Students from 18 Countries Announce Their Proposals for a Better Future at Panasonic KWN Global Summit 2017 in Tokyo

Panasonic Corporation held the KWN Global Summit 2017, and the children participating from 18 countries and region presented their ideas under the title of “Our Proposal For A Better Future.” The children’s ideas included a society where people help each other and recognize diversity, a society where individuals can live the way they want to, a society without inequality, and a society that develops technologies that allow people to live in happiness. Amid a global environment that calls for the world to work more closely together, they created ideas for inclusive societies from their own perspective of the global issues facing society.

The KWN Global Summit 2017 was held as part of Kid Witness News (KWN), an educational program designed to support the video production of elementary, junior high, and high school students around the world. It runs from August 1 to 5 in Tokyo, bringing together around 100 representatives of 26 schools from 18 countries and region who won the KWN Global Contest 2017 in their respective countries. It is a next-generation development program that gives the children and youth, coming from different cultural backgrounds with different social issues, the chance to introduce their own country and find out more about the other countries, letting them experience what an inclusive society is and build ideas of future societies. This was the first time to hold Panasonic KWN Global summit as part of the KWN program.

Under the theme of “A Better Life, A Better Future,” a vision of society Panasonic is pursuing, the 100 participants (including 52 kid journalists) from 18 countries and region around the world gathered news and experienced the town and society of Tokyo, while holding discussions beyond national borders. They made presentations on ideas to shape the future together with “Our Proposal For A Better Future” as a theme.

Guests attending the presentation meeting on August 4 included Kaoru Nemoto, director of the United Nations Information Center in Tokyo, Masaaki Komiya, Vice Director General of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, Duane Kale, Governing Board member of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and members of the various countries’ embassies. Executive Officer Satoshi Takeyasu gave a speech on behalf of Panasonic Corporation as the organizer of the summit. “The voices of the children, as members of the coming generation, will have our impact on society, inspiring innovation. It is my intention to listen and fully absorb their messages, to realize the hidden potential these children have.” The children’s presentations on their proposals for a better future measured up to this expectation. The attending guests gave feedback on the presentations and praised the children as future global leaders, encouraging them to build together a future from a global perspective. “Youth engagement is important for us. You are the change makers. Every one of you has the power to make a better future,” said Kaoru Nemoto.

Panasonic hopes to help children develop the required qualities and skills to live in the future society and to foster global talent. From this perspective, Panasonic will give its full support to children and youth through this program, to enable them to show all of their skills and potential in striving toward their dreams and the future.