ASPnet in Japan

 

MEXT (The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) and JNCU (The Japanese National Commission for UNESCO) regard the ASPnet as the central front for the promotion of ESD (Education for Sustainable Development).

To share information and experiences with students and teachers of other schools around the world.

 

To develop and refine educational materials and methods to cultivate young people to deal with various global issues.

 There are 136 member institutions/schools in Japan (as of January 2010).

 

Many of member schools are practicing ESD through the education of Culture, Disaster Prevention, Energy, Environment, Food, Human Rights, International Understanding and so forth. And they are developing unique courseworks with roots in the local culture and society. These original courseworks are made possible through the efforts of enthusiastic teachers.

There are 4 universities are participating in ASPnet in Japan. Additionally 11 universities are affiliated with the ASPUnivNet (Interuniversity Network Supporting the UNESCO Associated School Project Network). In 2008 the ASPUnivNet was established to support member Schools of ASPnet with thier efforts to promore ESD. The ASPUnivNet consists of both undergraduate and graduate schools to provide excellent ESD instructional materials and resources. It is expected that closercollaboration between universities and schools will translate into even better curricula at domestic ASPnet.

Japanese corporations, for example P&G Japan, NIPPON EXPRESS and SOMPO JAPAN are actively supporting the ASPnet. The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., has just begun providing financial assistance.

• the four basic fields

Pick out themes such as poverty, starvation, unemployment, literacy, cultural understanding, gender inequality, population issue or other global problems, and study them from various angles such as local, national and international perspectives.

 

Starting from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child or other such document, help students expand their awareness based on personal experiences not only of the rights of others but also of their own duty and responsibility.

Promote understanding of different customs, traditions and values while collaborating with students and parents, citizen, immigrant groups, embassies, cultural centers from other countries.

Study the environmental problems facing the area where the student lives (such as pollution, energy, forest protection, marine and atmospheric research, soil erosion, conservation of natural resources, desertification, greenhouse effect, and sustainable development) and think about ways to solve them and the role of science in humankind’s future.