On May 28th and 29th, UNIMONT, University of Milan hub and a historical member of Euromontana, participated in the Board Meeting hosted by the Innlandet fylkeskommune in Lom, Norway.
The two-day event in Norway rappresented an important opportunity to discuss the current and future challenges affecting European mountain areas and to strengthen the alliances needed to support these territories.
After the participants had the opportunity on the first day to explore a glacier, experiencing the impact of climate change, and to discuss issues concerning livestock farming and local production, the second day was dedicated to the Board of Directors meeting.
During this, numerous agenda items were addressed, based on the idea that mountains deserve recognition as specific and unique territories, and not just as marginal areas. One central theme was carnivore management. Tools such as the Rural Pact, an initiative that aims to promote cooperation between authorities and stakeholders at different levels, to support rural areas by recognising the specificity of mountains, were then discussed. Mountain agriculture, defined as heroic because of its difficulties, was highlighted for its merits and satisfactions, rather than only for its challenges. In general, the meeting highlighted the need for policies that recognise the specificities of mountains in order to improve the quality of life in these areas, supporting their centrality and specificity at the European level.
The meeting concluded with the announcement of the next European Mountain Convention, which will be held in October in Catalonia. This event will be a key moment to bring together all actors involved in the topic of mountains and to further strengthen cooperation at European level.
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