NEWS

[ Information from Okayama City ]
　

Okayama City and the ESD Okayama Award Steering Board are pleased to announce that the following two projects have been selected for the ESD Okayama Award 2023, which recognizes outstanding ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) activities in Japan and abroad.
　

On November 23, 2023, Okayama City and the Okayama ESD Promotion Commission invited representatives of the organizations that operate the award-winning projects to Okayama City, and held the award ceremony at the Okayama International Center.
　

This year, 108 applications from the record 56 countries were accepted. At the first round of selection, 10 projects were selected as finalists, and at the final selection, two projects out of the 10 finalists were selected as winners.
　

The two winning projects are as follows:
【Project】
Micro-networks
【Organization】
More Sustainable Schools Network of the Barcelona City Council (Kingdom of Spain)
　

【Project】
GreenSchool
【Organization】
Wallah We Can (Republic of Tunisia)
　

For more detailed information about the winners, please visit the web site of Okayama City:

(English) https://www.city.okayama.jp/kurashi/0000054096.html　
(Japanese) https://www.city.okayama.jp/kurashi/0000054093.html
　

The award ceremony was held as the first part of the event, Okayama ESD Forum 2023, which was attended by about 50 participants including high school and university students and representatives of ESD-related organizations in and outside Okayama prefecture. Okayama City Mayor, Mr. Masao Omori, delivered a congratulatory speech and handed a certificate of commendation to each representative. The Chairperson of Okayama ESD Promotion Commission and the ESD Okayama Award Steering Board, Dr. Hiroshi Abe, gave high marks to Micro Networks for its whole-city approach with the participation of many educational organizations and citizens, and to Green Schools for providing children with opportunities to attend school, supporting the youth and women, and creating jobs in the community.
　

After the ceremony, Ms. Irma Ventayol, the manager in charge of the project “Micro-networks” by ” More Sustainable Schools Network of the Barcelona City Council” and Ms. Abrar N’houchi, the project manager of the project “GreenSchool” by “Wallah We Can” made presentations on their projects. The video is available of the award ceremony and the presentations on our YouTube channel both in English and Japanese:
　

(English) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ga7SmVHxPM
(Japanese) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLh3xUDBQU4
　

※The ESD Okayama Award has been implemented by Okayama City and the ESD Okayama Award Steering Board* since 2015 with the aim of enhancing award-winning activities and contributing to the spread of ESD by honoring excellent examples of ESD in Japan and abroad.
　

※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-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU)
・Japan Council on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD-J)
・The Goi Peace Foundation
・Okayama ESD Promotion Commission