The Benesse Corporation provides opportunities to learn about nature and the environment tailored to children's developmental stages through products, services, events, and more.
This is a kit to cultivate a touch-me-not plant from the seeds.
Through cultivating a touch-me-not plant, children learn about appropriate watering and other conditions required to grow plants. A sense of affection and a desire to care for what they have grown themselves is also encouraged. In addition to Edutoys, we also developed a movie to get children interested in cultivating the plants, as well as picture books to inspire interest in plants other than touch-me-nots.
Part of the Organism Observation Program, which goes from April to September. A sense of curiosity and an inquisitive mind are developed through observing nearby living creatures from three viewpoints: shape, food, and special abilities.
The theme for April was roly polies. The story developed in the video materials and picture book is exciting to children.
This is a four-song Shimajiro animation that young children can enjoy watching and singing, and that helps them to develop a feeling to care for the Earth. The children learn that many living creatures live together happily on the Earth, and that the feelings of 'cuteness' and 'love' towards the animals in the film will lead to a desire to 'take good care' of them in the future and inspire action. In addition, as an environmental education song, by including a few scenes of environmental problems in the video, it is not only fun, but also contains the message that there are many environmental problems happening in the world.
From 'The Big, Blue Home
In the show “Shimajiro: A World of WOW!”, the episode themed “Biodiversity” won “Best Preschool Programme” at the Asian Television Awards, the largest international television awards in Asia. Out of more than 1,000 entries from across Asia, the episode was recognized as outstanding by a panel of 60 experts. The episode focuses on species whose numbers have been reduced due to development, emphasizing the importance of protecting these creatures and creating an environment where they can live together in harmony. The aim of the show is to stimulate conversations between parents and children about challenging themes such as biodiversity and environmental issues, and to think and act on their own.
The aim is to convey the meaning of "Mottainai (=wasteful)" to young children in an easy-to-understand way, and to raise their awareness. The song and dance to the Japanese lyrics of "Ma-Mi-Mu-Me-Mo" introduces common "Mottainai (=wasteful)" situations in preschool life in an easy-to-understand way. The song and dance are designed to raise awareness of the need to eliminate "Mottainai (=wasteful)" behaviours while singing and dancing.
In the social education category of the “100 Best Videos for Environmental Education and ESD Practice,” launched by the Ministry of the Environment in 2023, the environmental awareness video for young children, “Ma-Mi-Mu-Me Mottainai!”, was selected as one of the top 100 videos. The jury commented, “The commitment to fun is evident, allowing young children to naturally engage with the content during playtime. We hope there will be more B to C (Business-to-Consumer) videos like this in the future.”
Information is provided in a special environmental issue of the Shimajiro Newspaper and on the website, in the hope that parents and children will learn about 'ecology' together and have conversations about it. Although this is a difficult topic for young children, we suggest that they start by taking care of the things they love and are familiar with through quizzes, searching pictures and other play activities.
A page to deepen intellectual interest in the environment, economics, science, and a variety of fields in order to cultivate the ability to consider things based on diverse viewpoints and experiences. Children can deepen their interest in the environment with features in the environment field, learning about the balance of organisms and nature, as well as the causes of and measures against extinction, with organism extinction-themed features. They can also consider what can be done before recycling, which requires time and energy, with waste-themed features.
The Shinkenzemi “Challenge Touch” Social Studies program creates content to help elementary school students understand their lessons.
For 4th graders, the program introduces waste management issues and emphasizes the importance of the 4Rs (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle), encouraging proactive behavior.
For 5th graders, it covers environmental issues, including diagrams of global environmental issues and global warming.
The “SDGs Mystery Solving” project is a fun way for children to learn about the SDGs, providing them with an opportunity to focus on the world of the future. Through content that sparks children’s desire to learn more and do something about these issues, the project aims to nurture creativity, raise awareness of global issues such as environmental challenges, and develop the ability to take action to work toward finding solutions.
* This content is only available for the Shinkenzemi elementary school course.
The Shinkenzemi junior high school course “Mirai-Ka” (future studies) provides useful topics ranging from common junior high school concerns to dreams for the future. It also covers SDGs as a hint for discovering the future from familiar things.
The following two series are currently available.
We offer content to learn about the Inquiry-based learning process and necessary approaches in Mirai wo Hiraku Tankyu Shirizu Tankyu Nabi ("Inquiries that Create the Future Series: Inquiry Navigator"), educational materials for Inquiry-based learning that support the discovery and resolution of issues in Sogotekina Gakushu no Jikan ("Comprehensive Learning Time") aimed at high school teachers and students. Participants also practice inquisitive ways of thinking and deepen an understanding of global warming based on actual social problems.
The Benesse Corporation developed disaster prevention teaching materials for STEAM aimed at high school students as part of the STEAM Library, a part of the Mirai no Kyoshitu ("Future Classroom") project of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry released in March 2021. These educational support materials allow high school students to investigate regional disaster prevention and risk reduction based on hazard maps and statistical information from the areas in which they live while also allowing students to understand the state of the occurrence of disasters in Japan and around the world. Students also consider robots as solutions together with universities, private companies, and local government agencies as examples of the utilization of technology in disasters and risk reduction as considered by the students themselves.
We offer opportunities every year during the summer holidays to combine studies of nearby initiatives, environmental issues, and more so that students can apply to this contest.
By collecting essays on environmental issues, we hold this contest in the hopes that it might be a chance for high school students to think about environmental issues, share this with their communities, and voluntarily take action.
Benesse STEAM Festa is an exploratory learning exchange event for junior and high school students across the country, with SDGs being one of the most popular learning themes. Some students not only conduct research and empirical studies, but also expand their efforts into society.
In FY2023, on March 23, participants gathered in person for the first time in three years for an event held at Ueno Gakuen. A total of 104 teams from all over Japan gathered to bring their studies and interact with peers who are exploring similar themes.
The National Exploration Contest is an opportunity for junior and senior high school students from schools that have adopted the Explore Navi and Explore Navi Basic materials to pursue their own interests and awareness of issues. It is an important step to encourage action towards a sustainable future through the exploration of environmental and social issues.
We develop various events in cooperation with local government agencies, private companies, environmental groups, and more.
On 11-12 November 2022, a workshop was organised by the Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles (APEV), co-organised by Fukutake Hall, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, The University of Tokyo and Office for the Next Generation (ONG), The University of Tokyo, supported by Benesse Holdings, Inc. and Benesse Corporation. A workshop was held on the theme of 'Thinking about sustainable tourism' using EVs from the perspective of solving problems in Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture, and from the perspective of environmental considerations. The workshop was attended by students from Tochigi Prefectural Utsunomiya Higashi High School, Tokyo Metropolitan Hibiya High School, Hiroo Gakuen High School and Saitama Prefectural Fudoka High School. On the first day of the workshop, based on the plans made by the students from each school, the participants toured the sights of Nikko while using AI taxis, as a demonstration project. After returning, each group shared their findings at a briefing. On the second day, students heard about the initiatives of Nikko City from the Tochigi Prefecture Department of Environment and Forests and Nikko City Hall, Tobu Railway's initiatives from JTB and Toyota Rental & Lease's initiatives. After deepening their understanding of the content of the lectures through individual Q&A sessions, the participants focused on issues based on their experiences on Day 1, came up with passionate solutions and prepared presentation materials. Each team gave a short presentation on the solutions for issues and environmental considerations in Nikko City, each with diverse and concrete ideas. The presentations were very lively, with active mutual questions and opinions about the content of the presentations. In the post-implementation questionnaire, many respondents said that they found it harder than expected to incorporate both tourism and sustainability, and that their interest deepened and their motivation to learn improved, for example, "I learnt that it is important to have a system that benefits everyone, including local residents and tourists, in order to make tourism sustainable".
On February 12, 2022, a workshop to consider future applications for EVs as a measure against climate change took place hosted by Benesse Corporation and Association for the Popularization of Electric Vehicles (APEV) and co-hosted by Fukutake Hall, the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, the University of Tokyo, Next Generation Office (ONG), and the Institute of Industrial Science. We are pleased to have welcomed the participation of students from Mizukaido Daiichi High School and Matsuyama Technical High School as part of their STEAM education.
In the workshop, participants considered the use of EVs and other technologies to fulfill the needs of wheelchair users, as well as social approaches such as laws and regional policies, with guidance provided by experts.
In the post-program questionnaire, participants commented that their interest in EVs had deepened and their motivation to learn had improved. Feedback included "I now understand how important it is to have a barrier-free perspective rather than just the narrow view of what is normal for able-bodied people," and "I learned a lot about EVs and can see a wonderful future for them."
Benesse Holdings and the Benesse Corporation participated in the creation of biological diversity guidelines in Tama City and collaborate in offering education on the biodiversity of Tama City to protect the rich natural environment, to gain the bounty of nature while coexisting with organisms, and to create a sustainable society.
We hold an annual “Environment Day” (Group-wide morning meeting) for the entire Benesse Group to deepen understanding of our environmental goals and initiatives, and to provide each employee with hints for their own activities. In FY2024, we invited Professor Masatada Emori from the Graduate School of the University of Tokyo to give a lecture on “Climate Crisis and Major Social Transformation” [Japanese]
and also shared examples of environmental initiatives within the group. In conjunction with “Environment Day,” We offer online environmental training for 25 companies in the Benesse Group employees and promote a foundational understanding of environmental management.
In addition, Benesse Corporation also provides training for new employees, training for environmental staff in each department, as well as department-specific training and specialized training, such as internal auditor training, for new employees in charge of environmental tasks. The company also appoints supervisors for each floor quarterly to ensure thorough separation of waste products and power saving. We promote the awareness of employees by sharing the condition of waste product separation for each floor.
Last updated : 2024/11/08