KYOTO, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Panasonic Corporation (TOKYO:6752)(NYSE:PC) held a ceremony to honor winners of its Eco Picture Diary Global Contest at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Nijo Castle in Kyoto, Japan on Tuesday, November 6. On June 3, 2011, Panasonic and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre signed a strategic partnership agreement to promote sustainable development through World Heritage conservation and environmental education for the next generation. The Eco Picture Diary Global Contest Ceremony was held in conjunction with the 40^th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention.

The Eco Picture Diary Global Contest is a program that gives children the opportunity to learn about environment issues while keeping track of their eco activities in a diary format. Approximately 300,000 children from 51 countries and regions participated in the 2012 Eco Picture Diary Global Contest. The national winners from 33 countries attended and were honored at the global ceremony in Kyoto. Each of the children gave a presentation of their unique eco activity in their respective countries. Many dignitaries attended this global event, including Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova and UNESCO Artist for Peace ambassador and world famous soprano singer Sarah Brightman. In her speech, Mrs. Bokova said that the bright future lies in the hands of the children and encouraged them to spread eco activities among family and friends.

On November 7, the day after the ceremony, the children visited Ryogaoka Elementary School in Kyoto to meet and interact with their Japanese counterparts. They enjoyed cultural exchange and challenged together to make a Japanese traditional craft called "uchiwa," a fan made of wood and paper. In the afternoon, the children visited Kiyomizu Temple, another UNESCO World Heritage site in the ancient capital of Japan, as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Eco Learning Program. In this program, students can visit and participate in an interactive environment for learning about World Heritage conservation activities in cooperation with UNESCO and World Heritage Sites. Since its launch in 2011, the program has been held in 10 countries with approximately 4,000 children participated. During the Kiyomizu Temple tour, the children took part in a special light bulb changing event. Each of the children took turns changing the temple's light bulbs to LED bulbs and learned how energy-efficient LED technology contributes to environmental protection.

Panasonic aims to be the "No.1 Green Innovation Company in the Electronics Industry" by 2018, its 100^th anniversary. Panasonic is combining its environmental contributions with business growth as well as aiming to provide its environmental education programs to 2 million children. The total number of participating students in Panasonic's eco educational program since its inception in 2009 surpassed 1 million children. Panasonic will continue to work in unison with UNESCO to help foster eco awareness among children worldwide.

≪Related URLs≫
Panasonic kids school and the eco-picture diary
http://panasonic.net/citizenship/education/

UNESCO partnership
"Panasonic × World Heritage" site: http://panasonic.net/worldheritage
Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/worldheritage.with.panasonic

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