Nagoya Sangyo University’s Institute of Environmental Management has been engaged in developing zero carbon school education teaching materials and promoting them overseas through EDU-Port Japan research and supported projects. These initiatives have been recognized by the Aichi International Association through the 2025 Aichi Prefecture Merit Award for Promotion of International Exchange. The award recognizes our contribution to the promotion of international exchange and understanding through initiatives such as the development of environmental education in Asian countries; the implementation of international exchange learning between schools; the development of programs in collaboration with high schools and other institutions in Japan and Taiwan, including a greening tree survey program and a program exploring zero-carbon schools; support for students in creating educational materials and distributing them in multiple languages; and support for the establishment of model cities for environmental education.
The award ceremony was held on November 12, 2025, at Aichi International Plaza, and was attended by Professor Masakazu Ito, Director of the Institute of Environmental Management, and a representative of the doctoral students involved in learning support activities in Nepal. The award plaque was presented by Mr. Masaaki Kanda, Chair of the Aichi International Association .
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Award Ceremony (December 2025) -
Award Ceremony (December 2025)
Zero carbon school education is a learning program in which students visualize the amount of CO₂ absorbed and emitted through daily school activities, and explore carbon neutrality through initiatives such as greening activities and energy-saving practices. Nagoya Sangyo University has provided learning support to a total of 138 elementary, junior high, and high schools (including 89 overseas) across East Asia (Japan, Taiwan and South Korea), Southeast Asia (Vietnam and Indonesia), and South Asia (Nepal). The achievements of these learning activities were recognized last year too as good practices for school environmental education.
・The results of our systematic support for and overseas expansion of greening tree survey activities, a collaborative initiative between the university and Takada Junior and Senior High School (Tsu City, Mie Prefecture), received the 2024 Minister of the Environment Award for Climate Action.
・The results of zero carbon school activities carried out by our sister school, Kikuka High School in Nagoya, won a prize in the School Environment Greening Category of the 2024 Aichi Prefecture School Greening Contest.
・The results of the zero carbon school activities conducted by Kaohsiung Girls’ Senior High School, a model school for this initiative in Taiwan, received the highest Four-Star Award at the 2024 GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposium, part of the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program promoted by NASA of the USA and other organizations.
・The achievements of greening tree survey activities in a three-way collaborative project between the university, Kaohsiung Girls’ Senior High School, and Cianjin Junior High School in Taiwan won second place in the 7th Environmental Education Practices Contest (2024) organized by the Taiwan Ministry of Education.
Starting in 2025, we have shifted the focus of our learning support from individual schools to entire municipalities, working toward the development of model cities. In Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture, we are supporting zero carbon school activities in elementary and junior high schools as a key program under the Ichinomiya Climate Change Action Plan 2030 (revised January 2024). In Owariasahi City, Aichi Prefecture, where the university is located, we have begun building a model city for zero carbon school education through collaboration between industry, academia, finance, and government, with the university staff providing learning support using CO₂ concentration meters donated by MUFG Bank to 12 local elementary and junior high schools.
To promote the spread of zero carbon school education overseas, we are collaborating with Taiwan Ministry of Education and Taipei City Department of Education to provide teacher training for elementary, junior high, and high schools, and to develop a model city in Taipei. In addition, we signed a partnership agreement with Tilottama Municipality in Lumbini Province, Nepal, in December 2024, and in February 2025, we supported an international exchange learning program between Shankarnagar Durgadatta Secondary School in Tilottama and Takada Junior and Senior High School in Tsu, Mie Prefecture. To help ensure that the activities in Nepal become self-sustaining, university staff members and graduate students plan to visit Nepal in mid-December to conduct teacher training (including group-based training sessions and on-site visits) for secondary schools in Tilottama.
International Exchange Learning (February 2025)
Going forward, the university will continue to leverage the results of our overseas expansion through EDU-Port Japan projects with the aim of reviewing the international applicability of our teaching materials, developing teaching materials by students at model schools in Japan and abroad, and building a system for international collaborative learning using the materials. We will also foster the self-sustainability of local activities with the aim of spreading our activities to other countries and regions in Asia.
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Teacher training held by the Taiwan Ministry of Education
(April 2025) -
Teacher training (mock lesson) held by the Taipei City Department of Education (September 2025)
