The International Children's Painting Competition

Nikon thinks that fostering environmental conservation awareness among children who are going to be out future is an important subject in order to preserve the precious earth for future generation. Nikon has been co-sponsoring the International Children's Painting Competition on the Environment since the fifteenth competition was held in 2006, with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE) and Bayer AG.

The competition calls for children aged 6 to 14 to "send a message around the world to conserve the earth through posters" on the year's theme. The competition has received about 4.3 million entries from over 100 countries.

Each year in the autumn and for an approximate six-month period, the competition invites children to enter their paintings from across the globe. After undergoing regional screenings in Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Latin America/Caribbean, North America and West Asia, prize-winners are selected at the following year's global screening convention which takes place in the spring.

Nikon hopes that children will develop their awareness for environmental conservation through the medium of painting. Nikon also seeks to appeal to as many people as possible about the importance of environmental conservation by showcasing the winning entries at exhibitions and printing them onto postcards and calendars for distribution.

Exhibition at the UNEP Information Corner in the Northern Concourse of Tokyo Big Sight

Nikon exhibits award winning paintings of the International Children's Painting Competition at the UNEP Information Corner in Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama, Hyogo, and Aichi to convey children's messages of appealing for environmental conservation to many people. Nikon holds this panel exhibition in cooperation with the Public Interest Incorporated Foundation, Association of the Earth, which promotes UNEP in Japan. Its activities include publishing Japanese versions of UNEP's official magazines such as "Our Plant" and "TUNZA".
Nikon also supports the promotion of these official magazines. For this reason, the winning paintings of the International Children's Paining Competition are alternately exhibited with UNEP's environmental information panels at the UNEP Information Corner.