Report on the KWN Global Summit 2023- KWN Global Summit 2022 - Kid Witness News - Corporate Citizenship Activities - Sustainability

The KWN Global Summit 2023, a gathering of children from nine countries around the world, was held online again this year. In 2023, it was based in Tokyo, with participants from the United States, Republic of Indonesia, Kingdom of Cambodia, People's Republic of China, Japan, Brazil, and Socialist Republic of Vietnam. India and the Republic of the Philippines also participated as observers, enjoying a lively time of global exchange.

Check!

2023 Award-Winning
Productions and Schools

What kinds of hardships does a young boy with a visual impairment experience on a daily basis? One day during PE class, his classmates decide to put themselves in his shoes by playing rattle ball while blindfolded, relying only on sound. What is the sensation they experience for the first time as they play?

Brazil

Thinking School

Some girls who live in a beach town witness firsthand how much plastic waste is thrown away on the beach every year. Realizing the negative impact plastic has on the environment and living creatures, they came up with the idea of a project to reduce the use of disposable plastic bottles by making and selling reusable water bottles.

USA

Ocean Township Intermediate School

While eating a meal containing bamboo, a girl talks with her mother about the features of bamboo and the origin of the word “bamboo.” She then realizes that bamboo is used everywhere in our daily lives, even in the most casual of ways.

China

Xu Jiang Experimental School

Have you heard of an environmentally friendly product called “rice straws?” Through interviews with cafes that use rice straws and a company manufacturing those straws, the students explore the hidden potential of rice straws not only to address environmental issues, but also to reduce food loss and create jobs.

Japan

Takada Junior High School

Why is it raining in a season when it is not supposed to rain? After finding out about climate change, a young boy decides to go out with his precious pocket money to see what he can do to help. What did he go to buy?

Indonesia

Regina Pacis Bogor Elementary School

Some students search for things they can do themselves to help reduce environmental pollution. As a result of numerous trials and errors, the campaign they create attracts the attention of many people, and the circle of their activities begins to spread rapidly.

Indonesia

Labschool Kebayoran Junior High School

Part 1

Opening

After MC Dario and Kartida's greeting, participants from each country were asked to introduce themselves and tell the local time in their country. Local times varied from 8:00 AM in the U.S. to 9:00 PM in Japan. Everyone realized the vastness of the earth by sharing the same moment at different times!

Then MC Kartida explained about KWN, and the organizers gave their greetings.

Ice-breaker Activity

The ice breaker activity for 2023 was the "Greetings Relay in your language". Leaders from each country took turns teaching each other the greeting of that time in their own country to promote exchange.

From Japan to Cambodia, from Cambodia to Brazil, from Brazil to China.... Then from the Philippines to Japan again. At the end, everyone said "konbanwa" in Japanese!
Through the activities, a relaxed atmosphere quickly prevailed.

IOC Young Leader’s Mini Seminar

IOC Young Leader’s
Mini Seminar

Mr. Alfonso Galvez from the Philippines, who was selected as an IOC Young Leader for social change through sports, gave a speech about his experience as an IOC Young Leader and his partnership with Panasonic.

Appearing with a torch actually used in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Alfonso introduced himself and began his speech with a variety of quizzes about the Olympics in a fun way. He explained his own project ideas as "mental health," "the power to do," and "sports psychology," and encouraged everyone to be kind to their friends and enjoy sports. His speech was full of tips for all seminar participants and audience members to become the next generation of leaders.

SDGs Action Plans 2023 Decleration

SDGs Action Plans 2023
Decleration

Everyone in each country prepared in advance action plans for the SDGs toward 2024, which was presented on slides in the hall and introduced by MC Kartida.

Mr. Alfonso Galvez, who spoke at the IOC Young Leaders Seminar, participated in this program as an observer, and MC Dario asked him, "What action plans did you like?" Question. Alfonso listed the action plans of the Vietnamese children and the Indonesian students, and the leaders of the corresponding teams gave a detailed explanation of their action plans. The students renewed their commitment to implement the SDG Action Plan.

Primary Action plan

Secondary Action plan

Part 2

Award Presentation

Finally, the awards were presented!　Starting with a gorgeous theater backdrop, three awards were presented.

The Panasonic Awards are voted for by Panasonic employees around the world. The "KWN Fans Award" is an award that anyone around the world can vote for online. The "KWN Kids Award" is the most important award among these, and is given to the school nominated for this year's awards that is judged to be the best work by a school other than its own.
The winning team will receive a high-end hybrid mirrorless SLR as an extra prize.
The awards were presented in the primary and secondary categories, in that order.

The winners of the "Panasonic Award" were "Bamboo Language & Childlike Innocence" from China in the primary category and "The World Through a Rice Straw" from Japan in the secondary category.
In the KWN Fans Award, the primary category went to "Rain in July" from Indonesia, and the secondary category to "SANGHARA" from Indonesia.
The KWN Kids Award went to "Beyond the Gaze" from Brazil in the Primary category and "Refilling Station to Combat Water Pollution" from the United States in the Secondary category.

Everyone's comments on the awards were full of excitement and joy.

Ending

Finally, Mr. Kao Panharith of Cambodia gave the closing speech on behalf of all countries.

Mr. Kao Panharith's closing speech was: "While creating the video based on a real-life scenario, we had the opportunity to deeply understand and think about the importance of putting the SDGs into practice in our daily lives. We believe that we can have a great impact on others with the videos we created. And we hope that you too will contribute to the SDGs for the betterment of society."

Finally, Mr. Kao Panharith of Cambodia gave the closing speech on behalf of all countries.

Mr. Kao Panharith's closing speech was: "While creating the video based on a real-life scenario, we had the opportunity to deeply understand and think about the importance of putting the SDGs into practice in our daily lives. We believe that we can have a great impact on others with the videos we created. And we hope that you too will contribute to the SDGs for the betterment of society."