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Back to Kathmandu: bringing the questions to the UIAA

Kathmandu·Back to Kathmandu·

On 29 October, we presented Back to Kathmandu at the UIAA General Assembly. The gathering is an opportunity to revisit a declaration adopted in the same city in 1982.

What does it mean to return to Kathmandu with a document written more than forty years ago? On 29 October, we presented Back to Kathmandu at the General Assembly of the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, the UIAA. Our work here brings the history of mountain protection into conversation with people involved in mountaineering today.

A speaker presenting Back to Kathmandu beside a projected slide and the Declaration artwork.
Presenting Back to Kathmandu at the UIAA General Assembly in Kathmandu, 2026.

The 1982 Kathmandu Declaration is the starting point for the project. It called for protecting mountain environments and respecting the cultural heritage and dignity of local people. Returning to that text lets us examine the concerns behind it, the world in which it was written and the questions it raises now.

We are gathering interviews for a documentary film and a travelling exhibition. Alongside the gathering’s formal programme, these conversations give us material through which to explore different experiences of mountain landscapes. They are part of a wider inquiry into how people see, experience and protect mountains, and how those relationships change over time.

A camera on a tripod in the foreground, with a seated interview participant in a garden behind it.
Behind the scenes of an interview in Kathmandu during the UIAA General Assembly, 2026.

Climate change adds urgency to that inquiry. So do questions about tourism, mountaineering and the place of local communities in decisions affecting the places where they live and work. The film will bring historical research and present-day voices into dialogue, without assuming that everyone approaches these questions in the same way.

One question is beginning to guide our discussions: could a new Kathmandu Declaration help us respond to today’s challenges? It is a question for the documentary to explore. We are continuing to listen and collect perspectives while another part of the team carries out fieldwork in the Khumbu.