Report from the Executive Director, World Bamboo Organization. 12th World Bamboo Congress, Taiwan 2024

I have come full circle. I was young when I attended my first international bamboo event. It was in Japan in 1992.

I traveled a long distance to experience as much as I could about bamboo, and myself, amongst an audience massive and diverse. The culture was exotic to me; the food was exotic; the language was exotic and the only commonality between all of us was bamboo. There I was, a horticulturist thrilled with the appeal of bamboo in the garden, and so impressed to see it growing wild in a forest. Walking next to me was a designer creating housewares with bamboo, an architect building houses of bamboo, a businessman importing bamboo flooring, a plant collector looking for new varieties, an ecologist studying forest dynamics. Everyone I met was doing something with bamboo, or at least wanting to do something with bamboo. It was absolutely amazing, and it was a pivotal moment in my life.

Three decades later I realize that all I have ever really wanted from attending a global bamboo event is to share that kind of feeling, that sense of belonging. As the Founder and executive director of the World Bamboo Organization, I have worked hard with our corps of Ambassadors to provide a platform in which to spark peoples interest in bamboo, a venue that brings community together to exchange all there is about bamboo. For the entrepreneur, a place to promote an idea; for the scientist, a place to share purpose and results; for the manufacturer, a market for new products; for the engineer and architect, an opportunity to critique and create; for the artist, an audience for exposure. For all those people who believe in the potentials of bamboo to make a difference on this planet, we have created a forum. I believe the WBO has achieved this at the 12th World Bamboo Congress in Taiwan.

I have realized my purpose and I’m quite satisfied knowing that the hard work has paid off.

There was a tremendous volume of people supporting this effort. If it were not for LiFang Tang (founding president of the Taiwan Bamboo Society and WBO Ambassador), the 12th WBC would not have happened in Taiwan. With passion and determination, she handed the torch to the second TBS president, architect Peter Kan, and began the discussions of why bamboo in Taiwan has relevance around the world. <This is a simplification and just for your information). First its utility among its indigenous people and those of its colonists. Naturally Taiwan is rich in native species of bamboos and a climate conducive to growing a wide array of introduced species. There is a long history of bamboo shoots in Taiwanese cuisine and generations of artisans weaving and creating works of art. With innovations in technology and tooling, engineered bamboo was developed in Taiwan to expand its potentials in contemporary society. Climate change has caused a collision of interests to embrace bamboo as a possible mitigation tool, cycling carbon through the atmosphere and storing it in durable goods. All of this came to be the focus of the World Bamboo Congress. Once support was secured through the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Agriculture, we had to wait for the planet to survive a global pandemic. Kan then handed this package deal to the next president, Pei-Hsien Hsu.

Employed as an associate professor in the Department of Architecture at the National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Hsinchu, Hsu needed to convince his university that this was an important opportunity to host not just a few structures on the campus, but a global bamboo exchange with a good track record. Kan and Hsu additionally put together an amazing national Bamboo Expo, with structures erected in 4 locations across Taiwan.

The 12th WBC International Organizing Committee needed to build a program highlighting some of the best and the brightest people pushing the merits of bamboo. With the theme, Next Generation Bamboo; Solution, Innovation and Design, the speakers revealed what is happening with bamboo and how it is indeed making a difference. The event included 5 days of conference presentations, exhibitions, vendors, bamboo-themed cuisine, tours, demonstrations, and of course, music. For the Opening Day, we had nearly 500 people in attendance, from approximately 20 countries. Registration was free; the cost of the 5-day event was covered in entirety by the Ministry of Culture and Department of Agriculture and their affiliates, the Taiwan Bamboo Society, assorted commercial sponsors, and in-kind services provided by our hosts at NYCU and the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute in Nantou. Additional support for the post-Congress tour came generously from the Yunlin County Government.

The theme Next Generation was echoed through each presentation and each session: breakthroughs in science, technology, engineering, materials science, housing, renewable resources, and more have paved a better path for our next generation. We are finding innovations and solutions for better designing our future.

The original purpose of the World Bamboo Congress was to provide a platform for researchers to share their work on various aspects of bamboo. The event has evolved to include cultural, commercial, culinary and artisan aspects relating to bamboo. Many thanks to the 12th WBC Technical Committee, chaired by Dr. Nirmala Chontham and Dr. Liang Jeng Leu. The committee accepted over 120 abstracts from around the world.

Of the papers that were peer-reviewed and accepted, twenty-three papers dealt with the topic of Sustainable Developments & Green Economy, twenty-six papers dealt wth Innovations in Technology and Manufacture, and nineteen papers relating to Contemporary Designs and Applications. Twenty- five of these papers were presented by their authors at the Congress. A total of 68 papers are now on the website of the WBO, available for free download under the References tab, www.worldbamboo.net PowerPoints from all the presentations will be available soon.

Apart from the dedication of the members of the 12th WBC International Organizing Committee, the National Organizing Committee, the Taiwan Bamboo Society, the Forest and Nature Conservation Agency, NYCU, the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute, the WBC Technical Committee and our keynote and selected academic speakers, there were a handful of helpers who made a tremendous difference these past days of the 12th World Bamboo Congress: Meggie Peng of NYCU and her team, including Amber for her efforts with the exhibition, facilitator Linna Lin of the NTCRI in Nantou, and especially the ever cheerful Shana Huang of Yunlin Story House in Huwei (who also had her own volunteers). Our sincere thanks to them all!