The story of the work of mountain hut managers, busy with the #mountainhutlife campaign, and more generally of life within the World Heritage Site, featured again on the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation’s social media channels in June, with videos from the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation project “Noi Dolomiti”, adding to the 250+ stories already recorded. All the video material is available on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and dedicated YouTube playlists.
The climate crisis
as seen from here
Water and the climate crisis are once again among the themes at the heart of the communication campaign inspired by the mountain hut managers of the core area of the World Heritage Site. Many of the first videos focused on the difficulties of reaching water supplies and the necessary education towards preserving a resource that is scarce, despite the late-spring rain and snowfall.
Education and caution
Another recurring theme in the now 50+ #mountainhutlife videos is that of educating people about conscious, considered visits to the mountains. People visiting the Dolomites find an irreplaceable garrison of information in the local managers, Alpine Guides, Alpine Rescue, and mountaineering associations, but information does not mean “authorisation” as Pian de Fontana mountain hut manager Elena Zamberlan recently pointed out: “customers ask for reassurance, permission almost, to take up certain itineraries”. In short, information can be given about the objective conditions of the trails and the type of physical effort and technical skill required to tackle them, but the managers do not know the physical and psychological conditions of every individual – this is a responsibility that, with the right information on the weather, equipment and objective difficulties, everyone has the duty to take on for themselves.
Many voices telling
heritage stories
The “Noi Dolomiti” services allow viewers to further broaden their gaze beyond life in the mountain huts to the activities of guides, rescuers, geologists, glaciologists, producers, administrators and park managers – men and women who have dedicated their profession or research activity to alpine culture and management. At the heart of this are the major themes of visiting, living and working in the mountains, the climate crisis and the related strategies for adaptation and resistance.
