Policy Actions on Environmental Education in Japan November 28, 2013 Ministry of the Environment Japan

Law: 1.Environmental Education Law (EE Law) July 2003 “Environmental Education Law” (The Act on Enhancing Motivation on Environmental Conservation and Promotion of Environmental Education. former law) enacted Amended “Environmental Education Law” (The Act on Enhancing Motivation on Environmental Conservation and Promotion of Environmental Education) enacted October 2012 June 2011 Amended law came into force on a full scale Basic Principle of the EE law Environmental conservation efforts, encouragement of willingness for environmental conservation and environmental education shall be performed by appropriate sharing of roles and cooperation on an equal footing among various entities for construction of sustainable society. Main points of the amending * Promotion of the collaborative activities * Enhanced of environmental education in school education etc.

Law: 3. Progress of Environmental Education(EE) in School Education 2011 Jun, Amended EE Law (Law for Enhancing Motivation on Environmental Conservation and Promoting of Environmental Education) Stipulating the promotion of EE at home, in school, in the workplace and in the community and enrich training programs for teachers, the development of teaching materials and information service etc Jun, Amended the basic policy based on EE Law Stipulating the ability natured and the element required by EE in addition, and the importance of cooperation and collaboration among government, private bodies, experts and schools Jun, Amended Basic Act on Education Stipulating to foster an attitude to respect life, care for nature, and contribute to the protection of the environment as one of the purposes of education 2008 – 2009, Amended Education Ministry’s guidelines (enforcement in series from Apr 2011 ) (Example: learning content of social studies) Elementary School: workings of forest resources to conserve national land and prevention of natural catastrophe / Junior High School: relationship between natural environment and life and industry for people in the community / Senior High School: discussion of problem over environment, resources and energy Environmental Education in Educational Policy Environmental Education in Educational Policy Collaboration between MOE and MEXT is essential Environmental Education in Environmental Policy Environmental Education in Environmental Policy.. 0

Law: 2. Support of the Collaborative Activities MOE has “Global Environment Outreach Centre (GEOC)” and “Environmental Partnership Office (EPO)”. These centers are based on EE Law (Article 19) for promoting the collaborative activities effectively. Functions of the Centers (1)To collect and provide information (2)To give advice on the manuals and other materials for the training of human resources (3)To provide opportunities for exchange of information and mutual communication among the citizens and private organizations, etc. Map of GEOC and EPO GEOC (+EPO Kanto) EPO

Project: 1. Main domestic projects to promote ESD Developing Capacity Building for Sustainable Regional Development This project is run by collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Science (MEXT), and promote the following activities. (1)Develop 20 environmental education programs with ESD idea for elementary and junior high school students. (2)Hold workshops in each prefecture (Japan has 47 prefectures), with teachers, NPOs, businesses, and government, etc., to arrange the programs for their regions. (3)Implement the programs at school in each region.

Project: 1. Main domestic projects to promote ESD Plus +ESD Project Plus This project helps “visualizing” and “connecting” of ESD network. (1)+ESD Project is a system to register domestic local ESD activities on a website for visualizing their activities. (2)MOE organizes ”ESD Learning Forum” to gather those who are engaged in the registered ESD activities or assistance projects to encourage mutual learning and cooperation and building network.

Project: 2. International projects to promote ESDProSPER.Net 13 th TEEN Meeting (Sendai City, Japan, Nov 2012) Place Certificated as RCE 1.Regional Centre of Expertise on ESD: RCE 2.Promotion of Sustainability in Postgraduate Education and Research Net (ProSPER.Net) Development of Environment Human Resources in Asian and Pacific islands’ Graduate Schools + 30 Organizations, As of November Tripartite Environmental Education Network (TEEN) Environment Cooperation among Japan, China and Korea :

OctoberNovember satsun mon tue wed thufrisatsun mon tue wed thu Okayama -city Aichi Prefecture Nagoya-city Project: 3. UNESCO World Conference on ESD 2014 Events in Public Hall ／ CLC (Community Learning Center) UNESCO School World Convention Youthful Forum Move over, Excursion e.t.c. Stakeholders Conference ESD week opening ceremony ESD week closing Ceremony ESD week ※ The above is tentative schedule and other events by NGOs/ NPOs would be planned. ★ ★ Follow -up Meet ing Cabinet Minister Meeting and Overall Coordinating Meeting Move over, Excursion e.t.c. RCE Conference

Thank you very much. ありがとうございました