AXA and UNESCO Association’s teacher training for disaster mitigation education [Japan]
From 21st to 23rd September, the Ninth AXA UNESCO Association Disaster Mitigation Education Program organized by Japan UNESCO Association and sponsored by AXA Life Insurance Co.,Ltd. was held in Kesennuma, Miyagi. This program is for school teachers all over Japan to cascade the disaster preparedness/recovery education initiatives that have been taking place in Kesennuma since the East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (2011) and are underpinned by issues related to the concept of Education for Sustainable Development. SEEDS Asia’s board member Dr. Yukihiko Oikawa (also Associate Professor at Nara University of Education) and Advisor Dr. Yasutaka Ueda (also Associate Professor at Niigata University) took part in this program as lecturers/coordinators.
The program offered a study visit to Kesennuma for the first time in three years, as visits had been suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The participating teachers paid a visit at the ruins of the Great East Japan Earthquake Kesennuma City Memorial Museum, where local junior high school students welcomed them as guides. Kesennuma Municipal Elementary and Junior High Schools hosted the teachers’ visits too. The participating teachers met face-to-face and had fruitful discussions.
It is hoped that this program has planted seeds of good practices in disaster risk reduction education to be implemented nationwide.
