Leave No Trace Ireland joins Global Summit in Boulder, Colorado
The first ever Leave No Trace Global Summit took place this October in Boulder, Colorado, bringing together over 300 attendees from 14 countries, including Leave No Trace Ireland’s CEO Maura Kiely and Fundraising and Membership Executive Rachel Shawe.
The three-day event featured presentations, networking, field trips, and discussions focused on protecting natural resources through responsible outdoor recreation. Attendees included leaders in land management, outdoor equipment, sustainable tourism, corporate responsibility, and other fields.
Key topics included the impact of rising visitor numbers, new volunteer initiatives, gold-standard site accreditation, and the Destination Leave No Trace tourism initiative. The event also highlighted the rapid global expansion of Leave No Trace, with education programmes now active in 94 countries.
Over the three days, there were plenty of opportunities to connect with influential figures such as Jeff Marion, Charles Thomas Jr. (Outward Bound Adventures), and the leadership team from NOLS, all deeply involved in the Leave No Trace movement.
The event began with a scenic hike on the Red Rocks Trail and a welcome from Dana Watts, Executive Director of Leave No Trace. This was followed by a powerful panel on bridging the gap in diversity and inclusion within the outdoors. The afternoon featured inspiring talks on volunteer programmes, innovative ways to teach Leave No Trace Principles, and valuable insights from cutting-edge research. Notably, Maura Kiely presented her PhD research on ‘Stakeholder Engagement in Nature Conservation and Outdoor Recreation in Ireland’.
On the second day, the summit spotlighted the latest research in recreation ecology and effective communication strategies to influence behaviour. It provided a great opportunity to explore international research initiatives centered on Leave No Trace principles.
The global summit concluded with a significant highlight with Maura sharing Leave No Trace Ireland’s insights during the mainstage Panel on “Global Perspectives on Leave No Trace: Strategies and Success.” She was joined by John Trenholme (LNT Canada), Claudio Chehebar (LNT Argentina), Chris North (LNT New Zealand), and Taito Okamura (LNT Japan), with Susy Alkaitis (LNT USA) serving as moderator.
Maura Kiely commented: “Our team had an incredible experience in Boulder, Colorado, representing Leave No Trace Ireland, where we learned about emerging research aimed at protecting our outdoors, how to make the 7 Principles more inclusive, and ways to build impactful partnerships. “
We would like to thank Dana Watts, JD Tanner, Susy Alkaitis, and the entire team for organizing this incredible even and congratulate award recipients Charles Thomas Jr., Haven Holsapple, Subaru of America, and Dr. Jeff Marion for their outstanding contributions to the movement.
#LeaveNoTrace #ResponsibleRecreation #OutdoorEducation #GlobalSummit #EnvironmentalStewardship
