Mountain IDEAL Services
Walking Mountains Science Center supports communities in implementing destination stewardship good practice and becoming globally recognized certified sustainable destinations.
The criteria and indicators within the standard are organized into four categories:
- Destination planning, regulatory framework, and monitoring
- Destination management of natural and cultural assets
- Community equity, engagement, and opportunities
- Environmental resource conservation
The steps towards certification include:
Assessment
The Mountain IDEAL Standard is based on international best practices for sustainable destination management yet crafted to address the unique attributes of resort, rural, recreation, and gateway communities. The standard is designed to help a community evaluate themselves against dozens of validated guidelines and plan a path for improvement.
Planning
Based on the Mountain IDEAL Assessment, communities can access tools and templates to incrementally install new policies, programs, and activities around sustainable community development. The program tools will help communities focus on the Top 5 Best Practices which act as the foundation for implementing the full standard.
Recognition
For those communities which have implemented the vast majority of best practices and wish to have their efforts recognized, third-party certification is available through Green Destinations, an internationally accredited certification body.
