Is there a role for cultural heritage in our struggle to avert global warming? Can we trust technology to ease the stressed-out state of the planet? Or should we look back over our shoulders at ancestral wisdom for some answers?
Speakers from 10 Asean nations mulled these questions at a conference on "Cultural Wisdom for Climate Action: the Southeast Asian Contribution," hosted by the Siam Society and Southeast Asian Cultural Heritage Alliance (Seacha) in Bangkok on Jan 12–14.
The contributors included scientists, activists, academics, religious leaders, architects, writers and artists. The most passionate voices belonged to 16 young leaders, including several from indigenous and minority communities. As a young Thai participant exclaimed in the discussion, "This matter is huge!"
