This year, the CMS VATAVARAN festival and forum will focus on the Himalayas. We shall provide platform to filmmakers to talk about the identified issues and formulate a vision statement for the region.

Broadly, filmmakers and environment enthusiasts are coming together to enable a prosperous, peaceful region. Food, energy and water secure communities anchored in a climate change and disaster resilient ecosystem.

In spite of the vast expanse of Himalayas and their importance in the world, as a unique and exclusive land form, they have been largely ignored within better known environmental assessments such as the IPCC and Millennium Ecosystem

Assessment. In those assessments, mountains are not examined in detail: scientific knowledge is scattered and traditional indigenous knowledge systems are mostly absent

Therefore, this year, CMS VATAVARAN is going to make a little effort of its own, in this direction. The Himalayas and its various shades will find expression in our films this year and also in the forums during the forthcoming festival in November 2019. The following will be the key themes.

• Prosperous - wellbeing in terms of productive and dignified, social, cultural (identity plus integration), and environment.
• Food security - healthy people with access to adequate, affordable, good quality and nutritious food
• Energy security - access to adequate amount of energy that is affordable, non-polluting and sustainable, without unduly affecting the present low carbon status.
• Water security - access to quality, affordable water; and protection from extreme events such as floods and droughts.
• Vibrant and bio-diverse ecosystem services for people to support culture and economies; protection and wise use of ecosystem services.
• Climate and disaster resilient communities and countries; contributing to mitigation and adaptation.
• Cooperation at all levels (people to people, business to business, government to government) between countries for sustainable and mutual benefits to achieve vision.
• Recognition of the Himalayan region as a global planetary asset.

We hope that this will strike conversations on the status, trends and scenarios of environmental, economic and social systems of the Himalayan region. Mountain people and ecosystems tend to experience change more rapidly and with greater intensity. Mountain regions are no longer isolated from globalization. The Himalayas bio-diverse resources, rich indigenous knowledge systems, and enormous reservoirs of water provide vibrancy to the Planet.

For the first time, a two day Himalayan Summit is being organized in collaboration with IHCAP during the festival where these issues will be discussed and also successful adaption / mitigation models will be shared. Key stakeholders (policy makers, conservationists, scientists & other experts) from each of the 13 Himalayan states will be participating in these deliberations.