Eco-Minds Forum makes successful debut in RP

Eco-Minds, a youth environmental program involving eight countries in Asia Pacific, made a successful debut last week in the Philippines. Organized by Bayer and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in cooperation with Ateneo de Manila University, the forum saw 27 youth leaders from Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines converging in Manila and Subic to explore scientific and multi-dimensional approaches to sustainable development. The venue rotates among the participating countries every two years, with delegates chosen via a national competition.

President Arroyo welcomed delegates and over 200 guests at the opening ceremony held at the InterContinental Hotel in Makati City on Oct. 27. The President said: "New breakthroughs in science and technology, which take into consideration economic, social and cultural factors, are necessary to achieve the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. For taking a pragmatic approach to the complex issues of sustainable development, this forum is doing a great service."

Present during the opening ceremony were Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Michael Defensor; Ms. Elisabeth Guilbaud-Cox, representative of UNEP; Dr. Udo Oels, a member of the Bayer AG board of management; and Cesar Virata, former Prime Minister of the Philippines. Guest lecturers included Prof. W. Roy Jackson, founding director of the Center for Green Chemistry in Monash University, Australia; Dr. Cielito Habito, director of the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development; and Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, director of the UN Millennium Development Project, who graced the program via video conference.

The Eco-Minds program includes lectures, workshops and field trips to ecologically relevant sites. The 27 university students along with an international media contingent traveled from Manila to Subic, where they were taken around the industrial area of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and the pristine environment surrounding it. They were treated to a delightful jungle tour, where aboriginal guides demonstrated the use of forest natural resources for medicines, drinking water, food and other survival needs.

The delegates, considered as the brightest young minds in the region, collaborated with fellow representatives from Asia Pacific to seek practical solutions to the complex issues of sustainable development. They were organized into groups, with each group comprising three students from different countries and different disciplines. The groups worked on a very challenging case study and presented their solutions to the panel of jurors that included former Environment and Natural Resources, Secretary Elisea Gozun. Members of the group with the best solution received a laptop each and the prestigious Eco-Minds Pathfinder Award. Internationally renowned Filipino artist Impy Pilapil designed and sculputured the trophy.

Eco-Minds strives to demonstrate how the basic principles of environment and sustainable development are interwoven in various disciplines, like natural sciences, engineering, management, and social sciences, and how they influence or are influenced by actors in various sectors of society: government, business and industries, media, non-government organizations, and communities.

Professor Klaus Toepfer, executive director of UNEP said: "Environmental sustainability is one of the Millennium Development Goals. It is also an essential thread that runs through all the others. Environmental degradation contributes to many of the most pressing problems we face today, including poverty, hunger, emerging diseases, rural-urban migration and civil conflict." He added, "Eco-Minds offers students an excellent opportunity to learn more and become involved."

"By bringing together students from Australia, China, Indonesia, Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, Eco-Minds is an important forum for scientific capacity building. It provides the participants a fantastic opportunity to exchange ideas from their wide range of academic disciplines, get guidance from experts, visit relevant ecological sites and work on solutions for real-world problems of sustainability."