No.28 Looking Back at Eco Products 2013

(Inagi Newsletter February 15, 2014 issue)

From December 12 to 14 last year, the largest environmental exhibition in Japan, "Eco Products 2013," was held at Tokyo Big Sight, and I visited on the first day.
This exhibition has been held since 1999 to confront the issue of global warming and to realize a sustainable society on a global scale, marking its 15th occurrence this time.
Currently, "environment" has become an essential perspective for economic growth, and it is said that Japan's advanced environmental technologies hold the potential to contribute to sustainable economic development both domestically and internationally.
By the way, we are implementing the "Greenery Tokyo - Global Warming Prevention Project" as a joint initiative of all 62 cities, wards, and towns in Tokyo. This project addresses the significant challenges of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, preserving greenery, and maintaining biodiversity, with all municipalities in Tokyo collaborating and working together.
At this year's Eco Products 2013, we exhibited the "Tokyo Eco Forest" booth as part of this joint initiative. It showcases the unique environmental activities of 27 municipalities through panel displays, workshops, stage shows, and stamp rallies in an approachable manner.
On that day, students from Inagi City First Elementary School and Inagi Second Elementary School participated in this booth, energetically presenting the results of their environmental learning incorporating the perspective of ESD using slides. Including such efforts, the "Tokyo Eco Forest" booth was awarded the Excellence Award (second place) in the Eco & Design Booth Awards.
ESD stands for "Education for Sustainable Development," and each Elementary and Junior High School in Inagi City is engaged in classes that incorporate this perspective.
This was decided at the United Nations General Assembly in 2002, where it was proposed by our country to designate the decade from 2005 to 2014 as the "United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)," with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) appointed as the promoting agency.
Currently, 11 Elementary and Junior High Schools in Inagi City have been designated as UNESCO Schools, and applications have already been submitted for the remaining 6 schools to receive designation as well.