This opening plenary brings together pastoralists, scientists, policymakers, Indigenous peoples advocates, and community leaders to directly challenge and deconstruct myths and misconceptions that have long shaped how rangelands and pastoral systems are governed and invested in. From the power of biocultural mapping as a tool for land rights advocacy, to co-designed restoration models that increased herder incomes and grazing productivity, to the urgency to recognize and value Indigenous knowledge, the session makes a bold case that the future of rangelands depends not on fitting pastoralism into existing systems, but designing systems that work with nature, with pastoralist and rangeland communities, and with the land.