Panasonic Hosts the Kid Witness News (KWN) Global Summit 2022

Osaka, Japan – Panasonic Group (hereafter Panasonic) hosted the Kid Witness News (KWN) Global Summit 2022 online on Saturday, December 3, 2022. A total of 53 students from 20 schools in six countries, as well as teachers and other related staff members, participated in the Summit.

Part of Panasonic’s next-generation development support activities, KWN is a program that supports filmmaking by children by lending out professional Panasonic video equipment. The program’s goal is to help children enhance their creativity and communication skills, and foster teamwork through filmmaking. Over the 33 years since the program began in the United States in 1989, more than 180,000 students and teachers have participated in KWN. By creating video productions on such themes as communications, sports, and the environment, children have communicated their perspectives on solving issues that affect us all.

For many years, Panasonic ran the annual KWN Global Contest for winning schools from each country and region. In 2020, Panasonic reshaped the contest into the KWN Global Summit as a place to learn about different cultures and strengthen exchanges between countries as well as to deepen understanding about global social issues, in order to further contribute to children’s development.

On the day of the Summit, children from each of the participating countries joined in the Summit via Internet broadcast to a studio in Tokyo. The participants had taken on the challenge of making videos using toy drones at pre-Summit workshops and presented their videos at the Summit. (The videos will be posted later at the KWN Global Summit 2022 site.)

At the Summit, the KWN Kids Award was given to two schools in each category. The KWN Kids Award was selected by the participating children, who voted on the most outstanding production out of the submissions from each country.

The KWN Fans Award was decided based on votes by people from around the world via Facebook. The videos were viewed 730,000 times, and around 2,000 people voted on the videos. Students from Vietnam won the award in both the Primary and Secondary categories.

And for the first time, the new Panasonic Award was awarded based on votes collected from Panasonic employees. The winner was the Sumbangsih Duren Bangka Elementary School, Southern Jakarta in Indonesia.

The Summit proceedings were live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube and have been viewed more than 10,000 times around the world, including views after the event.

Primary category (12 and under)
Country: Vietnam
School: Dich Vong Hau Secondary School
Title: Wish dad stop smoking

Secondary category (13 to 18)
Country: Brazil
School: School of Thinking
Title: My parents are different

The two winning schools above each received a LUMIX GH5M2 mirrorless camera as a supplementary prize.

Primary category (12 and under)
Country: Vietnam
School: Dich Vong Hau Secondary School
Title: Wish dad stop smoking

Secondary category (13 to 18)
Country: Vietnam
School: Tien Duong Secondary School, Kim No Secondary School, Duc Tu Secondary School, Lien Ha High School
Title: Déjà Vu

The two winning schools above each received a LUMIX G100 mirrorless camera as a supplementary prize.

One combined category for all ages
Country: Indonesia
School: Sumbangsih Duren Bangka Elementary School, Southern Jakarta
Title: THE EARTH IS GETTING HOTTER

The winning school above received a LUMIX G100 mirrorless camera as a supplementary prize.

The KWN Kids Award videos and other winning videos, along with additional detailed information, can be found at the websites linked below.

• KWN Global Summit 2022 [in English]
  https://holdings.panasonic/global/corporate/sustainability/citizenship/kwn/summit2022.html
• KWN Global Facebook page
  https://www.facebook.com/PanasonicKWN.Global/

Organizer: Panasonic Holdings Corporation
Main venue: Hamacho Studio B, 2-62-6 Nihonbashi Hamacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Date: 9 p.m. to 10:40 p.m., Saturday, December 3, 2022 (Japan Standard Time, GMT+9)
Participating countries: Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vietnam (countries listed in alphabetical order)
Participating schools: 20 schools from 6 countries
Note: The Summit was conducted over Zoom, connecting Panasonic Group sites and other venues in Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, United Arab Emirates, United States, and Vietnam

Primary category participants (12 and under): 25 children, seven schools, and six countries

• United States: Yendor Theater Company
• Indonesia: Sumbangsih Duren Bangka Elementary School, Southern Jakarta
• Japan: Morimura Gakuen Primary School
• Brazil: Notre Dame
• Vietnam: Dich Vong Hau Secondary School

Secondary category participants (13 to 18): 28 children, thirteen schools, and six countries

• United States: Bridgebuilder Cinematic Arts
• Indonesia: 36th Junior High School, Cipinang Cempedak of Eastern Jakarta
• Japan: Kanamachi Junior High School, Katsushika-ku, Tokyo
• Japan: Miyazaki Nihon University High School
• Brazil: School of Thinking
• Vietnam: Tien Duong Secondary School, Kim No Secondary School, Duc Tu Secondary School, Lien Ha High School

Note that students from Tan Hoi Secondary School, Phan DinPhung, Phan Dinh Phung, Phan Huy Chu, and Kim Lien High School, the 2021 champion schools, came to the Vietnamese venue on the day of the event to cheer on the Vietnamese students.

1. Icebreakers—Introduction of partner countries and self-introductions
2. Presentation about the drone workshops and premiere of completed videos
3. SDGs declarations from each country and adoption of a joint declaration
4. Presentation of the KWN Kids Award, the KWN Fans Award, and the Panasonic Award

Panasonic’s Corporate Citizenship Activities [in English] 
https://holdings.panasonic/global/corporate/sustainability/citizenship.html 

Corporate Citizenship Department, Panasonic Operational Excellence Co., Ltd.
Email: kid_witness_news@gg.jp.panasonic.com