council (ISAC-CNR) with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the MRI. GEO-GNOME contributing organizations, including the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment (GMBA) and the US Geological Survey (USGS), contributed to the design and preparation of this workshop. The GEO-GNOME workshop aimed to identify and select processes that account for and improve understanding of key ecological and social-ecological changes in mountain systems and to identify EBVs and ESVs needed to monitor and report on these changes in biodiversity and society in mountains. The workshop was structured around invited inputs from experts, followed by a series of activities in which participants had the opportunity to discuss, elaborate and provide additional feedback and share their expertise and perspectives in the identification of key processes of change and relevant EVs for selection. The key outcome of the workshop is a preliminary selection of EBVs and ESVs required to observe, monitor and inform on changes in mountain biodiversity and mountain social-ecological systems. The final results will be presented in a peer-reviewed publication. Based on the outcomes of the discussions at this workshop, GEO-GNOME will start a process towards building an integrative framework around mountain specific Essential Variables addressing Mountain Social-Ecological Systems.