Thursday, October 08, 2015

Initial meeting

Mount Kailash has come to find me again. New School's India China Institute's Sacred Himalaya Initiative (full name of the project: Sacred Landscapes and Sustainable Futures in the Himalaya) today started a four-day planning meeting with scholars and policy people from India, Nepal, the Tibetan Autonomous Region, and the US. A highlight of today's discussions was a presentation on the campaign for UNESCO World Heritage status for the trinational Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative being developed by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. (I.e., ICI's SLSFH is partnering with ICIMOD's KSLCDI.) Actually, the highlight was the ensuing discussion, which brought out the stakes and issues involved in a really exciting way. Let's hope the next days are as much fun!