(2) The Importance of Environmental Education for Children, and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

In order to solve environmental problems, development of environmental technologies and cultivation of human resources with expert knowledge alone are not sufficient. It is also important that individual citizens understand environmental problems. The report “Research on the State of Youth Experiential Activities” (by the National Institution for Youth Education, 2010) studied the relationship between various experiences at each age from early childhood through the age of completion of compulsory education and the qualities and abilities gained through such experiences. The study found that adults who had the more “familiar with plants and animals” during childhood had more of a “sense of coexistence,” or a likelihood to spend days off in natural environments. And the adults who had more “familiar with nature” such as swimming in the ocean or rivers during childhood tended to have more “communication skills” such as being able to introduce themselves in front of people without feeling nervous (Figures 4-1-15 and 4-1-16). As the results of this study show, it can be said that experiences during childhood have an influence on later life. In light of this, environmental education plays an important role in increasing individual citizens’ understanding of environmental problems and working toward public awareness of environmental problems.

Environmental education and experiences during childhood are so important that the government has been making various efforts for environmental education. For example, in order to contribute to environmental education for children the Ministry of the Environment has been carrying out the following: 1) creation of an information database site that provides environmental education and learning materials from around the country, 2) the "Kodomo Hotaranger (kid ranger to protect Japanese fireflies)" program that encourages children's water environment conservation activities with the aim of protecting fireflies and activities the Minister of the Environment Prize, and 3) development and provision of nature experience programs to offer children opportunities to experience the duties of rangers for nature conservation and to learn about the importance of the natural environment. Further, since it is vital that individuals have thorough awareness of the importance of environmental conservation and take actions accordingly in order to truly solve environmental problems, it would be necessary to reorganize the measures and policies for environmental education, from philosophy to actual procedure of policy implementation, and examine methods of formulating measures and policies for future. These findings should be reflected in current measures and policies, with cooperation of key figures of related ministries and outside the Ministry of the Environment. For that reason, the Ministry of the Environment is collaborating with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to launch a "study team to examine future environmental education and public awareness" led by the parliamentary secretary of the Environment, and though this team it is working with key external experts to review the direction of environmental education and public awareness.

Through collaboration with NPOs and NGOs, the government is promoting education for sustainable development (ESD) in local regions. For example, in order to promote ESD, the Ministry of the Environment launched an ESD activity registration system (+ ESD Project) as a mechanism to introduce region-based ESD actions to the general public in Japan. This action is based on results of model studies, with the participation of a wide range of regional entities and the cooperation of related ministries and organizations.

Promotion of the development of human resources and ESD activities will also lead to promotion of a “new public” in which industry, government, academia, and the private sectors participate in activities such as education and child-rearing, town-development, crime and disaster prevention, medical care and social welfare, and consumer protection with a spirit of mutual assistance.