Yeoncheon youth to draw up international action plan for nature and peace

【Financial News, Yeoncheon = Kim Kyung-soo】 Yeoncheon County in Gyeonggi Province has created a platform for international cooperation with young people to conserve nature and achieve peace.
Yeoncheon County held the 2nd International Forum on Nature and Peace for Yeoncheon's Future Generations at the Baekhak Jayuro Resort Convention Center in Yeoncheon on the 2nd.
About 80 people attended, including Yeoncheon County Governor Kim Deok-hyeon, Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly member Yoon Jong-young, Park Hyeon-seok, head of Gyeonggi Province's Peace Cooperation Bureau, and Lee Mun-gu, head of the Gyeonggi Yeoncheon Office of Education, as well as officials from China, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines and Australia and local residents. The event was held with simultaneous interpretation in Korean and English.
The forum was hosted by Yeoncheon County and the ICLEI Korea Office, with Gyeonggi Province, the Gyeonggi Yeoncheon Office of Education, the Secretariat of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAF), and the Hans Seidel Foundation Korea Office also taking part.
The program that drew the most attention was a mock international conference in which young people devised their own practical measures for nature and peace.
At the “Youth Session: 2nd Youth Mock International Conference,” organized in connection with the Yeoncheon Office of Education's Shared School program and Yeoncheon County's Special Zone for Education Development project, students adopted an action plan with domestic and international youth mentors and presented its key points.
Earlier, building on the “Yeoncheon Future Generations Declaration for Nature and Peace,” adopted at last year's first forum, students took part in the Shared School program in August and worked with Korean youth mentors to develop practical action items. This time, international mentors also joined to further develop the plan.
The forum also shared international examples of nature conservation. Bettina Künast, director of the visitor center at Lenzen Castle in Germany's Elbe River Landscape Biosphere Reserve, gave a special lecture introducing conservation efforts in a region once divided into East and West Germany. The example drew interest as a case that could be considered in connection with the Yeoncheon Imjin River Biosphere Reserve.
Yeoncheon County Governor Kim Deok-hyeon emphasized, “As a region with multiple UNESCO designations and an ICLEI member city, we will spare no effort to support future generations in connecting with the wider world from a base in Yeoncheon.”
The international forum runs through the 3rd.
[email protected] Kim Kyung-soo Reporter