Enhancing the production of products linked to resources that characterize mountain areas, investing in innovation and human capital and promoting awareness of the role and value of mountain territories in society using technology: these are some of the activities promoted by UNIMONT, described by prof. Anna Giorgi during the episode of the Rumors d’Ambiente podcast entitled “A sustainable future for the mountains”.
Mountains represent a significant portion of the territory, with great environmental, cultural and economic potential. The challenge of UNIMONT – Ge.S.Di.Mont Research Center of the University of Milan, active in Edolo for over 20 years, is precisely to enhance the potential of mountain areas to make these territories competitive and attractive.
Thanks to its strategic location in a small mountain municipality in the heart of the Alps, UNIMONT is able to contribute to the acquisition of direct knowledge of the environmental, organizational and functional specificity typical of mountain contexts. In addition to a specific educational offer aimed at supporting innovation and sustainable development processes also in the green economy, UNIMONT promotes valuable research activity to identify natural, agro-environmental and territorial resources with the aim of enhancing traditional and innovative, sustainable and quality production processes.
As evidence of the role and over twenty-year commitment of the University of Milan – with its UNIMONT centre – in promoting the development and enhancement of the mountains, an important collaboration is underway with the “Italian General Commissioner” for EXPO 2020 in Dubai for the organization of specific events dedicated to the sustainable development of mountain areas. The theme, in fact, will be explored in the first week of the Dubai Expo – dedicated to “climate and biodiversity” – through the organization of the “SDG | Reaching for the Stars: Sustainable and Climate Resilient Mountain Development” to be held on 7th October 2021 in Dubai – in collaboration with the FAO – Mountain Partnership.
In addition, Milan University with its UNIMONT centre will organize a themed event on 8th October 2021 at the Italian pavilion in Dubai, focused on sustainability and the importance of specific training to promote the sustainable development of mountain areas.
Thanks to the experience and specific skills gained over the years operating in the mountains, the UNIMONT centre participates and contributes to the work of the main national and international tables and networks dedicated to the valorization and development of mountain areas, from the Euromontana board to the NEMOR, ISCAR and MRI networks, to the Action Group1- Research and Innovation of the European Strategy for the Alpine Region – EUSALP, up to the Scientific Technical Table for the Italian mountains recently established by the Hon. Mariastella Gelmini – Minister for Regional Affairs and Autonomies, made up of 40 Italian experts, including professors and researchers from the University of Milan engaged in the activities of the UNIMONT centre, and coordinated by the Mayor of Edolo, Dr. Luca Masneri.