The H3ROES Programme: A Proud Initiative by Canon and Ground-Up Initiative (GUI)
Bringing a taste of rustic-ness into the One-North business district through homemade lemongrass tea and freshly plucked rambutans, a group of educators were invited to visit the new Canon Singapore office on 19th January 2017. This brought together 20 teachers from various secondary schools in Singapore to hear more about Canon’s green initiative, H3ROES, an environmental leadership programme which aims to nurture grounded youth leaders to take positive action for the Earth.
Beyond a conventional briefing on just what the H3ROES programme was about, focus was placed on building a deeper connection with teachers through this special visit and sharing about Canon’s commitment to H3ROES by meeting the folks behind the initiative, and the values the company holds through experiencing it from its people, work spaces and culture.
This commitment to H3ROES is in line with Canon’s corporate philosophy of kyosei – towards living and working together for the common good. Till date, more than 32 schools have indicated their interest in H3ROES 2017, and Canon welcomes more schools to join in this exclusive programme with the hope that more young H3ROES would be committed to love and to care for their environment through a holistic training in a nature-inspired location, also known as the Kampung Kampus, the home of Ground-Up Initiative (GUI).
The briefing took a break to share with teachers an exclusive tour of the Canon Singapore office which showcases Canon’s kyosei philosophy and sustainability efforts – from its open office concept and health and fitness corners, to the regular daily departmental greeting culture and the energy and paper saving practices of Canon’s printers and electricity.
Teachers also heard a personal testimony from Mdm Sarah Toh, a long-time supporter of H3ROES and a teacher with Chong Boon Secondary School, on how joining the H3ROES programme has made her a more environmentally-conscious individual and how her students had been impacted.
“I see the value of sharing and inculcating the values of caring for the environment and our community with our next generation. By getting our hands dirty, our hearts will be more be engaged – and this is made possible with H3ROES,” says Mdm Toh.
The H3ROES initiative between Canon Singapore and GUI has been a partnership established since 2011, and its focus is placed on waste minimisation & management where H3ROES schools play a proactive role in sustaining their community outreach through H3ROES trained student leaders. The focus is on doing real community work beyond their schools by rallying peers to take purposeful action together.
Canon’s success with H3ROES has always been for the long haul, with a direct outreach to more than 270 student leaders from 49 unique schools while impacting more than five thousand students since 2011. H3ROES has been described as the “first two steps towards a long journey”, and since then, there have been great strides, such as in November 2016 when H3ROES set double records for the Singapore Book of Records in an attempt to promote advocacy for sustainability.
H3ROES is all in aim to return people to the fundamentals of working in unison with the environment and each other – for the common good – and Canon is proud to continue H3ROES in 2017. For more information, please contact Koo Hui Ying at info@wowkampung.com.
About Ground-Up Initiative
Ground-Up Initiative (GUI) is a non-profit organisation that nurtures its people by giving them space to discover their sense of purpose, empowering them to contribute effectively towards the stewardship of our world. Its flagship programme, Balik Kampung (Malay for “return to the village”) since 2008, attracted thousands of volunteers from all walks of life and of various nationalities.
Located in Yishun, north on the island city-state of Singapore, many have come to the Kampung Kampus to experience for themselves GUI’s approach in sustainable living and a hands-on culture. Since end 2014, GUI has embarked to build the Kampung Kampus on a 2.6 hectares of land, towards a low-carbon footprint campus and pioneering a new way of learning, strengthening communities and nurturing more grounded leaders based on our “Thinker~Warrior~Farmer” philosophy.
Find out more about GUI at: www.groundupinitiative.org.