Date: 11th of December
Time: 11.00-11.50am GST (0.00 – 0.50 MST)
Location: MTU Pavilion: Thematic Arena One (Blue zone), Pavilion number TA1-130
Description: The UN recognizes December 11th as International Mountain Day, whose 2023 theme is Restoring Mountain Ecosystems. Mountains are globally ubiquitous and well-represented across northern regions. Ecosystem services produced by mountains include water provision for nearly half of the world’s population. Mountains, like the Arctic, are sentinels of global change. Mountain restoration – of global importance for climate adaptation, mitigation and just transition – requires a critical and intersectional approach incorporating nature-based solutions, community-led stewardship, and investment for sustainable development.
This event will highlight community-based approaches to climate adaptation and sustainable mountain development. Participants from mountains worldwide will bring lived experience, research, knowledges, and stories about the restoration of mountain environments and communities. Presentations and discussions will emphasize climate-oriented, just solutions from local and Indigenous mountain communities.
We will open by recognizing the variety of voices and approaches to restoration of mountains and their communities internationally. We then undertake a story-sharing session, where we define “stories” as research, art, prose, and more. Then, we will collectively reflect on these stories through the three goals of the event to create a pathway forward. These collective experiences and discussion will contribute to a Declaration from the Mountains to help guide climate-just policy priorities and approaches for mountains worldwide. Ideally, this session occurs Dec 11, but could proceed on other dates.