With 70 per cent of its construction materials derived from parts of the coconut tree, the Coconut Palace in Manila is a fitting place for the welcome dinner of the first annual Eco-Minds Youth Forum - the latest youth environmental programme developed under the UNEP-Bayer partnership.
Creative and practical uses of science, sociology and technology for sustainable development will top the agenda of the conference, which will bring 27 hand-picked youth delegates from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand together in October 2005. The forum will focus on facilitating the exchange of ideas between youth involved in a range of academic disciplines and from countries in different stages of development.
After three days of lectures and discussions in Manila, the programme will move to Subic, where delegates will trek into the forest for demonstrations by aboriginal guides of medicinal and water plants, firemaking, and utensils and cookers made from bamboo. Then, crucially, delegates will form teams combining expertise in the natural sciences, engineering and technology, the social sciences, and commerce and management to tackle real-life environmental problems in the area.
Dr Udo Oels, the member of the Bayer AG Board of Management responsible for Innovation, Technology and Environment, says, 'A global task such as sustainable development is a challenge for us all. Science and technology play a crucial role and interdisciplinary cooperation can put sustainability concepts into practice. Eco-Minds therefore is an important forum for bringing together young people representing a wide range of nationalities and academic disciplines.'
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Counterpart International, an international human development organization, has helped Malika Yarmatova continue her studies in Uzbekistan on developing emerging markets through international finance, business ethics and social responsibility. The scholarship advances Counterpart's aim of 'building a just world through service and partnership' by building and supporting local capacity in the South. Lelei LeLaulu, president and CEO of Counterpart International, urged Yarmatova - who has served as CEO of the Student Government Association, run classes for the unemployed and helped to compile a 70,000-entry English-Russian-Uzbek online dictionary - to 'work hard, share your ideas with others, and not fear challenges', adding, 'You have the power to shape the future, to advocate change, to lead and to help create a truly sustainable future.' |
Eco-minds Bayer AG LEAD International Counterpart International PDF Version