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From Yerevan to Yeoncheon: Advancing Future Generations’ Actions for Nature and Peace

From the 2-3 November, the Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea Office took part as a partner organization in the 2026 International Forum on Nature and Peace for Future Generations in Yeoncheon. HSF Senior Researcher Dr Hyun-Ah Choi led a mock conference for young people, during which participants discussed how to put the objectives of CBD COP17 into practice. The forum also saw local and international partners present their work and highlight ways in which young people can get involved in nature conservation.

Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) Korea Office participated in the 2026 International Forum on Nature and Peace for Future Generations in Yeoncheon on November 2–3 as a partner organization, contributing to international discussions on nature and peace.

Yeoncheon County, the ICLEI Korea Office, Gyeonggi Province, and the Yeoncheon Office of Education organized the forum under the theme “Peace with Action.” It carried forward discussions from CBD COP 17, held in Yerevan, Armenia, in October, and connected them with local action. Yeoncheon’s youth had presented their action plan for nature and peace to the international community at COP17, including at a side event organized with Yeoncheon County, ICLEI Korea, and HSF Korea. The Yeoncheon forum carried this work forward, continuing the momentum from “Yerevan to Yeoncheon.”

The first day began with a youth international model conference. Dr. Hyun-Ah Choi, Senior researcher at HSF Korea, chaired a session on developing practical plans to turn the Yeoncheon Declaration by Future Generations for Nature and Peace into concrete action. Together with young participants, she discussed how to translate the declaration’s goals into action in local communities and everyday life. The forum also featured examples of intercity cooperation for nature conservation, including cases from Australia, China, and Korea. A session on wetland conservation shared examples from Jeju Island, Hong Kong, and Japan, focusing on the protection of Ramsar Sites and practical approaches for Ramsar Wetland Cities.

The second day highlighted youth-led efforts in local ecological conservation. The East Asian–Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP), UNESCO, Japan’s Fujimae Tidal Flat, and the Seocheon region of Chungcheongnam-do presented their activities, offering perspectives on how young people can contribute to conservation.

After the forum, participants visited the Taephung Observatory, Imjin River Peace Wetland, and Imjin River Nature Center to experience Yeoncheon’s ecological landscape and sites of peace. By turning international discussions from Yerevan into action for nature and peace in Yeoncheon, the forum gave future generations an opportunity to help shape change together.