Due to the chaotic political situation, leadership gap and chronic environmental degradation in Myanmar, Bo Bo began working with a group of like-minded youth in 2007 after completing his MSc in Natural Resources Management at the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. He strongly believes that ‘Peace and Justice’ should be seen through the window of ‘Sustainability’ which cannot be achieved without a harmonious balance of human’s actions and the resilience of the natural environment. He believes that policies, administrative guidelines, and regulations cannot fully address the global issues of climate change and environmental degradation. Instead, he sees people’s awareness, their meaningful participation, and effective engagement as the key sources of change in addressing the global issues. In other words, that personal awakening can lead to societal transformation. 

Holding these beliefs, he invested over 12 years in empowering thousands of young people in Myanmar with the core values and practice of socially engaged spirituality and deep ecology. He, through his foundation, has worked with diverse groups of stakeholders: young farmers, young environmental leaders, youth peace leaders, university students, educators, and inter-religious partners. They prioritised personal transformation and emphasised starting with the ‘Heart’ (attitude/mindset/ spirituality) first. Then, they focussed on ‘Head’ (knowledge/thinking skill) and ‘Hand’ (practical skills/performance) to match with what ‘Heart’ needed. 

Since handing over his leading role in the Foundation to the second line leaders in 2019, Bo Bo has taken up a doctoral studentship at the Open University (UK). This is also very important for Myanmar as this research is studying how Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) could be conceptualised in Myanmar and what kinds of attitudes, knowledge, behaviour, and skills (as competencies or graduate attributes) might be needed for the sustainable development of Myanmar, and how ESD could be integrated Higher Education Institutions. 

Marit is one of the founders and headteacher of Gaia School in Estonia.

Marit has studied cultural and educational sciences at Tallinn University, and has decades of experience in the development of different training programmes and curricula.

She has worked as a lecturer and manager of several educational institutions, and NGOs and is currently responsible for the development of Gaia School in Estonia.

Gaia School is a private school with 240 students from grades 1-9. The school carries the values and methodology of holistic education and sustainable development and intends to offer education on an international level  from 2023.

Gabriela is an architect and urban planner. Practitioner in NLP – Neuro-Lingic Programming by INEXH. Project Management Specialist. Sustainable Communities Designer by Gaia Education (GEDS). Member and trainer at the Brazilian Hub of Transition Towns. Guardian of Collab Jovem, project of the Brazilian Transition. Articulator of the Time to Plant Regenerative Movement. Co-coordinator of Gaia Youth. Creator and guardian of open source social technology: DPV - Design of the Life Project. Founder and tutor at Ecoversidade S.E.V.A - Be yourself in action in the world.