The award ceremony of the "Cool the Earth" Idea Contest
* The organizer of this contest is Eco Business Creation Association and the manager of the web site is NTT Resonant Inc.
The award ceremony of the "Cool the Earth" Idea Contest was held at 17:00 p.m. on Friday, December 12, 2008, on the Eco Communication Stage at the Eco-Products 2008 exhibition, which was held from December 11 to 13, 2008.
Dr. Ryoichi Yamamoto, advisor of the contest and professor at the Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Mr. Fumikazu Masuda, professor at Tokyo Zokei University, and Ms. Satoko Ekberg, director of E-Square Inc., were presented at the ceremony.
After the opening remarks of Mr. Eisuke Kumano, chairman of the Eco Business Creation Association, Dr. Yamamoto made a speech before distributing awards. He congratulated the tenth anniversary of the Eco-Products exhibition, and said, 窶弋he time has come for us to make concrete actions to reduce CO2 emissions by half. We sincerely hope that great ideas submitted to this contest will be put into practice as one of the helpful initiatives to that goal.窶鴀
Prizes were then awarded to the winners. Mr. Atsushi Yokoyama won the grand prize in the Governmental System/Policy Division (domestic) for his entry titled " Establishment of learning system platform for children to proactively plan and implement a low-carbon, recycling-oriented society, utilizing the community characteristics." In the Business Division (domestic), Mr. Yoshikuni Wada won for his 窶廚arbon dioxide absorption and sequestration by mass-production of bamboo charcoal窶鴀 submission.
Mr. Andre Stochniol won in the Governmental System/Policy Division (overseas), for his entry called "Creating and obtaining international support for a differentiated International Maritime Emission Reduction Scheme to halve maritime emissions and pay for improvements." BANDOBASTA Byabasthapan Sewa Pvt Ltd won the Business Division for the idea, 窶弋o verify the social marketing approach on conservation and urban forestry promotion."
Each winner commented that although they presented their ideas to help reduce global warming even a little, it was a great pleasure for them to win in their categories.
Lastly, Professor Masuda and Ms. Ekberg said a few words in closing. Professor Masuda reflected, "We are inspired by the ideas we received, particularly by the concept of 窶牢piritual Capitalism.窶餀 It may be one of the important clues for the future.窶鴀
Ms. Ekberg said, "We are grateful for various ideas from all over the world, including those which were not awarded this time. We sincerely hope to take a next step after reviewing the results of this contest."
The association plans to continue the contest in the future, hoping this contest will be a useful vehicle for society.
