NZ youth step up as summit plans for world's future

Digital mapping of areas such as Banks Peninsula can highlight areas of environmental concern. Picture / NASA

New Zealand's youth had a big influence on the digital earth summit held in Auckland this week.

The digital earth movement is an international attempt to harness the world's data and information resources for a virtual 3D model of Earth which can be used to monitor, measure and forecast natural and human activity.

The movement was pioneered by NASA in the late 1990s and is increasingly being seen as the major scientific project of the 21st century.

Individuals, companies, universities and government organisations are involved in developing the project.

The summit has been held annually since 1998.

This year, the focus was on sustainability, and New Zealand was chosen as the venue.

Prime Minister Helen Clark opened the summit, saying it was the opportunity for people to debate on whether innovative technology would provide solutions to a more sustainable future.

Integrated data management could help meet the challenges of change to the planet's ecosystem, reduction in biodiversity, depletion of finite resources, and the rise of mega-cities, she said.

"It is great to see 90 young New Zealanders here, engaging directly with issues which will be pivotal both to their lives and the lives of future generations."

Youth Voice leader Carl Chenery, 24, said New Zealand had the chance to take a leading role in building a sustainable future.

He approached the organisers of the summit about a youth involvement, then assembled a team of six from the Accelerator Future Leadership program, and working out a plan for the future.

"This is the first time a national digital summit has been based on sustainability and it was bought to New Zealand as a country which has embraced those values," said Chenery.

"It's not the kind of thing that the United States could lead. New Zealand has a long history of being independent and almost being the auditor for the rest of the world."

The group had talked to business groups during the summit about sustainability options.

He said businesses had no choice but to consider ways to be more sustainable.

"There is no doubt that in the future if they are not doing this, then they will have no business."

"As more information on this becomes available and people become more conscious, if they are not leading they will be left behind."

Youth Voice member Sarah Campbell, 22, is an environmental scientist.

She said the cost of renewable technologies was expensive, but they paid off in the long term.

"A lot of people are scared to take that step," she said.

"Why should we wait for Europe to take the action with advanced technology, when we have the capability here?"

Helen Clark said it could be argued that digital technology was taking over from oil-based technology, and was shrinking the distance between countries.


Environment-related organisations in New Zealand had used digital ecosystem mapping techniques.

The recently developed Land Environments New Zealand river and marine environment classifications could be used by people working in conservation, farming, forestry, horticulture, public health, fishing and resource management.

"They allow us to see where similar ecosystems are in New Zealand, from our mountains to our oceans. We can use that information to make sound management decisions."

Land Environment's river classification organised and mapped digital information about the physical characteristics of NZ's rivers, and was being used by several agencies for freshwater environmental management purposes. Farmers could also make use of the information.

The marine environment classification organised and mapped digital information about the physical and biological characteristics of the oceans around New Zealand.

Internationally, these classifications were a significant achievement in the development and use of digital tools by New Zealand for sustainable development.

"Using tools like these with other digital data and information, we can look to our past, analyse our current situation, and plan for a sustainable future," said Clark.

If New Zealand was able to manage its resources wisely and build on modern technology and innovation, it would be able to forge a path to enable New Zealanders to maintain their high quality of life.