International Day of the Mountains
International Schools Association
December 11th, 2026
International Day of the Mountains
The United Nations General Assembly designated 11 December “International Mountain Day”. As of 2003, it has been observed every year to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life, to highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development and to build alliances that will bring positive change to mountain peoples and environments around the world.
Organiser:
Colegio Internacional Ausiàs March
(Valencia, Spain)
General goals
- Relevance of Mountains and pastoralism
Raise awareness of the role mountains play in our world systems and the key role pastoralism has too.
The United Nations General Assembly designated 11 December “International Mountain Day”. As of 2003, it has been observed every year to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life, to highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development and to build alliances that will bring positive change to mountain peoples and environments around the world.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is the coordinating agency for the preparation and animation of this celebration and is mandated to lead the observance of it at the global level. The Mountain Partnership Secretariat in the FAO Forestry Division is responsible for coordinating this international process.
- Artistic and Linguistic Cultural Heritage
Engage and discover the value of the artistic and linguistic cultural heritage of different art works (paintings, sculptures, poems, novels…) from different international artists inspired by mountains.
- Value
Explore how different professions are valuable within our societies and the role they play and have played in shaping our world.
Event Background
International UN Days are an opportunity to reflect on different topics that unite us all as humans. Mountains have always played a key role in our development as societies, cultures and are key to many systems around the world.
International Mountain Day 2026 theme
Mountain pastoralists: Sustaining rangelands, knowledge and livelihoods
International Mountain Day 2026 celebrates the role of mountain pastoralists who, through their knowledge, mobility and care, raise animals, contribute to food security and steward fragile mountain rangelands.
Drawing on Indigenous and local knowledge developed over generations, their practices help regenerate vegetation, maintain healthy soils, water cycles and wildlife habitats, and respond to climate variability – while supporting rural mountain economies and preserving ecosystems.
As a contribution to the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026, the Day highlights the environmental, social and economic importance of mountain rangelands and calls for greater recognition of mountain pastoralists as custodians of ecosystems that sustain life from the highlands to the lowlands.
This event is aligned with the key idea of the role mountains play in every nook and cranny of our societies. It also pivots around the idea that a deep knowledge of our Cultural Heritage and the promotion of positive interpersonal relationships are also crucial for peace to find its way which is always inherent to UN International Days.
Activity
On United Nations Day, schools around the world will share the same simple message. Students, teachers and staff wear blue, gather together and record a short 5–10 second video.
Each school asks the same question: “WHO ARE WE?” The answer begins with the school’s own identity — “ONE [SCHOOL NAME]!” — and then connects to something bigger: “ONE WORLD!”
The power of the campaign is its simplicity. One short video may take only a few seconds to create, but when videos from schools across the ISA community are brought together, those seconds become a powerful visual statement of international connection and belonging.
How to Participate
Main events:
11th of December:
Hanging and display of mountain drawings made by students.
Infant, Primary and Secondary students will have made drawings representing mountain landscapes from the lower mountain skirts to the very peaks. They will participate in a student competition, and the winners will be framed and displayed permanently on one of walls of relevant place in the school’s walls.
A ‘Mountain Door/Panel Tour’ will be done to all classes explaining the outcome of each class.
The doors and/or panels of each of the classes from Infants to MYP will have been decorated with a mountain (Infants: Mountains, Primary: Mountains from the Valencian Community & Spain; MYP – World Mountains)
A video of the hole process and the event will be recorded and edited. Schools are encouraged to share their videos on the ISA Projects page.
16th of December
Members from the Host School (Ausiàs) MUN student group, or other student groups/clubs, and 2 students representing each stage (Infants, Primary and Secondary) will make a live connection to present the video and exchange their vision of the role of Mountains and Pastoralism, exchange experiences and share the winning drawings created with other participating schools.
All the classes of each school will also watch the video on the 16th
Additional activities to introduce and promote the event:
- 2nd to 6th September: presentation of the Joint Project to school staff.
- September: 16–17-year-old student members prepare a short presentation on the role of Mountains and Nomadic Pastoralism to go show to classes in Infants (1Bach Mountains 3–4-year-olds; 2IBDP Pastoralism to 5-year-olds).
- October: presentation from parents about mountain trips to students from Primary and interviews to those parents by the MYP Language A students (e.g. Trip to Kilimanjaro). Also, the school can invite a local pastoralist/shepherd organization to do a workshop in school and get students to reflect on the importance of pastoralism.
- November-December, MYP4 students read stories and poems in their local languages about Mountains and pastoralism and maybe create their own.
- From the 9th of September to the 11th of November: students will create works of art inspired by mountains and nomadic pastoralism and decorate their doors/murals and find songs linked to mountains and participate in the drawing competition
- September-November: micro-stories school competition on Mountains and Pastoralism, cultural heritage… with winners to be published in the School Magazine and ISA newsletter.
- At the end of the school year the older students from pre-uni courses will go on a hiking trip and learn about the experience and the role of mountains and pastoralism.