12th International Mountain Day Observation held at Utah Valley University

On December 1st, 2021, Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF), a coalition of student clubs at Utah Valley University (UVU), hosted UVU’s 12th annual International Mountain Day Celebration

UIMF hosted 12th International Mountain Day Observation at Utah Valley University

Group photo

(From L to R, Top to Bottom) Alitha Thompson, Tatiana Panfilenko, Dr. Rusty Butler, Baiel Abibillaev, Prof. Abdrisaev, Tariel Talantbek uulu, Dr. Almaz, Nazik Erkinbek kyzy, Dallas Karren, Dylan Tweed, Cody Conklin, Camilla Pendleton

On December 1st, 2021, Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF), a coalition of student clubs at Utah Valley University (UVU), hosted UVU’s 12th annual International Mountain Day Celebration. International Mountain Day (IMD) is a UN event held every December 11th. Students and faculty from Osh Technological University, Kyrgyzstan, contributed to this year’s IMD observation. The theme for 2021 was Sustainable Tourism, a topic that is important for both Utah and Kyrgyzstan.

Dallas Speaks

Dallas Karren, President of UIMF, introduces Carlos Alarco

I opened up the celebration with welcoming remarks. The President of UIMF, Dallas Karren, introduced Carlos Alarco, the Associate Director for Education Abroad at Utah Valley University. He talked about how important tourism is to maintain. Many regions rely on income from tourism, including Utah. It is essential to raise awareness of climate change and sustainable tourism to preserve this income. Mr. Alarco has been one of the active supporters of UIMF since its founding in 2011.

Carlos speaks

Carlos Alarco speaks during the event

Byan Alghanmi, President of the UVU Sustainable Mountain Development Club, introduced Dr. Rusty Butler, the Main Representative at the UN, Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.

Byan speaks

Byan Algahami, President of Sustainable Mountain Development Club, Introduces Dr. Butler.

Dr. Butler was Associate Vice President for International Affairs and Diplomacy at UVU during 1992-2016 and a key person to promote sustainable mountain development agenda in the State of Utah and at the U.N. He also contributed a lot of his efforts to facilitate a partnership between the State of Utah and the Kyrgyz Republic. He was happy to see and greet old friends from Osh Technological University among the presenters and in the audience.

Dr. Butler speaks during the event

Presentation 1

Dr. Butler gave an excellent presentation on sustainable tourism in Utah. He displayed all the tourist destinations that are unique to Utah. Life Elevated is the motto of Utah, a place bringing optimism and cultural treasure to the state, including skiing, the mighty five national parks, and religious and cultural centers like the Sundance film festival. He demonstrated the importance of showing pride in our regions and sharing our treasures with others. He also shared his unique experiences of hosting many foreign dignitaries, including those from the Kyrgyz Republic with the goal to demonstrate to them a diverse and rich potential of Utah in sustainable mountain tourism.

Camilla Speaks

Camilla Pendleton , Secretary for Foreign Affairs Club, introduces Tatiana Panfilenko and Baiel Abibillaev.

Camilla Pendleton, Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Club, introduced our Kyrgyzstan colleagues, Baiel Abibillaev, a geology student at Osh Technological University (OshTU), and his mentor Tatiana Panfilenko. They presented Kyrgyzstan's beauty, including the pristine tourist areas, untouched by civilization.

Tatiana speaks

Tatiana talks about the importance of partnerships in the fight for sustainable tourism.

Kyrgyzstan holds many cultural sites and wonders, like the world's largest walnut forest and the second-largest saline lake. Kyrgyzstan has been actively working for environment-friendly tourism to maintain the beauty of nature found within their country. Kyrgyzstan started the “Community-based Tourism program,” providing a natural experience to tourists involving local communities’ art, food, music, culture, and traditions.

Baiel speaks

Baiel Abibillaev shares the treasures of Kyrgyzstan.

Osh 1

Other members of OshTU, Tariel Talantbek uulu, an OshTU faculty teaching communication, Dr. Almaz Atabekov, Chair of the department of economic management, Maisalbek Zakirov, and Nazik Erkin kyzy, students at OshTU, presented a video on their home city, Osh, that demonstrated the beauty of one of the oldest cities in Kyrgyzstan. Many artifacts have been found in Osh dating back to the 5th century and lie along the ancient Silk Road. In the center lies Sulayman mountain, a unique world heritage site with a strong religious background. The video showed how much beauty and history lies for visiting tourists.

Dylan speaks

Dylan Tweed, President of Rotaract Club, introduces Cody Conklin

The final speaker of the event was Cody Conklin, who was introduced by Dylan Tweed, President of the UVU Rotaract club.Cody shared his research on the challenges the recent pandemic brought to tourism in Austria and Utah. Covid-19 has been detrimental in both areas which gain most of their revenue from tourism. Cody shared how sustainable tourism policies, such as integrating epidemiological indicators and better communication can help negate the effect of Covid-19 on tourism. His research will be published this year in the Youth and the Mountains journal.

Cody speaks

Cody Conklin talked about sustainable tourism in Austria and Utah.

Dallas Karren took the podium to conclude the celebration with the annual ceremony presenting special certificates from the Mountain Partnership under the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Awards were given to individuals who contributed to the cause of sustainable mountain development, including sustainable tourism within 2021.

This event was hosted through the Student Engaged Learning model, where students gain professional skills and international recognition while working as a group to address real-world issues with a faculty member serving as a mentor. Students completed preparations while maintaining classwork, finishing midterms, and working part and full-time jobs. Each student combined their experiences and strengths to balance their needs as they completed each task.

Alitha

Alitha Thompson, with son helping moderate IMD

I worked as a project manager and moderated the event to help maintain the needs of UIMF and OshTU. The presentation was a week after the United States Thanksgiving Holiday. This caused most of the finalization to be done during the student’s school break. I was able to plan around the needs of the students and their families while still ensuring the presentation was prepared with contingencies.

The work of each student and mentor combined to create a successful event that helped celebrate the beauty but combat the challenges of Sustainable Mountain Tourism.

-Alitha Thompson, Vice President of UIMF and President of Foreign Affairs

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