On November 30th (Saturday), the final presentation of the Green Blue Education Forum Competition took place in Tokyo. Soka University’s Team “Sandwich,” which included Ms. Koto Okabe, Ms. Ai Ninomiya, and Ms. Narumi Yamada of the Faculty of Law in the course of International Peace & Diplomacy, won the Encouragement Award and the Yamato Award.

In this competition, the aim was to discover leaders who wish to play an active role in building a sustainable society. Outstanding proposals based on the theme of “Environment that We Want to Protect and Leave Behind - A Future that We want to Create” were collected and awarded. The competition was divided into three categories: (1) U-25 (College, undergraduates, graduate students and students of professional schools), (2) U-18 (Middle and senior high school students), and (3) U-12 (Elementary school students). Teams of 3 people participated, and the top three teams in each category that passed the first screening proceeded to the final presentation.

Team Sandwich, the winner of the Encouragement Award, made a presentation on environmental damage, human rights infringement, and financial damage in the world due to overly excessive collection of sand, with the theme of “Crisis of Sand.” They made a proposal for an alternative of sand as a solution. The judge commented, “This is a new perspective in the realm of environmental destruction. There is room for research and fieldwork towards a solution.”

Comments from participating students are as follows:

■Ms. Koto Okabe:
For the first month, after we received a notice that we passed the first screening, we faced many challenges, but after much discussion, the three of us were able to create a presentation. This experience became a precious asset for me. Thanks to the encouragement of many people, I was able to manifest my ability during the presentation. I am filled with appreciation for all those who supported me. In the beginning, I started casually, just to “give it a try,” but as I continued researching, I discovered so many things and got immersed in it. I want to continue challenging myself with the spirit to always “give it a try.”

■ Ms. Ai Ninomiya:
The perspective of “sand” came from a presentation theme of Maeda Seminar to which I belong. Unexpectedly, the film that we created was selected for the main competition. Since we were given the opportunity to present, we exerted ourselves for a whole month with the determination to see it through until the end. I am filled with appreciation because of the many people who supported us towards the main competition such as Professor Yukio Maeda (Faculty of Law) and Professor Shinjiro Sato (Faculty of Science and Engineering). It was because of the support we received that we could show this kind of result. I regret that we did not receive the most outstanding award that we aimed and prepared for, however, because we received the Encouragement Award and the Yamato Lease Award, we will not stop here but will continue our research on the hindrances of excessive collection of sand.

■Ms. Narumi Yamada:
I am very appreciative that we had the opportunity to present the result of our research to many people. For approximately a month, we did our best to prepare, and I discovered the great joy of researching on my own and racking my brain. I was able to challenge myself until the end because of the two teammates who always supported me, as well as the professors who sincerely gave us advice amid their busy schedule and my fellow students in the faculty who constantly encouraged us. From today, I am determined to continue making efforts with the spirit to repay my debt of gratitude.