The 2017 issue of the Youth and the Mountains journal at Utah Valley University (UVU) continues established tradition to promote Sustainable Mountain Development (SMD) agenda of the United Nations (UN) in the State of Utah, North America, and globally through research as part of the UVU student engaged learning model. As a co-curricular pedagogy with the Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF), a coalition of clubs at UVU (www.utahimf.org) at its core, the initiative engages students, both non-traditional and traditional ones, across the campus, in the implementation of the UN SMD agenda since 2006. Co-editors of the journal A. Kathryn Chapman and myself are non-traditional students as well.
The first section of this journal includes written joint statements made during 2007 by the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, the Mountain Institute, Utah China Friendship Improvement Sharing Hands Development, and Commerce, non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. Three NGOs recognized the UVU student contribution to the SMD through the engaged learning initiative at the 53rd session of the UN Commission on Social Development and the 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
Student research papers included in the main part of this journal focus on subjects that range from mountain issues in the Hindu Kush to Utah’s energy and infrastructure to refugees in the United States. This issue of the journal shines a spotlight on mountainous regions and provides an increased perspective on how to improve the lives of people who live in these regions around the world.
As a part of the established tradition of demonstrating one of the elements of the engaged learning model, the journal includes in the third section two student reflective essays on the different aspects of student education.
The last section of the journal is dedicated to the memory of Josman Cereceres, President of the Sustainable Mountain Development club and UVU student, who untimely passed away in November 2017. It includes the Op-Ed on constitutionalism, which Josman published as a co-author in Deseret News in August 2017.
Please find enclosed a link to the 2017 issue of the Youth and the Mountains Journal at: https://www.uvu.edu/hps/docs/youth.mountains/ymjournal-5.pdf
Rebecca Bindraban, Co-editor, Youth and the Mountains Journal
