From the Executive Director.
Dear Friends,
Despite the global pandemic, bamboo people around the world continue to work hard to elevate bamboo as a vital community resource, a sustainable alternative as fuel, fiber, and building material, and an important natural resource to alleviate climate change challenges. Thousands of people are taking part in virtual webinars, and thousands of people are working via hands-on bamboo projects around the globe. Although at times it seems as if the Earth is at a stand-still, it continues to rotate around the sun and we are moving forward! We must!
The week of World Bamboo Day was one of massive recognition for bamboo, and WBO hosted a Global Celebration online. Over 300 participants from 36 countries took part via Zoom, and over 1,000 watched via live YouTube streaming. I admit we endured some technical glitches, and at times the sound was terrible. Zoom cut off at one point, and YouTube became disconnected after the 11th hour (and reconnected); nevertheless, we managed to successfully connect people around the planet for approximately 18 hours!
My sincere thanks to some key persons who made this possible: Neelam Manjunath (World Bamboo Ambassador) and her team at Center for Green Building Materials and Technology, who hosted an all-day World Bamboo Day Cultural Fest in Bangalore and kicked off our Global Celebration.
Nirmala Chongtham (World Bamboo Ambassador) and Santosh Oinam of Panjab University, who led us through very interesting presentations from the region and demonstrated how to cook with bamboo shoots. Both served as CoHosts for our Global Celebration. Happily, they presented their new book, Bamboo Shoot:
Superfood for Nutrition, Health and Medicine, by CRC Press.
Truy Lin Tran of Lasuco Thanh Tam EcoPark in Tranh Hoa, Vietnam, and Quang Vinh Dong, Conductor of Bamboo Ensemble, on bamboo musical instruments of Vietnam.
Bryan Benitez McClelland (World Bamboo Ambassador) of BamBike, in Manilla, who served as CoHost, and brought us through developments in his country, including the housing efforts of Base Bahay.
Arief Rabik (World Bamboo Ambassador) of IndoBamboo, was live with us from Bali, Indonesia, to present his work with the 1,000 Bamboo Villages concept.
Ayaka Yamashita and Edgar Banasan of EDAYA, in the Philippines, on their design, cultural arts and music therapy projects.
Rebecca Reubens (World Bamboo Ambassador) of Rhizome design studio in Ahmedabad
Jean-Luc Kouyoumji (World Bamboo Ambassador), CoHost, and Michel Abadie, (World Bamboo Ambassador) live from Paris, with Butch Dalrymple-Smith and Edouard Sherwood of Cobratex, re: bamboo fiber potentials & innovations.
Ivan Platás of GOYTI, live from Spain, as CoHost, and shared presentations from members of the newly formed Iberian Bamboo Society.
Vishal Modha of Digital Mycelium, live from Tulum, Mexico, with an interview and on-site visit with Arquitectura Mixta.
Hector Archila (World Bamboo Ambassador) of Amphibia BASE Ltd, stepped in as CoHost, from Bath, UK, and shared his work on composites in building materials.
Mauricio Mora Tello (World Bamboo Ambassadsor) joined us live from Mexico but unfortunately due to WiFi disturbance could not show us his presentation of his recent work with bamboo shoots and beverages.
Katia Sei Fong (World Bamboo Ambassador) of Nuestro Bambu, stepped in as CoCost, from Montevideo, Uruguay, and shared impressions from bamboo people throughout the region.
Pablo Jacome, live from Quito, Ecuador, of INBAR LAC and his team, joined the webinar and jointly hosted "How American Continent Thinks in Bamboo"
Tania Cerron (World Bamboo Ambassador) joined from Lima, Peru, where she works as an architect, hosts workshops for students and villagers, and as part of Bamboo Green Communities.
Ximena Londoño (World Bamboo Ambassador & World Bamboo Pioneer) was live from Cali, Colombia, where she presented an overview by members of the Colombian Bamboo Society
Guilherme Korte (World Bamboo Ambassador) came to us live from Sao Paulo. He is President of the Brazilian Bamboo Producers Association, and he shared updates from the field, and was joined by a representative from Makita tool company.
Martin Abdi Mortera (World Bamboo Ambassador) joined us from Mexico but unfortunately due to WiFi disturbance could not show us his presentation of his recent work at KAN, in Tulum.
From the western hemisphere, we crossed back over the Date Line and ended our World Bamboo Day Global Celebration in TAIWAN, where we met our 12th WBC Hosts at the Taoyuan Land Art Festival.
LiFang Tang (World Bamboo Ambassador) joined us as CoHost, with Alice Lin and Peter Kan of the Taiwan Bamboo Society, live from Taoyuan, Taiwan. We wished we were there in person!
We could not have done this without a very big team of volunteers, and a very patient audience. Thank you to all of you who tuned in, and we appreciate your support!
Sincerely, Susanne Lucas, Executive Director, WBO
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From the President. To honor WBD 18 September 2020.
The human path to Bamboo Now
My dear friends, my dear bamboo friends from all over the world. It's with a big emotion that I am talking to you instead of meeting you directly - person to person - as it was scheduled for today in Taïwan with the opening of 12th World Bamboo Congress.
But, Man proposes and Life decides. And this time, Life decided to keep you in distance by protection against this dramatic worldwide pandemia. On the worse period of humanity, there is always a human path to willing persons with a strong desire of sharing unity and exchange.
Nowadays, the path is digital with the electronic abilities of computer and network. It's not a touchy feeling but it could be also fine and more ecological responsible. With this current technology we can be together again on a different space and time. A strange way to remind us that we are living on the same and unique planet with different hours of life.
So, I have to say thank you for the ones who were already on course six hours before and I invite the others to be ready to take the helm after me. The essential <thing> is to be together on the same path, the bamboo trail.
We are following this by not only a passion for bamboo, but also by a deep sense of necessity for the planet evolution, for the economy transformation and for the people's action to a new development perspective.
It's important to remember that on a planet of 7.8 billion inhabitants, one person over seven is living in a bamboo house. It's important to remember that 2.3 billion inhabitants are living with the economy of bamboo. And today, this economy is growing as fast as the plant is shooting to the sky.
And to explore and explain this fantastic contemporary development of bamboo, we chose the theme of BAMBOO NOW for the next 12thWBC.
It doesn't matter the situation. We will find the path to have a great Congress next year, in the same place, in Taïwan. With you, with all of you. It's my deepest desire. The Taïwanese team, with the help of Taïwan Bamboo Society and WBO team, has done a lot to prepare an amazing Congress.
Don't worry, be patient, be confident. Come inside the long trail of bamboo. Remember, this plant was, sixty six million years ago, part of alimentation of one-third of all living creatures on Earth, the herbivorous dinosaurs. Before a major disaster, with the crash of a twelve kilometer diameter meteorite on the Mexican gulf. And the only one to escape was... the chicken. One of the favorite meal of humanity today, with bamboo for sure!
So in our present situation, it's a perfect time to envision, to prepare and draw the new paths of BAMBOO NOW.
Thank you and see you soon.
Michel Abadie
A BIG GIANT MUCHAS GRACIAS TO KATIA SEI FONG (World Bamboo Ambassador) who has taken over the World Bamboo Instagram account! It is beautiful and we are so fortunate to have her creative genius behind it! Take a look :
https://www.instagram.com/worldbamboo/
Who is up for taking over TWITTER? FACEBOOK? or LINKEDin? If you want to volunteer, send an email to info@worldbamboo.net and let us know 1> why it should be YOU, 2> give us an example of your creative work, and 3> any other info to help us decide to choose YOU.
#KeepBambooStrong #ExpandYourVoice
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12th World Bamboo Congress re-scheduled for 2021 in Taiwan - an update
The 12WBC International Committee and National Committee are standing strong to bring an amazing global event to Taiwan in 2021. This revised program for the 12th WBC Taiwan will be a very unique experience, and nothing like previous WBCs. It will be an adventure and not a traditional conference in an auditorium!
Stay tuned for updates, and visit the website for more details.
Any questions, please contact 12WBC Secretary Alice Lin.
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