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- Speaker: Gary Benchegib (Co-founder, Sungai Watch）, Akira Sakano (Director, Zero Waste Japan)
- Moderator: Marco Kusumawijaya (Urbanist/ ALFP Fellow 2008)
- Language: English with Japanese subtitles
- Release Date: February 27, 2023
- Organizer: International House of Japan
- Collaboration: Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation
The conflict in Ukraine and other global issues has brought energy concerns back into the spotlight and made them a topic close to our hearts and minds. Against this backdrop, we realize that a society that can recycle and reduce the generation of materials and the incineration of energy-intensive plastics and other wastes will become increasingly important. In this session, we will hear from Gary Benchegib of France, who is working to clean up the Citarum River in Indonesia, then the “world’s most polluted river”, to inform local communities about waste management. We will also hear from Akira Sakano, who led the waste policy of Kamikatsu Town in Tokushima Prefecture, the first town in Japan to declare a “zero waste” policy. These two people have been working steadily on environmental problems in Asia. We will hear about the current activities and visions of these young leaders, who have been tackling environmental issues in Asia and have achieved great results, and we will consider what each of us can do to help.
Archive Video
Gary Bencheghib (Co-founder, Sungai Watch)
French filmmaker and environmentalist based in Bali, Indonesia. As a teenager, he and his two siblings co-founded Make a Change World, an organization that produces multimedia content that highlights environmental issues in Asia and the world. In 2020, the Bencheghib siblings co-founded Sungai Watch, an environmental organization on a mission to stop plastic from going into the ocean by cleaning up rivers. In 2022, Gary Bencheghib received Asia’s premier prize and highest honor, Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership.
Akira Sakano (Director, Zero Waste Japan)
2015-2020: Chair of the Board of Directors, Zero Waste Academy, Japan – served to spread the zero waste community building concepts all over the world and showcased how a small town could be a model of change to the world. Since 2020, founded Zero Waste Japan – delivers planning and implementation of zero waste policy and projects to local governments, communities and businesses in Japan and elsewhere. Joined ecommit Co.,Ltd. In 2023 as Director & Chief Sustainability Officer to contribute in building circular economy from business field. Founded Green innovation Japan in 2021 to develop more than 1,000 “green innovators” to tackle climate change by 2030.Global Shaper, World Economic Forum 2012 to 2020. Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2019.
Marco Kusumawijaya (Urbanist)
Urbanist based in Jakarta. A former chair of Jakarta Arts Council, he is now a member of Jakarta Academy. His works cover architecture, urbanism, ecology, arts and housing. He was an Asia Leadership Fellow Program 2008 Fellow coorganized by the I-House and the Japan Foundation.