Suntory Beverage and Food Thailand in conjunction with the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Environmental Education Centre (EEC) organised a press conference to launch “Mizuiku”, the Suntory’s Education program for nature and water.
This environmental initiative aims to promote public awareness of water conservation and natural resource restoration, especially among Thai youth, as a way of ensuring a sustainable future for posterity. The press conference was held on April 5, 2023 at 101, True Digital Park.
Somsak Sappakosonkul, Director-General of the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and Natthanicha Worawannaseth, Senior Vice President Corporate Function, Suntory Beverage & Food Thailand and Indochina, delivered the opening addresses. Somsak took the opportunity to underscore his organisation’s determination to protect nature and the environment as part of Thailand’s official efforts to facilitate water quality protection and restoration. The goal is to keep all water sources clean and maintain inadequate supply for posterity. He joined Mathuvalee Stithyudhakarn, Director of Regulatory Affairs and Corporate Affairs, Suntory Beverage & Food Thailand and Indochina, and Alexander Simon Rendell, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Environmental Education Centre (EEC), to elaborate on the noble water program.
The “Mizuiku” program is one of the ongoing environmental projects that Suntory Beverage and Food Thailand has been running consistently since 2021. The program seeks to raise public awareness of water sources and natural resource protection and disseminate this body of knowledge across Thai society. Now in its third year, Mizuiku is a water source protection program that has been carried out provincially but is now set for expansion to national level as an environmental learning model. The goal is to build more change agents with water protection knowledge among Thailand’s youth population through the inspiring role of schoolteachers.
In 2021, the Mizuiku program, Under the concept “Save the Water, Save the World”, was carried out in collaboration with the Environmental Education Centre (EEC). Under this program, participating youth were taken on a study tour to a natural classroom by the Andaman Sea to learn aspects of the protection of water as a natural resource and source of water. The study trip aimed to raise awareness of the importance of water sources in the participating students’ hometowns. Later in 2022, the program banked on the concept “Give
Balance to Water and the World” and was executed in cooperation with the Environmental Education Centre and Rayong Inclusive Learning Academy (RILA) to promote awareness of the importance and usefulness of water among Thai youngsters. The program sought to inspire pupils to become aware of the problems, and the importance of, water under the guidance of schoolteachers. The goal was to design an environmental classroom that transfers a body of environmental knowledge and offers a source of inspiration to students.
In 2023, the Mizuiku program is in its third year. Suntory Beverage and Food is joining forces with the Environmental Education Centre and the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to continue the environmental activities from the previous year but under a new concept: “Protect Water, Care for the Environment for a Sustainable Thailand”. This year’s program is the result of cooperation with schools participating in the Eco-School Project and an environmental network of the Department of Environmental Quality Promotion in an attempt to drive the expansion of this water protection project as a learning model on a national level from its provincial roots. The program aims to inspire youngsters with environmental issues and kindle their interest in taking on the role of a change agent and creating “eco-citizens” who are instrumental in driving sustainable efforts for the protection of water sources and environmental resources in their local area and expanding their mission on a national scale.
The Mizuiku water protection program is to be carried out over a three-year period starting from 2023. This year, the project plans to sow the seeds of environmental awareness, telling inspiring tales of the environment and water in provincial areas. In 2024, the program will produce more seeds of interest by increasing the number of people involved in the program and will raise greater awareness of the environment among youth. Then 2025 will be the year of planting the seeds of environmental awareness among youth. The program’s environmental learning model will be incorporated into the curricula of chosen eco-schools for the purposes of sustainable development. A space will be created for a broader exchange of ideas about water source protection and environmental learning in hopes of inspiring the next generation of eco-citizens in provincial areas. The knowledge about environmental protection acquired through these eco-schools will then be applied for use with great efficiency in the students’ local areas.
