ALL SCHOOLS IN SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIES ARE INVITED TO ENTER THE COMPETITION*

All public and private kindergarten / elementary / secondary / vocational and technical (up to Grade 12) schools in 11 Southeast Asian countries – namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam – are invited to submit information about initiatives that are related to the theme of this year’s competition.

Note: The school that has been shortlisted or won the SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award within the past five (5) years (2020-2024) is not considered.

Please send the completed submission document of 2025 SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award and a link of three-minute video clip together with supporting documents to the following google form:

https://link.seameo.org/ESD2025/Submission or https://forms.gle/c71rhihfLaJxnRt66

Note: To align with the ESD practices and to save the environment and energy, the Committee will NOT accept the entry in hard/printed copies.

After submitting the google form, you will receive a copy of your responses via the responder’s email immediately. Your responses can be edited after submitting by clicking the ‘Edit response’ button in the email you receive after submitting the google form. Please note that edits can only be made before the deadline: 15 August 2025.

1. The sharp deadline of entry submissions is 15 August 2025. Late submission is not accepted.
2. Each school can submit only one (1) entry.
3. The school that has been shortlisted or won the SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award within the past five (5) years (2020-2024) is not considered.
4. Schools must submit the following requirements to the SEAMEO Secretariat:
   1. A completed submission document of 2025 SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award which have to be made in .docx or .pdf format, maximum file size is 10 MB. The submission document can be downloaded from the SEAMEO website: https://link.seameo.org/ESD2025 or request through email: seameojapan.award@seameo.org
   2. A 3-minute video clip presents the school’s programme in English. If it is produced in local language, please add subtitles so that the judging committee can understand it. Please upload your video to YouTube or other video-sharing sites and submit the video link through the google form as detailed in No.9
5. The information about the school’s programme (in Part II as follows) should not be over five (5) pages of A4 in total. The information should be written in Times New Roman/Calibri font, font size 11.
   1. Part I - Information about the school;
      1. School’s name and contact details
      2. Brief information about the school such as number of teachers and students and educational level
      3. Contact details of the coordinator
   2. Part II - Information about the school’s programme;
      1. Title of the school’s programme
      2. Summary of the programme (maximum of 300 words)
      3. Objectives/goals of the school’s programme
      4. Period of time when the programme has been started
      5. Activities (strategies/activities of implementation, and brief information on each activity)
      6. Teaching and learning approaches/strategies that the school has integrated into the programme
      7. Engagement with the community and sharing of school practices to the community.
      8. Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms
      9. Measurable achievement of the school’s programme to students, teachers, parents, and wider community
      10. Plan for future
      11. Interrelationship of the school’s programme with other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
      12. Link(s) to the information of school’s programme in social media platforms such as facebook, website, youtube
6. All submissions should include related photos. A maximum of five (5) photos with captions written in English can be attached with the submission document.
7. (Optional) All submissions can be attached with a maximum of two (2) supporting documents which can be written in local language. However, a brief translation in English should be provided.
8. Only specific file types of supporting documents are accepted which are .docx, .pdf, .xlsx, and .ppt. If the supporting documents are made in .docx or .pdf, it should be less than or equal to twenty (20) pages each.

This theme highlights the value of local wisdom in enhancing resilience against natural disasters, focusing on the role of schools and their surrounding communities. Southeast Asia and Japan are highly vulnerable to natural disasters, and the application of traditional knowledge can be a powerful tool in reducing risks. Local wisdom, shaped by generations of experience, often includes practices that promote sustainable resource management, early warning systems, and adaptive strategies for disaster preparedness. Schools can serve as platforms to bridge the gap between traditional knowledge and modern disaster risk reduction strategies, ensuring that these time-tested practices are revitalized in today’s context.

In addition to underscoring the critical role that schools play, the theme encourages schools to collaborate with local elders, experts, and/or community leaders to ensure that knowledge sharing is a continuous and evolving process. The theme emphasizes the need for effectiveness in knowledge sharing activities.

By promoting a culture of collaboration between schools and surrounding communities, this theme fosters a united approach to disaster preparedness. This collective approach ensures that disaster risk reduction measures are more widely accepted by the community as a whole, thus supporting their sustainability.

Furthermore, the theme emphasizes the importance of inclusivity. In many communities, marginalised groups may hold valuable insights into local disaster management practices. By involving all community members in resilience-building efforts, schools can ensure that their disaster risk reduction strategies are both comprehensive and equitable.

Considering these significances, the 2025 SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award selects the theme “Fostering Schools and Surrounding Communities' Resilience through the Revitalisation of Local Wisdom in Disaster Risk Reduction”. The objectives of this year’s award scheme are:

1. to increase public awareness and knowledge on the vitality of disaster-risk reduction and community engagement in solving present and potential problems;
2. to encourage schools and communities in Japan and Southeast Asia to promote disaster-risk reduction through community engagement in developing a more sustainable future;
3. to promote and share initiatives and good practices that integrate disaster-risk reduction and community engagement into teaching and learning practices and school’s programmes.

Under the theme of “Fostering Schools and Surrounding Communities' Resilience through the Revitalisation of Local Wisdom in Disaster Risk Reduction”, the school entry should cover the following areas:

1. The entry should be relevant to the theme and the scope of “Fostering Schools and Surrounding Communities' Resilience through the Revitalisation of Local Wisdom in Disaster Risk Reduction” as defined above.
2. The entry should highlight the school’s programme that promotes community engagement to promote disaster-risk reduction, such as a programme where the school develops disaster-risk reduction tools and knowledge sharing platform for the local community, or a programme where the school utilises its facilities to provide courses/trainings on disaster-risk reduction for its surrounding community. The entry should also describe how the school’s programme can contribute to a more sustainable society and environment.
3. The school’s programme should be mainly led by students in cooperation amongst teachers, other students, parents and communities.
4. The entry should clearly demonstrate the integration of the theme in the entire school’s policy, management plan, participatory planning and implementation, curriculum, teaching and learning practices, partnership efforts, parent and community participation, and so on.

The judging committee will consider the following criteria in selecting the winning schools:

1. Strategy/Modality of Implementation
   • The school has demonstrated clear school’s plans and policies, effective strategies, and programme components/activities on how to implement the school’s programme.
   • Appropriate and effective methods and resources are used to implement the programme.
   • Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms or processes are identified to ensure the immediate and long-term outcomes.
   • The school has demonstrated the use of participatory processes – involving students, teachers, parents, community stakeholders and partners – in planning and implementing the programme.
2. Teaching and Learning Approaches
   • The school has integrated disaster risk reduction and community engagement into teaching and learning practices and school’s programmes to ensure that students are able to connect the practices into their daily life, the local environment, and community.
3. Innovation and Creativity
   • The school’s programme has demonstrated innovative practice in relation to the theme that can be replicated.
   • The school has demonstrated innovative ideas for utilizing available resources.
4. Engagement with Community
   • The school has engaged community partners such as neighbouring educational institutions, local government authorities and parent associations to co-implement the school’s programme.
   • The school’s programme has increased public awareness and action to promote disaster risk reduction through community engagement to create a more sustainable future.
   • The school’s programme has strengthened student involvement and contribution to improve sustainable development and effectively promote disaster risk reduction through the engagement of local communities.
5. Impact and Sustainability
   • Results of the school’s programme have revealed the effectiveness and benefits of the school’s programme to students, teachers, parents, and the wider community.
   • The school has demonstrated a clear future plan on how to sustain or scale up the initiative.
6. Interrelationship with other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
   • The school has demonstrated that the school’s programme has integrated the improvement of other SDGs, not the individual pursuit of each SDG, but has interrelation with other SDGs. Therefore, the school should make a clear statement in its application on how the school’s programme connects to other SDGs.

The Judging Committee consists of experts in the areas of education for sustainable development, and education from Japan and the Southeast Asian region. The decision of the Judging Committee is final and challenges/appeals are not allowed.

• All winning schools will receive a Plaque of Recognition and Certificate of Appreciation for teachers and students involved in planning and implementing the school’s initiative for this award.
• All winning schools will also be involved in a webinar post award to share their ESD efforts.
• All shortlisted schools will receive Certificate of Recognition for the school. The coordinators of shortlisted schools (maximum of 2 persons) will receive the Certificate of Appreciation.
• All participating schools that have submitted entries relevant to the theme will be recognized (name, project name and country) on the SEAMEO website and receive the Certificate of Participation.

In 2002, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 57/254 and declared the period 2005-2014 as the “United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development” (DESD).

The UNESCO General Conference at its 40th Session and the UN General Assembly at its 74th Session in 2019 endorsed Education for Sustainable Development: Towards achieving the SDGs (ESD for 2030) as the global framework for implementation of ESD from 2020-2030.

ESD for 2030 builds upon the lessons learned from the Global Action Programme on ESD (GAP, 2015-2019), in response to the increased importance placed on ESD to promote the contribution of learning content to the survival and prosperity of humanity. ESD 2030 places emphasis on education’s contribution to the achievement of the SDGs. It aims to review the purposes and values that underpin education and reorient all levels of education and learning to contribute to sustainable development and to strengthen education and learning in all activities that promote sustainable development.¹

While ESD is implemented worldwide under the GAP, in support of further promoting ESD in Southeast Asia, the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) and the Government of Japan through the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT), in cooperation with the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office in Bangkok, have shown their collective commitment to promote best practices in ESD in schools across Southeast Asia, by organizing the SEAMEO-Japan Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Award. The award scheme has been held annually since 2012.

The objectives of the SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award are:

1. To raise awareness of ESD in schools and communities across Southeast Asia;
2. To promote ESD best practices in schools and communities across Southeast Asia;
3. To share and exchange knowledge and best practices on ESD in schools across Southeast Asia and Japan;
4. To encourage networking among schools and communities which implement ESD practices in Southeast Asian countries and Japan; and
5. To support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of United Nations.

¹https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374802.locale=en

*The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) consist of 17 integrated and interdependent global goals with associated 169 targets, which aim to shift the world on to a path towards sustainable and resilient development. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs

The Award has been conducted with the following themes and participated by the following number of schools in Southeast Asia.

Ms Chunkan Benchaporn
Programme Assistant, SEAMEO Secretariat
Email: seameojapan.award@seameo.org
Website: www.seameo.org