EAAFP Foundation and Yeonsu Foundation for Arts and Culture staffs are taking a picture after the MOU signing ceremony © Yunjoo Cho / EAAFP Foundation
On 31st March 2021, EAAFP Foundation and Yeonsu Foundation for Arts and Culture(YSFAC) held an MOU signing ceremony to promote the importance of migratory waterbirds and their habitats in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, through culture and arts. The ceremony was held in the boardroom of G-Tower, Songdo with representatives of Yeonsu Foundation for Arts and Culture and EAAFP Foundation. The event was held in strict compliance with the government’s guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Mr. Doug Watkins, the Chairperson of the EAAFP Foundation delivering his remarks © Yunjoo Cho / EAAFP Foundation
In his congratulatory remarks, Mr. Doug Watkins, the Chief Executive of EAAFP Secretariat and Chairperson of the EAAFP Foundation showed his appreciation for YSFAC for supporting a collaboration by incorporating arts and culture in conservation projects in order to reach out to more people to take action to maintain the natural environment. He emphasized the importance of partnership rather than the single action of an individual party. He said “Partnerships are the key to this journey. No conservation actions can be secured by an individual party. With the growing recognition on the importance of cooperation among different organizations with their own unique expertise, our MOU will deliver important messages to both environmental conservation and the arts community.”
Mr. Park Young Jeong, the President of YSFAC delivering his remarks © Yunjoo Cho / EAAFP Foundation
Mr. Park Young Jeong, the President of YSFAC expressed that the approaches made toward the MOU signing ceremony was very special, as it has advanced step by step since the ‘Joint Capacity Building Seminar’ in December 2020. The seminar enabled both organizations to understand each other’s strengths and visions while building staff capacity and sharing knowledge about arts, culture, and also the conservation of migratory waterbirds and their habitats in the EAA Flyway.
The objective of the MOU is to sustain and advance the partnership between EAAFP Foundation and YSFAC. The partnership will begin with its first joint project called “Online Eco-Talk Show series” in celebration of 2021 World Migratory Bird Day. The project will release several educational and engaging videos focusing on migratory waterbirds, wetlands, people and arts and culture. It is one of the cooperative projects with the Yeonsu Foundation for Arts and Culture this year 2021, and there will be more cooperative activities building later on.
Staff members watching the poet Ms. Sang-eun Lee’s poem recital video © Yunjoo Cho / EAAFP Foundation
During the ceremony, a storytelling video about Songdo’s fishery community by Ms. Sang-eun Lee who is a poet and resident of Yeonsu district was shown to the participants. Her project was part of the YSFAC’s public project called ‘Art of Our Village’ by Incheon Creation Arts Association. In her video, she presented her own poetry, a conversation between a grandmother and her grandson about the feeling for Songdo Tidal Flat (EAAF145) and how people living on the reclaimed urban Songdo should co-exist with and value the ecological resources of Songdo Tidal Flat.
The EAAFP Foundation welcomes the MOU with Yeonsu Foundation for Arts and Culture. We look forward to sustaining our conservation and promotion efforts of natural environment jointly with Yeonsu Foundation for Arts and Culture.
