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ASEAN member countries take another approach at mitigating climate crisis
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he ASEAN Foundation and Nanyang Technological University Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA) jointly held a three-day conference that started on Thursday.
With the aim of addressing relationships and links to Southeast Asian cultures and their ecologies and biodiversity, the event bears the title of “Climate Futures #1: Cultures, Climate Crisis and Disappearing Ecologies.”
The collaboration is expected to analyze the effect that colonialism had on various cultures throughout the region, as well as its relationship to today’s climate crises. A key aim is to treat indigenous local knowledge and cultural perspectives as equal to the hard science of conventional research, thereby cultivating long-term relations of knowledge exchange.
It is hoped that the project will result in a broader understanding of post-colonial legacies and the upcoming challenges they may bring, while building strong international networks and identifying potential methodologies for positive change.
"According to the International Monetary Fund, emerging economies represent 85 percent of the world’s population and are facing the brunt of global social and environmental challenges. ASEAN represents many of these economies and consequently the conference speakers represent ASEAN nations with direct experience of those challenges. During this conference we hope to explore together the possibilities of a better future beyond the current climate crisis", said Dr. Yang Mee Eng, executive director of ASEAN Foundation.
The first day of the event was also attend by speakers from the 10 ASEAN member countries, as well as South Korea, Germany, Australia and more than 1,200 people from 31 countries, who signed up for the hybrid conference.
While the event covered various topics, it comprised several discussions on alternative approaches to regional studies focusing on urgent issues such as rising sea levels and temperatures and the impact on natural resources of the region. The Mekong River and Delta and the Straits of Malacca were used as the initial case, as they encompass different member countries and each plays an essential role in the region’s shared history.
The holistic approach of the event is to stimulate a debate among artists, designers and architects, scientists and environmentalists, as well as local voices and policymakers. The collaboration seeks to reach out to a wider public, including young scholars and arts practitioners, as well as community leaders from the ASEAN region.
The conference was organized by NTU CCA with the support of KONNECT ASEAN. The latter was first established by the Republic of Korea in 2019 as an ASEAN-Korea arts program to increase the roles of the East Asian country and ASEAN members in contemporary visual arts, as well as to strengthen connections between them.
The offline event will also be available via live-streaming and is open for online registration at bit.ly/KONNECTASEAN_CF. Please follow the social media to have more updated information instagram.com/aseanfoundation.
