FOBISIA Environmental Conference 2019

Reconnecting with Nature in our Cities

This March, Bangkok Prep welcomed delegates from three fellow FOBISIA member schools to participate in the annual FOBISIA Environmental Conference, with the aim of addressing an ever more pressing question; how can we connect more with nature whilst living in a modern metropolis?

A Mindful Approach

Each day of the conference began with an hour of yoga and mindfulness practice, led by qualified yoga teachers, Miss Jacqui and FOBP member Anju, The age-old method of establishing the bond between mind and body through conscious breathing enabled the students to begin each day by settling themselves and engaging with themselves and with one another.

Bangkok’s Urban Oasis

Once they’d been safely fitted with life-jackets, students and teachers made their way across the river using traditional long-tail boats to reach Bang Krachao – Bangkok’s ‘Green Lung’. Hailed as the largest natural space in any Asian mega-city, the area is a haven for wildlife and hosts many species of birds, large monitor lizards and even several species of snake. Students from all schools worked together to complete a variety of ecologically-themed challenges and games. They also participated in a photography workshop led by our own Tom Bannister.

Keynote Speech

In association with our partners at WWF Thailand, we welcomed WWF’s Head of Conservation Gordon Congdon Jr to open the second day of the conference. Mr Congdon is a recognised champion of biodiversity and, in particular, is known for his inspirational work in protecting tigers throughout Southeast Asia.

Bangkok Prep and BCPG – A Prosumer!

As an Eco School, Bangkok Prep has continued to develop our sustainable practices and we are incredibly proud to have installed a large quantity of solar panels at our Secondary Campus. These panels produce an excess of energy during certain periods of the year. This enables our school to provide renewable energy to other businesses within the T77 complex. Participants in the conference visited the campus to plant vegetables at our organic farm. Then, they had the pleasure of visiting Bangchak’s learning centre to be informed of the cutting-edge developments being led by our event sponsors, BCPG.

Reduce, Recycle, Upcycle!

The conference concluded with a series of workshops at our 53 campus. Using the awesome MakerSpace, Andy Wooldridge led the students to create frames for their own photos using old magazines. Our colleagues from Sang Foundation continued to help us raise awareness by creating a mini Bobo the Whale for each school to take home with them. We were also pleased to welcome Second Chance Bangkok back to Prep to hold a fantastic upcycling workshop whereby students created bags from old t-shirts. Our friends at RoyRak joined us too and made amazing bracelets from old ring-pulls with the students. All these activities helped the conference to conclude with an important message: we can and must be ever-more mindful of what we consume as our cities continue to grow.