Jul. 26, 2005
Toyota to Back Environmental Activities by China's Youth
― Joint Program to Award Grants and Study Trips ―
TOKYO
― TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announced today that the Beijing-based All-China Youth Federation*1 and TMC have jointly established a program in Beijing to aid environmental protection. Named "The Toyota Environmental Protection Aid Program for China's Youth", this program will receive 3.5 million Chinese yuan (about 50 million yen) from TMC every year for the next three years, totaling 10.5 million yuan (about 150 million yen).
The program's function is to solicit written proposals for environmental protection activities from China's youth―the decision-makers of the nation's future. A panel composed of environmental protection experts and other distinguished members will screen the written applications, conduct field surveys to ascertain their relevance and judge them based on criteria such as benefits, efficiency, originality and feasibility. Each year, 11 winners will be awarded grants to implement their proposal, while also receiving study trips to Japan. There will be four sizes of grants. Included in the program is a special award from Toyota, which will be given to the best proposal relating to the atmosphere and energy conservation. TMC will help choose the winner of this award, while the winners of the other 10 awards will be selected by the panel alone, in order to ensure that the competition is judged from a purely Chinese perspective―to maintain impartiality. Plans call for the program to initially run for three years, with winners chosen each year. This year’s winners are scheduled to be announced at the end of February 2006.
Toyota has long been involved in a wide range of philanthropic activities designed to respond to the needs of regions around the world. Toyota's numerous philanthropic activities in China have included afforestation programs to combat desertification and the creation of a research center in collaboration with Tsinghua University. Toyota aims to be a good corporate citizen, and plans to continue contributing to the development of Chinese society, with activities that focus on the themes of environmental protection, traffic safety and human resources development.
* All-China Youth Federation: The largest youth organization in China, established in 1949. Active in environmental protection activities, it has promoted programs such as the Mother River Protection Operation.
The program's function is to solicit written proposals for environmental protection activities from China's youth―the decision-makers of the nation's future. A panel composed of environmental protection experts and other distinguished members will screen the written applications, conduct field surveys to ascertain their relevance and judge them based on criteria such as benefits, efficiency, originality and feasibility. Each year, 11 winners will be awarded grants to implement their proposal, while also receiving study trips to Japan. There will be four sizes of grants. Included in the program is a special award from Toyota, which will be given to the best proposal relating to the atmosphere and energy conservation. TMC will help choose the winner of this award, while the winners of the other 10 awards will be selected by the panel alone, in order to ensure that the competition is judged from a purely Chinese perspective―to maintain impartiality. Plans call for the program to initially run for three years, with winners chosen each year. This year’s winners are scheduled to be announced at the end of February 2006.
Toyota has long been involved in a wide range of philanthropic activities designed to respond to the needs of regions around the world. Toyota's numerous philanthropic activities in China have included afforestation programs to combat desertification and the creation of a research center in collaboration with Tsinghua University. Toyota aims to be a good corporate citizen, and plans to continue contributing to the development of Chinese society, with activities that focus on the themes of environmental protection, traffic safety and human resources development.
* All-China Youth Federation: The largest youth organization in China, established in 1949. Active in environmental protection activities, it has promoted programs such as the Mother River Protection Operation.
