Tunza (treat with care or affection)

This June I attended the TUNZA children’s conference in Stavanger, Norway. Tunza is a United Nations Environmental Program designed to inspire, inform, and enable children and youth to care for the environment. Children get to learn about environmental issues, share experiences and opinions, and collectively voice their concerns for the environment. The conference is also intended to inspire children to implement environmental projects in their communities. This year’s conference brought together children from 105 countries and focused on energy, water and sustainability.

There were over 50 workshops and fieldtrips offered. My favorite workshop was called, “Friends and Foes.” It examined the way the world works. The only problem is; our world isn’t working too well. We have significant environmental, political, and economic problems that need to be solved. In my action group we thought about how to fix our ailing world and centered on one solution, although I’m sure that there are others. Our solution sounds simple; we ALL must work together.

My favorite part of the conference was meeting children from all over the world committed to caring for the planet. They all offered new ideas and possibilities that I hadn’t even considered. I met an Egyptian girl who started a project which recycled everyday waste into amazing and fabulous works of art. I also learned about a girl from New Zealand who works to conserve an endangered species of bird called the takahe. I met a girl from Japan who is part of a group who saves owls. Then there was a group of Malaysian children called the Tree Theatre Group, who used drama to help people understand the importance of saving the forests.  And  then there was a group of children from Mexico who are devoted to the conservation of Cuatro Cienigas, which is the home to dozens of species endemic to their region. Another boy from Germany is dedicated to keeping the dream of planting a billion trees all over Europe alive. All of these children demonstrated extraordinary initiative and creativity. It was an honor to be able to talk to them and learn about them.

The TUNZA conference has to have been the most fantastic and moving experience of my life. I wish I was able to go back, but I’ll be too old when the next conference rolls around. The next conference is in Korea, maybe you would like to attend it?  If so just go to the Tunza webpage for more information.  But even if you can’t attend, please read the commitments with the adults in your life and implement in your home!  Or get your friends together and start a project caring for our precious environment.