MS GIN Conference 2018

Melati Wijsen delivering a keynote.

On March 2 - 4, Canggu Community School in Bali welcomed more than 300 people to campus to share ideas and solutions on a variety of environmental and humanitarian questions at this year’s EARCOSaffiliated middle school Global Issues Network (GIN) conference. Twenty-two schools from seven countries joined together for three days of solutions-focused workshops, inspiring keynote sessions and opportunities to form new friendships with other like-minded students.

The goal of a GIN conference is to equip participants with the information and strategies and to spark passion to make sustainable impacts on environmental or humanitarian issues. The conference theme, Seeking Solutions: Meeting Global Challenges in a Changing World, was an excellent way for students to be introduced to global issues and immersed in the possible ways that they can move forward.

Our keynote speakers were exceptional. Dr Lindsay Porter, a whale and dolphin scientist who is based in Hong Kong, opened the conference by sharing her knowledge on the health of the oceans. After watching the documentary A Plastic Ocean, which her research contributed to, Dr Porter and the audience engaged in a question and answer session. She also led a hands-on workshop on plastics and the oceans, showing students both the benefits of certain uses of plastic and the long-term effects of single-use plastics.

On Saturday morning, Isabel and Melati Wijsen from Bye Bye Plastic Bags inspired our middle school participants as young people taking action. They led an exciting workshop, discussing their journey to ban plastic bags in Bali. Students saw the power of voice and the perseverance required for environmental activists, as well as real-life examples of students making a change in their community.

Later in the day, Gupta Sitorus from Bali-based company Avani Eco discussed the ways Indonesian companies are seeking alternatives to the plastic problem. Their #IAmNotPlastic campaign brings awareness to consumers and companies about the perils of plastic. Students selected their workshops from 16 incredible options that ranged from food sustainability to deforestation, from systems thinking to the art and science of persuasion, from building a greenhouse to building an action plan. Workshop leaders traveled from all over Asia, bringing their expertise and passion to the groups of eager GIN students.

Many of the workshops were inspired by youth leaders. Some students made miniature Aquaponics systems, led by teachers and students at Canggu Community School, and the Green School Bio Bus Team taught students to make candles and soaps. Young people active in Kids Cut Conflict Palm Oil and Keep Bali Clean shared the ways that youth are able to make decisions each day to impact the world around them. All participants returned to their schools feeling energized to understand the issues more deeply and seek solutions in their everyday life.

The conference was organized by a team of CCS students, who made environmentally-conscious choices while selecting vendors. Though the attempt to have an entirely plastic-free conference proved difficult, especially in regards to packaging, the team made ethical choices on which vendors to use in order to reduce excess packaging and significantly limit the use of single-use plastics. Many vendors changed their packaging and delivery systems in order to support our goal of limited plastics.

Field trip to an organic farm

Sorting trash with Dr. Lindsay Porter.

The entire weekend was vegetarian, as feeding more than 300 people has potential to leave a significant carbon footprint and the team wanted to reduce the impacts of this conference as much as possible. The team donated 10% of the registration fee to Bye Bye Plastic Bags as our commitment to carbon-offsetting. Bye Bye Plastic Bags was selected as they epitomize the ethos of GIN: young people confronted by a global issue who took action in their local communities.

Together, we can make positive impacts on our world. And it starts with our students.

By Katie Holmes, Middle Years Coordinator and English Teacher, Canggu Community School, Bali, Indonesia kholmes@ccsbali.com | Photos by Punto Adji