Media background for Nepal. Available for publication now.
Planned wider and Swiss media distribution: Tuesday, 3 November 2026.

Science communication · Nepal

Listening to the mountains.
Listening to people.

Back to Kathmandu is a science communication project bringing together interviews, a documentary and a follow-up travelling exhibition.

With the 1982 Kathmandu Declaration at its heart, the project listens to people’s experiences in and of the mountains and asks what mountain protection means amid the climate emergency.

The Declaration at the heart Read the field journal

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.

1982 · today

The Kathmandu Declaration.
A starting point for today’s questions.

The declaration, dated October 1982, called for protecting mountain environments and respecting local cultural heritage and dignity.

Forty-four years later, Back to Kathmandu brings that history into conversation with people connected to mountain places. The climate emergency gives renewed urgency to questions of protection, responsibility and whose knowledge is heard.

Read the 1982 Declaration at UIAA

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 work in Nepal

Listening first.
Bringing experiences into dialogue.

The team began gathering interviews and material in Pokhara. In Kathmandu, conversations continued around the UIAA General Assembly, where the project was presented on 29 October. A parallel strand of fieldwork reached Namche in the Khumbu.

The focus is on how people see, experience and protect mountain landscapes: the changes they observe, the places they know, and the relationships that shape their lives.

Historical research and present-day voices will inform the documentary and exhibition. The work explores different perspectives rather than assuming a single mountain experience.

Read the Kathmandu field note

From research to public dialogue

Interviews. A documentary. An exhibition.

Complementary ways to explore mountain experiences and bring the project’s questions to a wider public.

01 / ONLINE

Explore the voices

Interviews and exploratory material will be made available online as the work develops. The field journal already shares encounters and questions from Nepal.

02 / FILM

Follow the inquiry

A documentary in development brings historical research into dialogue with contemporary experiences of mountains, their protection and the climate emergency.

03 / EXHIBITION

Continue the conversation

A follow-up travelling exhibition will extend that dialogue through images, sound and opportunities for the public to explore and discuss the research.

Led by Claude Hauser at the University of Fribourg, the project brings together researchers from Lausanne and UniDistance Suisse, filmmakers, and Binod Dawadi of Tribhuvan University contributing scientific expertise in Nepal. Supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation’s Agora programme.

Questions for reporting

What does protecting mountains mean to the people who know them?

How do people describe the mountains they know, the changes they observe and what those places mean in their lives?
What do the 1982 commitments mean today for mountain environments and the people whose lives and cultures are connected to them?
How can listening in Nepal shape a documentary and exhibition and bring different mountain experiences to a wider public?

The project’s approach

Prof. Claude Hauser
Professor of Contemporary History, University of Fribourg
Back to Kathmandu project lead

Download Claude’s photo Open original

“By returning to the Kathmandu Declaration, we want to listen to people’s experiences of the mountains and explore what its commitments mean today, in the face of the climate emergency. Through interviews, a documentary and an exhibition, we hope to bring these voices into a wider public conversation.”

Prof. Claude Hauser
Professor of Contemporary History, University of Fribourg
Back to Kathmandu project lead

Claude introduces the project

Choose the French or English introduction. Watch online or download a web-quality copy.

Français · FR

1 min 07 s · MP4 · 720p · 15.0 MB

Cinematography, Kathmandu : Suraz Gurung

Download FR introduction

English · EN

1 min 59 s · MP4 · 720p · 23.8 MB

Cinematography, Kathmandu : Suraz Gurung

Download EN introduction

From the field

Our time in Nepal

Meetings, behind the scenes and landscapes: 36 seconds from the field.

Landscape · 16:9

36 s · MP4 · 1920 × 1080 · 17.3 MB

Download landscape MP4

Portrait · 9:16

36 s · MP4 · 1080 × 1920 · 13.9 MB

Download portrait MP4

Instrumental music, no dialogue. English on-screen titles; French text is also available in the player.

Description and credits

A montage of mountains, travel, interviews, everyday scenes and museum meetings, ending with an invitation to follow Back to Kathmandu. Images: Back to Kathmandu team. Original music, “Field Notes: Nepal”, composed and synthesized for the project.

A perspective from the museum

Nirmala Neupane on the left with Claude Hauser on the right, holding the Nepal Parbat publication outside the International Mountain Museum. — Nirmala Neupane (left) with Claude Hauser (right) at the International Mountain Museum.

“Mountains hold not only natural beauty, but also people’s histories, knowledge and ways of life. Listening to these experiences helps us understand what is at stake in the climate emergency, and what we need to protect for future generations.”

Nirmala Neupane
Director, International Mountain Museum

Interview images