Update:March 17, 2014

2013 Mie Environmental Fair

　

On December 1 (Sun.), the 2013 Mie Environmental Fair was held at Messe Wing Mie in Tsu City. ICETT participated in this second-time event for the second straight year.

There were many attractions and booths for children to enjoy eco-friendly experiences or handicrafts, using wood and nuts. The total number of visitors amounted to some 3,000 and many of them were families with children.

At its booth, ICETT used six panels to conduct environmental quizzes. At previous events, there had been a problem that children didn’t pay much attention to panels on the environment. There are usually many early elementary school children or younger, so ICETT had planned to involve those young kids in the quizzes together with their parents.

Panels were used for the first time to carry out quizzes. Children seemed more interested in the quizzes than at previous events because answers to them appeared on these panels. Even little kids, who just started to learn words, enjoyed the quizzes with their parents, who directed the attention of their children to the panels by pointing at them. There were even passersby who happened to find people gathering in front of these panels and visited the ICETT booth to see the displays and panels with interest. ICETT distributed environmental conservation pamphlets for kids, prepared for this occasion, to parents or adults interested in environmental education to give families an opportunity to learn about the environment together. These brochures were well-received by these visitors, which became a rewarding experience for ICETT.

It certainly takes time and energy to take part in major events like this and carry out public relations activities, but fortunately many of the visitors and the exhibitors left comments that ICETT activities should continue in the future, too. From these reactions, it was strongly felt that there is growing awareness of the environment among the Japanese.