Over thirty mountain hut managers, more than half of those who work in the core area of the UNESCO Site, took part in the sixth Annual Meeting of the Mountain Hut Managers of the Dolomites World Heritage Site, organised by the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation and hosted this year by the Visitor Centre of the Fanes-Senes-Braies Natural Park in San Vigilio di Marebbe (Bolzano) on 17 and 18 November.
The round tables that concluded the two-day meeting resulted in a shared commitment to become ambassadors of the World Heritage values, without regional borders, through a calendar of events in the mountain huts and through the continuation of the #mountainhutlife social media campaign.
The event was organised thanks to the collaboration of the Fanes-Senes-Braies Natural Park, the Department of Regional Nature, Landscape and Development of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – Alto Adige and the San Vigilio/San Martin – Dolomites Tourist Cooperative.
Millions of views for #mountainhutlife
The autumn meeting is an opportunity to identify some common actions that enhance the role of principal custodians of the World Heritage site. These actions sometimes manage to hit the mark, as happened last summer, during which the #mountainhutlife communication campaign, which is aimed at making hikers more aware and responsible through short video stories of daily life in the mountain huts, reached over three million views on the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation’s social media channels.
The lines of communication of the Managers’ Network will continue along the path opened up by #mountainhutlife, but this time the video stories will aim to respond directly to the questions users most frequently ask managers and will transmit the values of sustainability, sobriety and the renunciation of certain comforts as an integral part of an authentic alpine experience.
United in responsibility
The managers have also taken on the commitment to organise a series of summer events in the mountain huts to deepen the UNESCO recognition from a geological and scenic point of view by also including the enhancement of culture and local products. This is a way to share the responsibility of being the only protection present within the core area of the World Heritage and, at the same time, acting as its ambassadors to millions of visitors.