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Moving Mountains (MM) is a new journal dedicated to the United Nations theme of sport for development and peace. The journal focuses on mountainous regions, including lowland gateways, but peripheral attention is paid to exemplary developments in lowland and oceanic regions. The lead agency in this project is Mountain Legacy, a non-governmental organization (NG0 reg. #1018/060-61) based in Nepal and dedicated to the cultural and natural conservation of mountainous regions. {An NGO is similar to an American non-profit or 501-c-3.) Mountain Legacy is collaborating with Himalayan Journal of Sciences (itself a project of the Himalayan Association for the Advancement of Science) and with faculty of Tribhuvan University (TU) and SUNY Cortland's Sport Management Department.

The first issue of Moving Mountains will appear in September 2010.

If you are interested in collaborating, contact Seth Sicroff at sicroff@gmail.com

What does "Sport for Development and Peace"
have to do with Mountain Legacy?

First of all, "development and peace" are goals that largely mirror those of Mountain Legacy. Sustainable development and social harmony depend on cultural and natural conservation.

Secondly, the mountain agenda cannot be separated from the larger context. Lowland population centers are the gateways to highland destinations. To the extent that economic opportunity in the mountains depends on tourism, the competitive capabilities of mountain regions depend on regional assets, including peace. Development policies are made in lowland population centers, and the willingness of planners to take highland needs into consideration depends on the awareness of highland contributions to the regional economy.

Third, the dynamics of sport impact on development and peace are similar at any elevation. While some of us are most interested in mountain sports, we can certainly learn from sports in other environments, whether scuba-diving in reefs, Olympic games in Beijing, or New York Jets summer camp in Cortland (upstate NY). Our primary focus is on mountain sports, mountain development (and conservation), and peace, prosperity, and equity in mountainous areas. However, sport is global, development is multinational, and peace and equity always have transboundary dimensions. The value of our journal would be diminished if its scope were narrower.

Nepal provides an excellent case-study of the linkages between sport, development, and peace. Trekking is the magnet activity that drives tourism in Nepal, and tourism is the foundation of Nepal's economy. Political instability in Kathmandu has lead to guerrilla warfare in the hills, which has crippled the goose that lays all those golden eggs. Pollution, poverty, health, and gender issues (to cite just a few critical areas) all constrain peace, conservation, and future opportunities.

The Mountain Legacy agenda is in many ways exemplary of the sport-development-peace linkages outlined above. Most of the ML collaborators became interested in conservation by way of a prior interest in mountain sports. Our Bridges programs have focused on promoting trekking as a key economic activity in remote mountainous destinations. The 2010 program, while maintaining a multi-pronged, multidisciplinary agenda, will undertake feasibility studies for two new sporting events that would serve as economic catalysts and also as venues for intercultural cooperation.

Moving Mountains Steering Committee

Contact

If you are interested in participating in Moving Mountains or have any feedback, contact Mountain Legacy Projects Coordinator Seth Sicroff at sicroff@gmail.com; 511 W. Green St., Ithaca NY, 14850 USA; (607) 256-0102.