UIMLA is proud to announce its role as a founding member of European Trails, a new collaborative platform connecting key organisations involved in trail development, management, and promotion across Europe.
European Trails was formally established in February 2025 as a German non-profit association. It brings together 11 founding organisations from 8 different nationalities, and serves as the European chapter of the World Trails Network (WTN). All members of European Trails automatically receive full WTN membership.
In the words of the new association:
“European Trails is that all people in Europe are using great trails. Our action fosters collaboration and knowledge exchange among all stakeholders in the trail sector, empowering them to speak with one strong, unified voice. We work on sustainable organizational models and funding structures, including advocacy for increased financial support at the European level. Our goal is to harmonize trail certification guidelines and standards for difficulty classification, signage, and waymarking. We prioritize upgrading existing trails over building new ones and promote trail use in regions and population groups where it is currently underrepresented.”
This mission resonates strongly with UIMLA’s own values and priorities.
For UIMLA — the Union of International Mountain Leader Associations, headquartered in Switzerland — trails are far more than infrastructure. They are the lifeblood of our profession: the places where International Mountain Leaders (IMLs) work, teach, lead, and inspire. Trails connect people to place, create access to nature and heritage, and offer structure and safety within fragile and changing mountain environments.
UIMLA sets and upholds international standards for the IML qualification, and supports professional leaders across Europe and beyond. Our members lead walking and trekking journeys in mountain and upland terrain, where they act not just as leaders, but as interpreters of landscape, educators, and custodians of the environment. We work daily in partnership with local communities, hut guardians, land managers and tourism bodies — and we carry a moral and ethical responsibility to act as stewards of the natural world and advocates for respectful behaviour among those we lead.
UIMLA’s involvement in European Trails brings to the Network the voice of outdoor professionals who are deeply embedded in the places where trails are lived and experienced — and who understand firsthand the challenges of balancing access, sustainability, and safety.
We believe that trails are part of Europe’s shared environmental and cultural infrastructure, and that a strong professional standard — in both management and leadership — is essential to their future.
For more information about European Trails, visit:
🔗 europeantrails.org
🔗 LinkedIn page
Contact
European Trails e.V.
Missener Straße 18
87509 Immenstadt, Germany
📧 julia.snajdr@europeantrails.org
Board Members: Hartmut Wimmer, Elsi Rizvanolli, Mischa Crumbach
Association Manager: Julia Snajdr