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The Master of Applied Ecology at the National University La Molina in Peru celebrated International Mountain Day on 9 December. They organized a conference about “Culture and Livelihoods of the People in the Andes”. Professor Juan Jesus Torres Guevara, Head of the Ecology of the Mountains course, made an open invitation to the academic community and local institutions to celebrate the “Culture of the Extreme Vectoriality of the Peruvian Andes”.

Building on positive feedback from the 2015 initiative, the Alpine Convention launched the Reading Mountains Festival again in 2016 with even more partners and even more events. Between 5 and 11 December, organizations, museums, restaurants and others held events dedicated to the promotion of modern alpine literature, alpine culture and nature, as well as alpine heritage. The Alpine Convention produced a special edition of their newsletter to highlight all of the partners’ Reading Mountains activities.

IMMA members are offering additional exhibitions free of entrance charge on IMD. The Museomontagna in Turin, Italy is offering guided visits to the exhibition “Ex Libris delle Montagne”; the Musée Alpin of Chamonix, France will present “Lire les montagnes”, a reading of texts and mountain guides’ diaries; the Muzeum Tatrzańskie in Zakopane, Poland will organize an event about Polish mountaineer Wawrzyniec Żuławski; and the Servei General d’Informació de Muntanya of Sabadell, Spain will inaugurate the exhibition “Les muntanyes: divisoria d’aigues”. [...]

The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA), its member federations and Mountain Protection Commission have produced, and contributed to, a series of articles to mark International Mountain Day. Focusing on the theme of Mountain Cultures, the UIAA took the opportunity to reflect on their own culture as mountaineers in the context of current issues facing the mountain environment, the daily challenges faced by mountain people and the UIAA’s commitment in the field of mountain sustainability.

The Environmental Committee of the Wermlands Nation, a student organization from Lund, Sweden, is celebrating International Mountain Day 2016 by organizing a quiz focused on mountain related questions for its Environmental Committee members. A prize will be awarded to the team that gets the highest score by answering the most questions correctly. Furthermore, the organization will promote IMD in its December newsletter, which will be distributed to its nearly 800 members.

The Mayor of Aspen, Colorado, United States will present an official proclamation at City Council on 11 December, International Mountain Day. The heir to Chief Ouray of the Ute Mountain Tribe will also attend this meeting in full headdress and will offer a blessing for the mountains.

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) organized a knowledge forum at its headquarters in Dhapakhel, Lalitpur, Nepal on 9 December. Panellists at the forum lead discussions about opportunities and challenges of strengthening mountain cultures and identity in the context of the Hindu Kush Himalaya. They looked at how cultural resilience and promotion can be mainstreamed in mountain development from various perspectives such as natural resource management, livelihoods and gender; conservation and promotion of mountain heritage; and policy angle. [...]

The Platform of Civil Society Organizations for the Safeguard of Mountains (PSM) is organizing an event in celebration of International Mountain Day in Kara, Togo. The theme of the event will be “Impacts of traditional measures on the development of mountains”. PSM is a platform for the stability of mountains and the wellbeing of mountain communities in West Africa.

The 14th Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF) will be held on 8-12 December during International Mountain Day. The festival seeks to explore the growing diversity and complexity of relationships that humans have with mountains. From extreme sports and adventure to religion and distinct cultural practices, the festival features films about mountains, mountain environments, mountain cultures and communities. Organized by the Himal Association, KIMFF attracts all varieties of mountain lovers for its film screenings and discussion forums.

The Department of Geography at the University of Zagreb, in collaboration with the Croatian Geomorphological Society and Croatian Geographical Society, will organize a public forum on 13 December at 19.00 in celebration of International Mountain Day. Authors Lara Cernicki and Stašo Forenbaher will give a lecture about their latest book Mountain roads over Mount Velebit. The aim of the event is to raise social awareness about the necessity for protecting mountains and their natural and cultural heritage.