The 2nd Annual EARCOS GIN Conference Opens with John Liu

At 10:30 on Friday, March 20, the traditional King’s Anthem of Thailand resonated in the imposing Chevron Theatre of the International School Bangkok. It indicated the commencement of the Opening Keynote Session of the 2nd Annual EARCOS Global Issues Network (GIN) Conference. 360 participants from 43 International Schools were present to hear Mr. Andy Davies, ISB's High School Principal, deliver an introductory message of optimism.

Mr. Davies highlighted the significance of the 2009 motto We Can, We Will. “A single person cannot accomplish much,” he said, “The We is growing… We are hoping to expand the We.” Linda Sills, and EARCOS associate and the organizing director, defined the We in the following speech. “We think of ourselves as global first, we are problem solvers, and we feel empathy, not apathy.” Both Mr. Davies and Ms. Sills presented ideas of hope for the future. “Seemingly insurmountable problems have been solved,” said Mr. Davies. “This is the best place to be on the planet,” stated Ms. Sills boldly, “we CAN and we WILL impact the planet.”

The EARCOS Global Issues Conference is an annual conference designed to empower and inspire young people to make a difference in the world in which they live. The previous two events were located in Luxembourg (2007) and Beijing (2008). Ms. Sills designed two initiatives to promote global awareness in Asia; the global citizenship award and an inaugural Asia GIN conference.

Gina Ah-Fenne, ISB’s environmental representative, produced a welcoming speech of her own. “Those of you seated before me, believe it or not, you’re the future… As the future generation we not only can make a difference, we ARE the difference.”

The most notable event of the day was when the keynote speaker John D. Liu, a producer and cameraman renowned for his work on documenting the process of rehabilitating degraded environments, addressed the audience in a moving and memorable speech. He studied temporarily at the Taipei American School (TAS).

His passion for documenting the alteration of environmental ecosystems began in North Western China. “My thoughts about the ecosystem began high up in the Himalayas,” he said. He is most known for his work on the Loess Plateau in the Shanxi province of China. The extraordinary natural wonder spans an area of 640,000 square km, which is roughly equivalent to the size of France. “[The Loess Plateau] is named for its soil type.” John Liu explained, “The soil is sedimentary and it’s rich in minerals. In order for it to be fertile, it must have living organisms.” Unfortunately for the people of Shanxi, these living organisms had been destroyed due to ignorance about agriculture, ecosystems and farming techniques. “When we first went there, we were astounded by what we were seeing, but as we investigated, we began to see how this had taken place.”

Mr. Liu believes firmly that there is a solution. “I realized there are two sorts of development paths; one is human development and the other different one was ecological development.” Mr. Liu understands more strongly than most the benefits of ecological development. He thinks that because humans have physically destroyed things, they must physically restore them in order to reverse the effects. “It’s possible to rehabilitate large scale damaged ecosystems. This is EXACTLY the knowledge we need today to apply to world problems, like Climate Change.” Within a decade, the people of Shanxi adopted sustainable ways of living and the watershed rehabilitation project mitigated desertification. It transformed from an arid wasteland to a lush environment complete with an impressive canopy and underbrush. The people benefited greatly, and the productivity and income of farmers increased significantly.

Student opinions on the GIN Conference are also greatly valued. We interviewed two people and asked how they felt about Mr. Liu’s keynote speech. The first student we talked to was 8th grader Rish Ram of JIS (Jakarta International School). Rish said “he has obviously done a bit of work and knows his info. Yes [he was inspiring] in some ways, but truly he was boring.” AJ Ballard of Hong Kong International School (HKIS) was a freshman attending the event. “It was really informative,” he said. “And it was hopeful and innovative.”

After his speech, Mr. Liu staged a Question and Answer session at room 3-104. “Nothing is going to magically appear somewhere,” he said. He dreamt of restoring the Sahara desert to its previous glory of the Ancient era, and for the immediate future he notes that Ethiopia is an ideal prospect for rehabilitation. He finished by saying “Humanity has never done anything at this scale. If we don’t understand what’s wrong, we can’t change it.”

Mr. Liu finished his rhetoric grandly. “I think it’s very important that we can look on a planetary scale. We can look now and see the world as an entire planet. Human beings developed without understanding the relationships around us and we decided we can do anything… We are at danger on a planetary scale. There’s nowhere else to go. If civilization fails we go to extinction.” But he offered a message of hope and optimistic intentions too. “We need to address the social issues as well as the ecological issues. Nature moves to achieve equilibrium…
…And we see now it’s possible to change ecosystems.”

by Michael Shearman and Alex Marshall (International School Bangkok)