The Panasonic Group held the Kid Witness News (KWN) Global Summit 2023 on October 21. Some 150 children, teachers, and others from 18 schools in nine countries (Brazil, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, the United States, Vietnam, the Philippines, and India) took part online. The event was streamed live publicly on YouTube and Facebook.
KWN is a program that teaches children how to make videos to raise their creative and communicative skills as well as their ability to work in a team, as part of Panasonic's efforts to support the development and learning of future generations.
Each year participating KWN schools selected from each country and region gather in a global summit to share and learn about their respective cultures and consider global social issues.
The FY2023 global summit was held in two parts. The first half was a KWN Day where exchange meetings were held by each of the participating countries. After that they connected online to the main venue in Tokyo to share a relay of greetings in their respective languages. Alfonso Galvez, an IOC Young Leader* from the Philippines, gave a mini seminar, and the children made declarations for the SDGs.
* The Panasonic Group is a founding partner of the IOC Young Leaders Programme.
The KWN Global Summit 2023
After the summit, three awards were announced: the FY2023 KWN Kids Award, the Panasonic Award, and the KWN Fans Award. A total of six awards were given for the primary (12 years old or younger) and secondary (13 to 18 years old) categories.
The Panasonic Award, which was selected via votes from 578 employees of the Group worldwide, went to one school from China and another from Japan.
"Bamboo Language & Childlike Innocence" by the Xu Jiang Experimental School (primary category, China) depicts a child's growing awareness of the roles bamboo plays in everyday life as she talks with her mother about its special characteristics and etymology while eating a bamboo shoot dish.
In "Peeking Though Rice Straw" by Takada Junior High School (secondary category, Japan) the children talk with a company that manufactures environmentally friendly rice drinking straws and a cafe that uses them to find out more about their potential for not only preserving the environment but also reducing food loss and creating employment.
For the KWN Fans Award, 4,185 ordinary people from around the world voted before the summit and the 15 nominated works were viewed a record 1.2 million times in total. In this way the event improves our brand image in each country and raises awareness among those not participating in the summit. A report of the global summit and the award-winning works can be viewed from the website below. They're well worth watching!
Related link:
KWN Global Summit 2023
