ESD Okayama Award 2015

'ESD Okayama Award Presentation Ceremony' was held as follows;
Date: 13 December (Sunday) 2015, 10時0分-12時0分
Venue: Okayama Municipal Chuo Kominkan (1-1-30 Kobashi-cho Naka-ku Okayama city)
Organizers: ESD Okayama Award Steering Board and Okayama City

Starting with an opening remark by Mr. Kazuhiko Takemoto, Chairperson of the ESD Okayama Award Steering Board and a guest remark by Mr. Hiroshi Miyatake, Chairman of the Okayama City Council, the Awards Certificates were handed over to representatives of each winning organization from Mr. Masao Omori, Mayor of Okayama City.

• Detail of the ESD Okayama Award Presentation Ceremony(with automatic translation system)

You can find the button for automatic translation in upper right corner of the website's screen in the link destination.

Representing the jury, Dr. Hirofumi Abe, Chairperson of Okayama ESD Promotion Commission, made a comment as follows;

50 applicants applied for the 'Global Award' (29 applicants from 27 countries around the world and 21 from Japan) and 30 applicants applied for 'Okayama Regional Award' during application period from 16 July 2015 to 25 September. Through the preliminary screening, 9 finalists for the Global Award and 5 finalists for the Okayama Regional Award were selected. After the final selection 2 nominees won the Global Award and 2 nominees won the Okayama Regional Award.

In the selection of the Global Award, we did not assess the organizations but the substance of projects. We saw it as important, whether the projects contribute to visualizing and spreading ESD in local communities.

• 'Library-oriented Community Learning Centers in Rural Cambodia' by Shanti Volunteer Association (SVA) tackles local urgent issues such as literacy and poverty through establishing and utilizing a community library. It raises motivation of the local residents for learning and joining activities through considering the local needs and promotes voluntary and self-motivating activities for developing a sustainable community. Capacity building is conducted for local residents, so that they will be able to run the CLC (Community Learning Centre) by themselves in the future. This project is recognized as a national model of CLC in Cambodia.
  
• 'Sustainable Development through Protection and Conservation of Forests and Bio-diversity, Education, Society, Economy and Environment by Addressing the Negative Impacts of Climate Change' by Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM) works comprehensively on transforming community including improving standard of life and natural environment in several areas such as Satkhira and Chittagong. The project was also valued with the point that it involves various people and groups in the communities.

In the selection of the Okayama Regional Award, we assessed the projects mainly from the following three criteria: 1) whether the project nurtures the people who are aware of the social and local issues, learn, practice and act for tackling those issues; 2) whether it involves various stakeholders; 3) whether it is run systematically, not being managed by specific individuals and has prospect of continuity.

• 'Okayama City Kyoyama District ESD Project' by Okayama City Kyoyama District ESD Promotion Commission based at Kyoyama Kominkan (Community Learning Centre) involves inter-generational people and various stakeholders and conducts community-wide ESD activities. The project has been continuing for more than ten years with clear ESD vision and it is improved continuously through every year's evaluation.
  
• Okayama Prefectural Wakeshizutani Senior High School which conduct 'Wakeshizutani Senior High School - Attractive School Project' (Cooperation with Community /' Shizutani-learning in the Period of Integrated Study /ESD Promotion by School Education) joined in the UNESCO ASPnet in 2011 and promotes learning and practices for building a sustainable community through volunteer work by all students and activities in and with the community by utilizing the period of integrated study. It is expected that the students working on ESD will be leaders of the society.
  

Furthermore, following comments were given by the jury. Besides the two winners of the Global Award, there were applications which have been promoting ESD for a longtime in the international field. We would like to introduce shortlisted projects on the website after we get agreements of the applicants. For Okayama Regional Award, there were applications about projects practicing ESD on the issue of living environment, disaster risk reduction and persons with disability and also those which are expected to contribute to promotion of ESD in the region.

9 projects were shortlisted including 2 award-winning projects and the following 7 projects.

• 'Developing Community by Working on 'White Paper for the Future of Itabashi' on the Basis of Achievement of the Decade of ESD' by Specified Nonprofit Organization Itabashi Promotion Center of Volunteer, Civic Activity and Learning, Japan
  
• 'Collaboration Project for 'The Best Environmental Learning Town in the World Mizushima' by The Foundation for Environmental Rehabilitation and Redevelopment of Mizushima, Japan
  
• 'Okayama City Kyoyama District ESD Project' by Okayama Kyoyama District ESD Promotion Commission, Japan
  
• 'Sanjeevani: A School Based Medicinal Plant Education and Conservation Initiative' by Centre for Environment Education (CEE), India
  
• 'FUTURE - 100.000 trees project in Porto Metropolitan Area' by Porto Metropolitan Area Regional Centre of Expertise on education for Sustainable Development, Portugal
  
• 'Youth Led Community Development in Pakistan' by Sanjh Preet Organization, Pakistan
  
• 'Adopt a Forest Initiative' by World Student Community for Sustainable Development - Kenya (WSCSD-Kenya), Kenya
  

5 projects were shortlisted including 2 award-winning projects and the following 3 projects.

• 'Maniwa Dragonfly Village Project' by Maniwa Dragonfly Forest Promotion Commission
  
• 'Making a Place for Children to Get Together during Long Vacation 'Free School in Summer Vacation'' by Specified Nonprofit Organization Okayama City Child Centre
  
• 'Dappi Exchanging Project between adults leading attractive lives in the community and youths deliberating their future' by Specified Nonprofit Organization Dappi

ESD Okayama Award will be given also in 2016. The detailed information will be announced on this website as soon as it will be fixed.

The 'ESD Okayama Award' was established by the 'ESD Okayama Award Steering Board' and Okayama City in 2015 to showcase and promote ESD, and to support the organizations carrying out ESD activities.
Through the screening process, the following 2 remarkable nominations won the 'Global Prize' in the ESD Okayama Award 2015 from 50 applications, including 29 applications from 27 countries.

• Library-oriented Community Learning Centers in Rural Cambodia
  < Shanti Volunteer Association (SVA) >
  
• Sustainable Development through Protection and Conservation of Forests and Bio-diversity, Education, Society, Economy and Environment by Addressing the Negative Impacts of Climate Change
  < Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM) >

The ‘ESD Okayama Award Presentation Ceremony’ will be held as follows:
Date: 13 December 2015 (Sunday)
Time: 10時0分-12時0分
Venue: Okayama Municipal Chuo Kominkan
(Address: 1-30-1 Kobashi Naka-ku Okayama City, 703-8293, Japan)

*The 'ESD Okayama Award Steering Board' is composed of the following organizations:

•  United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS)
  
•  UNESCO Bangkok, Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education
  
•  Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU)
  
•  Japan Council on the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD-J)
  
•  The Goi Peace Foundation
  
•  Okayama ESD Promotion Commission

Okayama City launches ‘ESD Okayama Award’ in cooperation with the ESD Okayama Award Steering Board composed of organizations which have been promoting ESD in Japan and around the world.

This Award is aimed to contribute to showcasing and promoting ESD, and supporting the organizations that carry out ESD activities through rewarding good practices in the world.

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