Meeting towards My Hometown India-Japan Assembly [Japan + India]
On 14th July, SEEDS Asia, Rotary Club of Kyoto South, and Kyoto City Board of Education gathered to discuss a platform for children to interact, learn, and communicate with each other on the theme of climate change.
Back in 2014, the document to promote partnership city arrangement between the ancient cities of Varanasi and Kyoto was signed, leading to inter-cities exchange and enhanced mutual understanding of challenges in the areas of disaster risk reduction and environment in both cities. Given this, SEEDS Asia implemented a project on school- and community-based disaster risk reduction project in Varanasi city (Japanese FY 2015 – 2018) with the great help of Kyoto city government and residents.
As part of the project, in 2017 and 2018, delegates from Varanasi city were invited to Kyoto city to study their initiatives to promote sustainable development while concerving the environment and traditions. This opportunity also strengthened the network between the two groups at the same time.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, travels were no longer possible. However, with the intention to connect children in Varanasi city and Kyoto city, we are planning an online event “My Hometown India-Japan Children’s Assembly” for 2024. Rotary Club Kyoto Minami has shown their support, and Kyoto city board of education plays an indispensable role in this event. Therefore, a meeting was convened in order to share the purposes and address worries.
Mr Takashi Nakamura, the President of Rotary Kyoto South for next FY, reported their programs in supporting youth with disability, sports, and capacity building. From SEEDS Asia, Executive Director Mitsuko Otsuyama shared the plan of the online event “My Hometown” in 2024. Technical Advisor Prof. Ranko Kishida provided detailed information about previous achievements of “My Hometown” and expected outcome presented in participating children. It is the biggest feature of “My Hometown India-Japan Children’s Assembly” that no major burden on teachers is expected whilst providing a great learning opportunity for children to discuss climate change and global challenges in English. To this, the board of education sympathised with the importance of environment education, ICT utilisation, and communication in a foreign language. Kyoto city was nominated by the country as an Eco-Model City in 2009 where a distinctive “environment education standard” was launched to promote children’s learning about environmental problems. They also introduced their supplimentary readers and workbooks to encourage children to engage in learning global warming and climate change. Given this, the online event “My Hometown” aligns with the city’s policy on environment education.
To move forward, all parties will finalise five participating schools in Varanasi and Kyoto, and determine further detail. We are hoping this event will not only provide an opportunity to think about globally common challenge, but also encourage knowing about and understanding one another’s culture and values.
