From 31st July to 7th August, the Global Children’s Eco Summit was held in Japan to celebrate the 70th anniversary of SEKISUI’s establishment. 47 children from all over the world, including 10 from Europe, were invited to a very special environmental experience.
The youngsters, who were between 13 and 16 years old, were chosen from among the families of SEKISUI’s employees worldwide. Every participant showed high environmental interest and could make his own contribute to the main question of the summit: “What we can do for the sake of our future?”. In addition, the diverse field of participants offered the children the opportunity to make friends with other children from all over the world.
A diverse and rewarding programme was drawn up for the children. They engaged in nature observation at the Yatsu-higata tidal flatland in Chiba Prefecture. At CHIBA SEKISUI KOGYO, they observed pipe production and construction methods, and also participated in nature learning activities at the “Forest of Moisture” within the company grounds.
At SEKISUI HEIM INDUSTRY in Hasuda City, Saitama Prefecture, they visited the production line and took part in earthquake and typhoon simulations. It was exciting for them to see how structures were created in a single day and how dream houses were built, which are both resistant to natural disasters and environmental friendly.
The highlights of the event were the final team presentations which were held in seven international groups in front of the executive management board. With the help of interpreters for nine different languages, the groups gathered together to learn and to present their creative ideas.
Learning from each other was a fun part while developing the presentations.
SEKISUI President Teiji Koge awarded the presentations.
It’s a wrap! The children had a good reason to celebrate at the after party.
“As I watched the presentations, I felt as if I had been shown the splendour and potential of diversity. The children accepted each other’s differences as if international borders did not exist, and they worked together to generate new ideas.” said SEKISUI President Teiji Koge. He promised to take these ideas into a declaration regarding environment protection.
