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The Kids' ISO
14000 Programme has achieved the following results during
three years' operation (2000-2003) in Japan:
Increasing participation
- The programme was launched in 2000, when
450 children took part in a pilot project. By the third quarter
of 2003, more than 50 000 Japanese schoolchildren had participated.
- A clear trend has been established: once
a local government administration or local education authority
holds a pilot project in one school, the programme spreads to
other schools and municipalities throughout the administrative
area, and from there to neighbouring provinces.
- With the above ripple effect, the
number of Eco-Kids Instructors trained to support the programme
increases - which stimulates further growth.
Growing awareness
- Survey evidence points to increased
environmental awareness among 80% of children that have
participated.
- One study of children three months
after their participation showed that environmental awareness
persisted.
- Environmental awareness also increased
among 60% of family members, including parents, of participating
children. This revealed the effectiveness of environmental
education of adults by children.
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Improved communication
- Participating children require the cooperation
of their families in implementing the programme in their households.
This increases the number of exchanges - by as much as 85%
in one household studied - and generally improves communication
within the family.
- One Japanese city is using the programme
in its efforts to reduce crime by young offenders because it believes
that improved communication within families removes one of the
factors that can drive young people to crime.
Reduced emissions
- Reductions of carbon dioxide emissions of
10-15% per household have been demonstrated.
Synergy with enterprise
and community environmental programmes
- Business and local government organizations
in Japan have taken a keen interest in The Kids' ISO
14000 Programme. Reaching their employees and citizens
in their homes, it complements, reinforces, or even multiplies
their own enterprise or community programmes and efforts to build
environmental awareness and in their own ISO
14001 implementation programmes.
Value-added learning
- The Kids' ISO
14000 Programme has proved to be effective when used
in combination with other environmental programmes, such as nature
study and conservation.
- The programme has been shown to be value-adding
and enhancing in its effect. For example, one survey showed that
children who had participated were keener to reduce the number
of plastic bags used at supermarkets.
- The programme has also proved to interact
well with other school subjects. For example, programme workbooks
have been used in national and foreign language teaching, and
the programme has also inspired environmental themes for drama
classes.
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