No. 28 Looking back at Eco-Products 2013

(Published in the February 15, 2014 issue of Koho Inagi)

From December 12th to 14th last year, Japan's largest environmental exhibition "Eco-Products 2013" was held at Tokyo Big Sight, and I visited it on the first day.
This exhibition has been held since 1999 to tackle the problem of global warming prevention toward the realization of a sustainable society on a global scale.
Today, the "environment" is an important perspective that is indispensable for economic growth, and Japan's advanced environmental technology has the potential to contribute to sustainable economic development at home and abroad. It is said.
By the way, we are implementing the "Green Tokyo Global Warming Prevention Project" as a joint project of all Tokyo 62 municipalities. It is a project where all local governments in Tokyo cooperate and work together to reduce greenhouse gases, conserve greenery, and maintain biodiversity, which are major issues for those of us living in Tokyo.
At this year's Eco-Products 2013, we exhibited the "Tokyo Eco Forest" booth as part of this joint project. The unique environmental activities of a total of 27 local governments are presented in an easy-to-understand manner through panel displays, workshops, stage shows, stamp rallies, and more.
On the day of the event, children from Inagi First and Second Elementary Schools in Inagi City participated in the booth, and they enthusiastically presented the results of their environmental studies, including the perspective of ESD, using slides. These efforts were highly evaluated, and the "Tokyo eco-no-mori" booth was awarded the Excellence Award (second place) in the Eco & Design Booth Grand Prize.
ESD is an acronym for Education for Sustainable Development, and elementary and junior high schools in Inagi City are working on classes that incorporate this perspective.
At the United Nations General Assembly in 2002, Japan proposed that the decade from 2005 to 2014 be designated as the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The Organization for Science and Culture (UNESCO) was appointed as its promoter.
Currently, 11 elementary and junior high schools in Inagi City have been designated as UNESCO Associated Schools, and we have already applied for the designation of the remaining six schools.