SEGO Initiative’s Ocean Awareness & Activation Season
Online Ocean Education Sessions

SEGO Initiative, a not-for-profit association dedicated to environmental causes,
is offering online webinar sessions as part of its educational programming toraise awareness and inspire people to take action against the issues facing theoceans and the planet.
The sessions are a lead-up to the association’s second #TogetherApart International Coastal Cleanup. For morethan a decade, SEGO Initiative has been organizing the Fujisawa Beach Cleaning Project/Clean S.E.A. The Project
includes three pillars:•••

Volunteering with the participation of corporate,family and student volunteers
Public education via citizen science and art
Reconnecting to the marine environment that weare trying to protect via sailing

The fall cleanups are part of the International Coastal
Cleanup Campaign (ICC) that is held annually in more than
100 countries. Due to Covid-19, the association will once
again lead #TogetherApart ICC cleanups for volunteers toconnect, clean and collect close to where they live, workor play. As always, all debris will be counted and results
aggregated so that participants can know how much they
have intercepted from the waste stream that inevitably
leads to our oceans.
This fall programming only happens with the generous
support of our corporate sponsors. But we do need yourhelp. As we expand into winter and spring programming,
we would be more than happy to welcome new supporters!

More information can be found on the Expo Mer Fujisawa
website, SEGO Initiative’s online space dedicated to sharing
inspiring artworks and featuring a diverse array of speakers
and artists who offer local, regional and global perspectives.
https://art.segoinitiative.org/sessions/Webinar program sponsored by:Date: Oct. 20, 2021 | Time: 6­–7pm | Platform: Zoom | Language: English & Japanese
Topic: Expo Mer Fujisawa Project: Where Art and Sustainability Meet
Organizer: 一般社団法人SEGO Initiative
Contact: Alana Bonzi alana@segoinitiative.org
For registration and inquiries: art.segoinitiative.org/sessions

SPEAKERS’ BIOS
Neil Van Wouw, CEO of Vanten K.K.
Neil is the founder and CEO of Vanten K.K., a technology company based in Tokyo.
Vanten was the original provider of digital signage SaaS services in Japan, and is now
the first signage company to incorporate blockchain technology. It launched an NFT
viewer and NFT marketplace this year.
Neil is passionate about two things: making technology easier to use for more people, andtools that build community. He sees a future where decentralized communication becomesa seamless part of smart city infrastructure in a way that supports sustainability and benefits
all the community stakeholders, including small businesses, artists, freelancers, and NPOs.
His varied background includes stints in robotics, computer music, computer graphics
and more than 25 years of building internet infrastructure and services. Neil is also thefounder of the NPO Ganbatte 365 and Chair Emeritus of the Canadian Chamber ofCommerce in Japan.

Sayaka Ganz
Born in Yokohama, Sayaka has lived in Japan, Brazil and Hong Kong. Now based in
the US, Sayaka uses reclaimed metal and plastic objects for her recent sculptures ofanimals, which come alive with rich colors and energy. She describes her style as“3D impressionism.” It creates the illusion of solid forms using plastic objects asbrush strokes that become visible upon observation from close up.
“One of the important tasks for artists of our time is to bring more of the natural worldback into people’s lives, especially in urban areas. When we encounter the true wondersof nature, the beauty we behold transcends our intellects and reaches directly to ourhearts. I desire a similar response from viewers of my work; to provoke a re-examinationof our relationship to the natural world.”

Jason Klimoski, Principal / Co-Founder of STUDIOKCAJason is the principal and co-founder of the award-winning architecture and design firmSTUDIOKCA. He attended the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities where he received
his Bachelor of Arts in architecture and history summa cum laude and the Katherine E.
Sullivan Scholarship, which is awarded annually to an outstanding student in any campusof the university in support of a year of academic study in another country.
His work has been exhibited at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, Brooklyn Bridge
Park, and at the Center for Architecture. He was a keynote speaker at AIA Colorado
Practice + Design Conference, and presented STUDIOKCA’s public sculpture for Bruges
Triennial at Frieze Art London. His work has been featured in publications such as
Modern Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Wired, Fast Company,and broadcast on CNN, Discovery Channel, and The Weather Channel.

VIDEOS OF EXPO MER FUJISAWA ARTISTS
Videos featuring ExpoMer Fujisawa• Tess Felix
art.segoinitiative.org/tess-felix/• Aurora Robson
art.segoinitiative.org/aurora-robson/

Video message• Benjamin Von Wongart.segoinitiative.org/benjamin-von-wong/SEGO Initiative
Michel and Alana Bonzi
Founders

SEGO grew out of our Fujisawa Beach Cleaning Project, which westarted in 2009. Its goal was to bring foreign and Japanese people
together to give back to the local community. We are based 800 metersfrom the sea in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, and as both of us are
originally from coastal areas, it was natural for us to look to the ocean
and beach as the best way for us to meet our goal. Volunteers aremainly staff from corporate sponsors, their families and local youth. Overtime, the Project has evolved into three key pillars: volunteering, public
education via citizen science and art, and reconnecting to the marine
environment via sailing.