2018 Issue of the Youth and the Mountains Journal
The 2018 issue of the Youth and the Mountains Journal is presented by the editor-in-chief
The 2018 issue of the Youth and the Mountains Journal continues the established tradition of promoting the Sustainable Mountain Development (SMD) agenda of the United Nations in the state of Utah. The journal highlights Utah Valley University’s student engagement model and provides a forum for student undergraduate research along with advocating and developing student academic scholarship. This journal seeks to engage students across the campus, including both non-traditional and traditional ones. 2018 marks the 6th edition of the Youth and the Mountains Journal, and my second year as editor in chief, which has been an honor.
Youth and the Mountains Journal provides a unique and increased perspective on SMD in mountainous regions worldwide. When the editorial board was putting this journal together, our team took careful time to examine the content, and to make sure it was internationally inclusive. It was important for us to include both diverse discourse regarding SMD and local and international issues related to it.
For a second time, the journal includes copies of official documents of the ECOSOC and U.S. Congress, highlighting UVUs student engaged learning model and the Utah International Mountain Forum contribution to SMD advocacy.
The journal includes research topics and reflective papers from students from Saudi Arabia, Uganda, and the United States. The topics are wide ranging, and include sustainable development topics in Utah, along with sustainable development issues and goals in countries such as Israel and Romania. Additionally, the 2018 issue of the journal covers Sustainable Development Goals and highlights specifically mountain targets. Specifically, topics such as expanding digital capabilities for society and educational purposes in Nepal, ensuring the available of water and the sustainable management of water in Yemen, and the empowerment of women and gender equality. The journal also addresses other issues such as sustainable tourism and humanitarianism in Utah, and touches on theoretical approaches to domestic and foreign policy for mountain countries as well.
Mountain issues are human issues, and deserve to be highlighted as such. Therefore, the expansion of knowledge towards mountain issues and sustainability is centripetal to the improvement of human existence in higher places.
Rebecca Bindraban, Editor-in-Chief of the journal
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