2015 GYELS South Korea

- experiences and 'environmental' analysis of 2015 GYELS

[experience] the 2015 GYELS included a Model UN regarding the issues surrounding a shared river in 'Country A.' Students who took part in the program first participated in the Environment Forum (GYEF), then discussed global issues with foreign delegates afterwards. After the 2-day length forum, the delegates visited Everland (Korean amusement park) and Samsung Engineering, where they presented their final resolution to the given conundrum. The delegates from oversea wnet sightseeing at the Chosun Dynasty Korean Palace and cities like Insadong, but well, I didn't get to do all that.

And that wasn't all. Coming from South Korea, I myself did not have to take the plane...go to the hotel...find difficulties communicating...or go all the way back home on a 7 hour flight...

BUT I still got to take part in the 2015 GYELS, thanks to the MUN program.

[GYEF] There were a number of lectures that we could listen to in the GYEF program. For me, the most memorable was the last one, (not only because it was the last and I remembered most of it, but it really was nice) which was about reviving beach trash into artwork. There's an article here in Tunza about it: https://tunza.eco-generation.org/competitonPaintingView.jsp

What was special about this beach cleanup project was that it was not a beach cleanup project. It was not only about cleaning the mess up. It was making something new, finding something valuable within the mess. As we watched the plastic bags, the pipes, and the used-up seashells transform into brilliant forms of modern art, we found a new value, a new meaning in the trash. Something in something less than nothing. Those pipes we saw used to be things that nobody, nobody cared about. And yet, now, people visited art centers to look at them. To look at them!

And if that wasn't inspiring, nothing else would really be.

-because environment conservation is all about making the world ready and prone to a better change, not about keeping it temporarily nice and clean.

[GYELS] Each member was assigned a role among - Country A, neighboring country, Business sector, NGO, citizen (can choose if he/she supports).

This was what said in our given agenda: (C&P)

Recently the government of A country is planning a river-refurbishment project which includes building many dams on rivers throughout the country. Businesses sectors support this plan in order to pursue their sustainable growth by hiring thousands of people in the region. However, neighboring countries are opposed to this project because this river is shared between two states. Moreover, environmentalists are saying that the dam wall itself blocks fish migrations, which in some cases and with some species completely separate spawning habitats from rearing habitats. Citizens show different reactions. NGOs argue that the estimated economic value is not credible and it will end up with huge destruction of the ecosystem.

I played the role of Country A, and as a team, we came upon a resolution to satisfy the position of all social groups. Most teams decided to build the dams, but implemented policies that were non-harmful to the surrounding environment.

Still, real life situations are quite different from ones that are presumed. Which would be why treaties regarding shared rivers often end up so gruesomely, and even if they work, differ from country to country.

[End] At the end, it was nice. :D