The First KWN Global Summit Held with the Mission "Create Our Future Together"

"I couldn't believe how much fun we had during these four days!"
"We'll carry out the suggestions made at the summit in our home country!"

The key words for the KWN Global Summit 2017 were "Create Our Future Together." It was a highly significant event in which the students held conversations, conducted field work around town, held discussions, and thought about the future.

KWN was launched by Panasonic Corporation of North America in 1989 as a hands-on video educational program for elementary and secondary school children, by lending video production equipment that allows participating students to produce news videos from their own unique viewpoint. The program has since grown into a global scale. Today, students from schools in 18 different countries and region participate. The goal of KWN activities is to nurture children's creativity, foster teamwork, open up their eyes to various social issues, and unlock their potential.

Satoshi Takeyasu, Panasonic Corporation Executive Officer in charge of the Groupwide Brand Communications Division, explained, "The theme for our summit presentation is "Proposal for Better Future". We are sure that they will be able to show their unique ideas that fill us with excitement for the future. We at Panasonic, would like to accept intently your proposals, for our better future and point of view."

Ms. Kaoru Nemoto, the United Nations Information Centre in Tokyo stated with expectation, "Youth engagement and working with the youth is very important task for us because the youth is a change maker. You are playing a key role in the society. This even is just the starting point. You can become a change maker to make the world the best place to live."

Some of the participating kid journalists had the following to say about it.
"KWN was amazing. We got to interact with so many different people from different countries. Their experiences and their culture and their diversity in their country came out when we talked, and it was really cool to get to know each other. And in the summit, we not only like went through real world problems, I got to experience and gain the knowledge of that."
"I really love that these people are really willing to change that. Even though we are just young, we have our own ideas. And for that, we will definitely change the future, and with KWN, we will have a voice."
"Someday I would want to create something like this. May be trying to engage those teenagers, those kids, I think that that's the way to change the world because we are the actors in this world. We are going to make the change in the future. So I really think that Panasonic is making those dreams come true."

Panasonic will nurture the talents, capacity and skills that global citizens need for life in future society, and, through KWN activities, and provide children and youth with the support to maximize their capabilities and potential as they follow their dreams and future aspirations.

Awards

Grand Prix

Finalist & Regional Winning