VII WORLD BAMBOO CONGRESS - February 28 - March 4, 2004 - New Delhi, India

Dear Bamboo Friends,

      Please see the attached Announcement re: the World Bamboo 
Organization and the VII World Bamboo Congress event.  Please do your 
best to help me with the much needed promotion. I ask you to please 
submit this attachment to your bamboo society newsletter editors, and 
post on any appropriate website for further circulation.

      Thank you very much for your continued support,

      Susanne

      Susanne Lucas
      Co-Chair
      World Bamboo Organization
      P.O. Box 124
      Newton, MA 02456 USA
      lucasatworldbamboodotorg
      508-224-7982
      www.worldbamboo.org 

--

November 15, 2003

The World Bamboo Organization
Announces:

VII WORLD BAMBOO CONGRESS
February 28 - March 4, 2004
New Delhi, India

Bamboo for Development:

Prosperity for People and the Environment

BACKGROUND

The importance of bamboo to the world economy and its peoples is 
enormous. Over 2.5 bn people live in association with bamboo and the 
annual usage world-wide is equivalent to US $2.7 bn.  Global and 
national trade in bamboo and bamboo products is worth over $4.5 bn.. 
The potential of bamboo to help fuel rural, economic and industrial 
development has been bolstered by the triennial International Bamboo 
Workshops and Congresses.  These events have contributed 
substantially to the development of the bamboo sector throughout the 
world and have raised the profile of bamboo amongst peoples, 
governments and institutions. These events have also encouraged 
global interaction through improved networking and sharing of ideas.
In countries with substantial natural bamboo resources and a large 
percentage of the population living in poverty, bamboo can make a 
significant difference to poverty alleviation and rural economic 
growth. Mexico is one such country. With one of the largest bamboo 
resources in the world in terms of species and coverage, and 35% of 
the population living below the poverty line, bamboo offers enormous 
potential to help pull the poor out of poverty. 

The Congress is being organised by the World Bamboo Organization 
(WBO), the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), and 
the Development Commissioner of Handicrafts ? Government of India, 
and will be held at the Ashoka Hotel and Convention Center, New 
Delhi. The Congress is expected to be the largest and most focussed 
gathering of bamboo practitioners in history, and rural, economic and 
industrial foci will be to the fore. An estimated 600 delegates from 
about 40 countries are expected to attend. The VII World Bamboo 
Congress is timed to coincide with International Handicrafts and 
Bamboo Expo concurrently taking place in New Delhi.  For any 
professional, businessman or policy maker, it will be an ideal 
opportunity that will contribute to their future plans positively.

THE VII WORLD BAMBOO CONGRESS 

The name World Bamboo Congress incorporates both the International 
Bamboo Association (IBA) and the International Network of Bamboo and 
Rattan (INBAR) events. The IBA event was the International Bamboo 
Congress (IBC), and the INBAR event was the International Bamboo 
Workshop (IBW). 

While the IBW started as a small workshop in 1980 organized by IDRC 
(International Development Research Centre, Canada), it soon expanded 
into a major global forum on bamboo. The IBC was sponsored and 
organized by a cooperation of bamboo peoples. The first IBC was held 
in 1985.  From 1995 onwards, both events were jointly held together 
under the banner, International Bamboo Workshop and Congress. The 
1998 event in Costa Rica was attended by nearly 550 people from 47 
countries.

The VII World Bamboo Congress is sponsored and organized by a 
cooperation of bamboo peoples, and the name of this event 
incorporates both the International Bamboo Association (IBA) and the 
International Network of Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) events. It is 
supported by registrations, and sponsorship by the Government of 
India, INBAR, and other international and Indian agencies.

WORLD BAMBOO ORGANIZATION

Originally founded as the International Bamboo Association, the idea 
for an international coordinating point for bamboo practitioners was 
born out of discussions at the 1991 International Bamboo Workshop in 
Chiangmai, Thailand, and was henceforth, formally established at the 
1992 International Bamboo Congress in Japan.   Since then, the IBA 
has helped to provide a coordinating platform for bamboo peoples 
around the world, operating mainly through the bamboo societies 
existing in different countries, with its primary responsibility 
being the international bamboo congress & international bamboo 
workshop.  A union of these two distinct gatherings is today called 
the World Bamboo Congress, and led by the re-birth of the IBA into 
the World Bamboo Organization.

THE CONGRESS PROGRAM

The VII World Bamboo Congress is intended to focus attention on the 
role of bamboo in rural, economic and industrial, and environmental 
development. The congress is divided into the following workshop 
categories:

* Products 
* Resources 
* Community development 
* Economic development 
* Construction 
* Design 
* Horticulture 
* Housing 
* Standards
* Financing
* Information
* Environment
* Policy
* Management

The above-mentioned workshops can be grouped into two principal 
types, discussion & problem solving workshops and training & 
demonstration workshops.  The decision on the final structure and 
composition of the workshop in question will rest with the designated 
Chair of that session, and it is possible that some discussion 
workshops will also have a demonstration component and/or poster. 
There will also be a full program of sponsored workshops depending on 
requests received.

The discussion and problem solving workshops will offer considerable 
problem-solving opportunities and will be under the direct control of 
the chairpersons who can both request and/or select speakers and 
poster presentations from among the contributions received, based 
upon clearly defined goals for each session workshop. 
Each of these workshops should result in the development of specific 
recommendations and conclusions, and a concrete plan of action for 
achieving agreed upon goals.  These outputs are the responsibility of 
the chair, the co-chair and rapporteur, who will also follow through 
with the constitution of Working Groups on the subjects.
The training activities and demonstrations workshops will demonstrate 
technologies and machinery useful to prospective entrepreneurs and 
development agents. This approach is much needed to take bamboo into 
the industrial domain. Unlike industrial development elsewhere, 
bamboo industrial development has been shown to involve and benefit 
the community significantly.  Similarly, workshops on housing 
construction technology, tools, jigs and fixtures, and woven board 
products will contribute in a direct manner to the needs of those 
keen to add to their skills. These are intended as tasters for all 
attendees, but especially businesspersons, government and NGO 
representatives and community representatives to gain a practical 
understanding of the techniques and to assist them in deciding 
whether to adopt them.

SPONSORED WORKSHOPS

The final track of workshops is a sponsored set.  

Details can be found at the official congress website: 

www.worldbamboocongress.org.

REGISTRATION 

FOR FULL DETAILS, GO TO OFFICIAL CONGRESS WEBSITE:  
WWW.WORLDBAMBOOCONGRESS.ORG

TRAVEL 

IF YOU ARE TRAVELING FROM THE UNITED STATES AND WOULD LIKE TO 
COORDINATE TRAVEL THROUGH THE WBO, PLEASE CONTACT:
DOLORES HOLLAND -  TOUR ORGANIZER :  DOLORESBO3atAOLdotCOM
--

João     Paulo    Freire    Paglione
[FBB]  Fundação       BambuBrasil
[BBF]  Bamboo Brazil  Foundation
www.bambubrasil.org
Fone: 1-561-243-8814
eFax: 1-501-639-2695
Fone/Fax: 1-561-276-7327
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FundacaoBambuBrasil/
http://www.geocities.com/bamboobrazilfoundation