UNEP-Tongji Leadership Programme - SHANGHAI and SUZHOU, China

The UNEP-Tongji Asia Pacific Leadership Programme on Environment for Sustainable Development has been conducted annually since 2004, on a collaborative basis between Tongji University and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The 2008 Leadership Programme was held during the week of 15-20 September 2008, at the premises of the UNEP Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development (IESD) in Shanghai, China, followed by a series of site visits to the eco-industrial city of Suzhou municipality.

This year 28 participants from 18 countries were selected, in which Aretha and Nuki had the opportunity to be part of. The Hanns Seidel Foundation and UNEP generously sponsored our participation and stay in China for a week, to pursue the intensive Leadership Programme that aims to build network and strengthen knowledge on the emerging issues on environment, especially in the Asia and the Pacific region.

During the intense weeks, we managed to make use of the night "session" more fruitful, by going to Shanghai downtown, do some shopping, and sight-seeing. We normally would went in a group of some good new friends, and would compare prices of the stuff that we bought, sometimes followed by delight of getting cheaper price, but sometimes with disappointment for having to pay more than what the goods were worth.

Nanjing Road, Shanghai downtown at 8:00 pm.

Modern as it is, with European/American/Asian mixed-designs of the building, Shanghai is a unique city which is worth a visit.



On the third day in Shanghai, we had the chance to do some more sight-seeing just the two of us, and visited the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, located in Pudong Park, which is the world's third tallest TV and radio tower, with 468 meters high above the ground.

The view from the top of the tower was unbelievably breath taking.

Following the session of lectures that were delivered by Resource Persons from Yale University, Griffith University, AIT, etc, and from private sectors such as HSBC and Bayer, we were brought to Suzhou city, an industrial municipality located 1 hour away from Shanghai. We stayed at the hotel provided by the organizer, which was at the heart of the shopping area and night entertainment in Suzhou.

Checking-in at the hotel in Suzhou


At the Exhibition of the Ecological Park in Suzhou, there were some interesting showcase of eco-friendly technologies with which the city was developed. Above picture is us sitting on top of the sturdy glass showcase of this eco-city modelling.

Mission to Davao City, the PHILIPPINES

In July 2008, I was invited to attend the annual APFED meetings. This time the venue was in Davao city of Mindanao province, the Philippines. The plane from Manila took around an hour, and I was pleased to see the wonderful view of Davao from above, just before landing. It was indeed a beautiful afternoon, around 4 pm or so - my favourite time of the day.


The meetings were intensed 2-days, in which I had to delivered presentations on behalf of UNEP. It really was a good opportunity for me to again network with experts, people from the Ministries of Environment (and several Ministers), as well as NGO representatives from Asia and the Pacific region.

Somehow while I was there, some people mistakenly thought that I was a Philippino. Once they talk to me in Tagalog, I would respond, "sorry, I'm not a Philippino" - to their surprise. And later on they'd apologize, saying "but you look like a Philippino," which I would respond, "yes, and you yourself look like an Indonesian." That usually would break the ice. ;)

And then there was a representative from IUCN who said to me, "at first I thought that you were a Philippino," he added, "but after hearing your presentation, I knew at once that you are not. So which country are you from?"

Anyway, after the whole 2-days meeting, IGES had the courtesy to provide participants to join the field visits. That was in fact also an opportunity to talk to the person next to you on the tour bus about things that are not necessarily related with work. It made the connection more humane and personal, which I like better.

In front of the tour bus, left to right: Henk Verbeek (UNEP Senior Admin Officer), me, Ikuyo Kikusawa (IGES), Prof. Emil Salim and his wife, Mr. Hiroshi Nishimiya (used to be my boss at UNEP as Deputy Regional Director, currently holding position as IGES' Deputy Programme Management Office), and the representative of Ministry of Environment, Japan.


With Prof. Emil Salim, at the Eagles Conservation centre of Davao city. Prof. Salim is one of the APFED members, the only delegate from Indonesia, and we are pleased to have him on board.

A little observation on Prof. Emil Salim. He is considered as a world-renowned, awards-winning expert on environmental sustainable development. He is always active during the discussion sessions, with his point of emphasis on poverty reduction. He always puts forward the importance of the policy makers to take into account measures on poverty reduction, in front of the international audience before him. He is the former Minister of Environment, and is currently holding a position as member of the Advisory Council to the Indonesian President. I have only learned about him in my elementary school text books, and so grateful to have the chance to meet him in person at international fora like this.

Akhtar Avatara

Looking at the previous posts, I got the warm feeling inside by looking at baby pictures of Akhtar. It feels like only recently he was still a baby. Now he has grown a lot and turned as a boy instead of a baby :)

Playing badminton with mom, dad, and the Indobangkoknoi group

Self-portrait submitted to the pre-school he is currently attending; Early Years in Sukhumvit, Bangkok.

When asked, what does he want to be? He would reply, "an astronout!". He said that he wants to go to the moon, and stars, and drop by the sun "it's so hooott... in the suuun...", he would add.

He is also fascinated with airplanes, trains, and all sorts of transportation. But he likes airplanes best, and his face would brigthen up by the prospect of all of us going to the airport. Sometimes he'd be a bit disappointed when we went to the airport just to pick up our family members who were dropping by Bangkok, because he wants to ride on the plane.

Riding (posing) on the Thai Airways mobile cart at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport

The last time we went on the plane was to go back to Semarang for our sister's wedding. The plane departed from Bangkok to Jogjakarta (by MAS), unfortunately the weather wasn't favourable and there were several turbulence, which made Akhtar's face a bit dimmed. Then he said, "I don't like airplanes, mommy. I don't want to go on airplanes... no more." But we tried to encourage him that the turbulence is due to the weather, and we went inside the thick clouds, etc. After landing, it seems that he had forgotten all about the sickening turbulence, and said, "I want to ride on the plane again! Let's go, Mommy!"

Akhtar and papa, mesmerizing the replica of an airplane at Kuala Lumpur (KLIA) airport


"Funky music on my earphones, mommy! Yeah... rock on, dude!"

Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Bali (CoP 13)

Climate change is claimed as the defining challenge of the century. Given the importance of the topic, UNEP had put climate change on top of its agenda. I was pleased to have been given the chance to attend the conference as observer, in addition to my role to assist the UNEP Subregional Environmental Policy Dialogue, which was attended by Ministers of Environment from Asia and the Pacific (including Minister Rachmat Witoelar) and the UNEP Executive Director Mr. Achim Steiner.

The JAPAN mission - Tokyo, Yokohama, Hayama

Finally the time has come for me to be able to visit our counterpart's office based in Japan. I have mainly been working with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) and I was pleased to be invited to attend and delivered a presentation on behalf of UNEP at the meeting there. Their headquarters office in Hayama - Kanagawa Perfecture, is impressive. Not only that it was spacious, airy and with modern interior/exterior, the building also applied the notion of sustainable building by the installation of wind energy systems to provide electricity, solar lighting, etc.

Prior to attending the full-day meetings, at the IGES Headquarters office in Hayama, Japan.

Given that Japan is indeed an exciting place to visit, I had the courtesy to invite my mother to come with me on this mission. After a few days of back-to-back meetings, we extended our stay and had some extra days spent in Tokyo and Yokohama. As good ol'tourists, we did all the touristy things, such as visited the Tokyo Tower, all-modern Roppongi hills, Akihabara, etc, which were included in one of those full-day Tokyo tour services. It was all worth it, and we both had a blast!

Our feet on top of the Tokyo Tower

At Roppongi hills, from which Tokyo Tower can be seen from afar