Excerpt from the 2022 United Nations Secretary General's report on sustainable mountain development with highlights about Utah Valley University
The 2022 UN Secretary-General (UNSG) Report on Sustainable Mountain Development (SMD) highlighted the inclusive co-curricular student-engaged learning (SEL) model developed at Utah Valley University (UVU). It especially mentions the role non-traditional students play within it. Since 2011, SEL has encouraged students, through the Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF), a coalition of student clubs at UVU, to solve real-world problems as a group, with a faculty serving as mentor. It involves non-traditional students, often as club leaders, who usually must balance their education with work and family responsibilities. UNSG reports on SMD are issued once every three years and provide material and data for UN member states to adopt as a resolution on SMD during the sessions of the UN General Assembly. It is prepared based on Mountain Partnership (MP) member’s activities which significantly contribute to the promotion of the SMD globally.
As an MP member, UVU was highlighted for encouraging UIMF members' continuous promotion of SMD through a variety of activities based on SEL between July 2019 - July 2022. UIMF with the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (RANS) and Utah China Friendship Improvement Sharing Hands Development & Cooperation (Utah China FISH D&C), two NGOs in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), observed the International Mountain Days annually at UVU and the UN. In 2021, the SEL model allowed UIMF members and students from Osh Technological University (OshTU) in Osh, Kyrgyz Republic to jointly host the International Mountain Day at UVU.
UIMF members, jointly with RANS and Utah China FISH D&C, advocated for mountain women by co-hosting parallel events and co-sponsoring written statements E/CN.6/2020/NGO/91, E/CN.6/2021/NGO/125, during the 63rd and 64th sessions of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). OshTU students and faculty joined them in co-hosting a parallel event and co-sponsoring written statement E/CN.6/2022/NGO/141 during the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
A submission to this UNSG report on SMD for the first time was prepared with a contribution from UIMF members, including Dallas Karen and myself. Responding to the initial request from the MP Secretariat made in early April 2022 about the submission deadline for the UNSG report on SMD, we researched all SMD promotional activities held by UIMF during 2019-2022 and selected the most important ones. Therefore, the draft for submission was within the limits of 400 words and stated the following:
“An inclusive co-curricular student-engaged learning (SEL) model developed at Utah Valley University (UVU) involved students, especially non- traditional learners, in advocating for sustainable mountain development in the State of Utah and at the UN. SEL encourages students, through the Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF), a coalition of student clubs at UVU, to solve real-world problems as a group, with a faculty serving as a mentor. Non-traditional students combine education with work and family responsibilities. As a single-semester model’s implementation, UIMF jointly with MP members such as the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and Utah China Friendship Improvement Sharing Hands Development & Cooperation annually observed the International Mountain Days at UVU and UN. During a several semesters model’s implementation, they jointly advocated for mountain women by co-hosting parallel events and co-sponsoring written statements E/CN.6/2020/NGO/91, E/CN.6/2021/NGO/125, and E/CN.6/2022/NGO/141 during the 63rd, 64th, and 65th sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women.”
As a result of the edits from the MPS and UN Secretariat, only the first sentence was left from the initial submission. However, it contained vital language about the SEL method through which faculty and students at UVU were able to achieve a continued success in promoting sustainable development among mountainous communities in their own state and worldwide. It also included language highlighting the essential role of non-traditional students in implementation of SMD, who can teach their traditional peers necessary skills and experiences and make the educational model inclusive and student-driven.
Alitha Thompson, President of the UIMF
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2022 United Nations Secretary General's report on sustainable mountain development
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