Resumen de The Story of the Green Lane Environmental Diary: Uniting Children and Cultures through Environmental Education
The Green Lane Environmental Diary program, founded in 1999 by Green Cross, is a school-based educational initiative promoting sustainable development and inspiring students to become agents of transformative change in their own communities. The initiative underscores a central aim of the Earth Charter Declaration to “provide all, especially children and youth, with educational opportunities that empower them to contribute actively to sustainable development.” The Green Lane Environmental Diary initiative was launched by the Japanese chapter of Green Cross International, the non-governmental organization founded in 1993 by President Mikhail Gorbachev to respond to the inter-related challenges of environmental degradation, security and poverty. Since 1999, the Green Lane Diary program has engaged approximately 1.2 million students in more than 8,000 schools in the Asia-Pacific region. For three months, students are encouraged to write down all their activities and thoughts pertaining to environmental conservation and sustainability. Students engage in activities like recycling, planting a tree or alternative transportation methods. The idea is that simple, everyday changes can make an impact on every person’s carbon footprint, even the littlest ones. Entrants are later recognized for their submissions at award ceremonies and their ideas are promoted via social media. The success of the Green Lane Diary program in Japan has helped it spread to three other countries: Sri Lanka, Australia and South Korea. Each edition is operated by the Green Cross office in the respective countries, who have translated the materials into local languages and applied them to local contexts. The objective with each national edition, however, is the same: to engage and influence children to act as agents of change. Green Cross Japan and Green Cross International are working to expand the project into other countries, broadening the perspective of the program to other cultures.
