Toyama Cosmopolitan Association (TCA), hosted by Toyama City, is responsible for the international cultural exchange and providing various aid to foreign residents living in Toyama. TCA and NOWPAP have had a long history of collaboration since the establishment in 2004.
One of TCA’s cultural exchange programs is “An English Presentation by Foreign Residents of Toyama”, organised monthly. This regular event is seen as a way to build additional cultural bridges between people and have feedback on how friendly foreigners see the living environment of Toyama.
Upon invitation by TCA, NOWPAP Coordinator, Dr. Yegor Volovik, participated as the invited guest in such event on 13 July 2021.
The theme of the event was “The experience of working for UN and living in Toyama”. The event started at 18:30. After an introduction of Dr. Volovik, he thanked the organisers for a good opportunity to present UN and NOWPAP to the wider public of Toyama, and then he took over the floor and continued his presentation.
Dr. Volovik introduced the UN system to the meeting, including the six main organs of the UN, structure and key responsibilities of various UN agencies, Multilateral Environmental Agreements, including several global and regional Conventions and the corresponding Commissions. He then led the group through a detailed presentation of the United Nations Environment Programme. Specific attention was paid to the history of the establishment and current operation of the UN-coordinated Regional Seas Programme, to which NOWPAP belongs. Special stress was put on the global developments in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the role of UNEP as the custodian for 25 SDG indicators – across SDG Goal 6, 8, 12, 14, 15 and 17. A number of these goals and targets are relevant to NOWPAP activities.
NOWPAP, as an Inter-Governmental Mechanism, was presented in the most detail. Operation of NOWPAP, its organs and structural units, namely: The Inter-Governmental Meeting as the governing organ, Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU), the four Regional Activity Centres, as well as specific thematic working groups, e.g. for the implementation of the Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter (RAP MALI), were presented and explained to the meeting participants. The main activities of NOWPAP in all four NOWPAP Member States were also presented in sufficient detail.
Over 20 people attended this online session, Dr. Volovik’s presentation triggered the audience's interest, and there were various questions asked in a Q&A session organised after the presentation. The questions reflected the interest of the event participants in various aspects of the functioning of the UN System as a whole, and specific details of the UNEP NOWPAP activities, in particular. Dr. Volovik provided extended responses to the participants and assured that the strengthening of the collaboration links with both Toyama Prefecture and Toyama City is one of the top priorities of NOWPAP, especially on the issues related to marine litter and waste management, public science and assessment tools developed by NOWPAP, as well as public awareness activities.
Several questions were related to the day-to-day life in Toyama. Dr. Volovik expressed his high appreciation to the people of Toyama for their kind attitude and willingness to support foreigners in any possible way. Friendly environment in Toyama, many opportunities to be introduced to the Japanese culture and local traditions are certainly the apparent features of the local community and an inspiring attraction for newcomers.
The meeting lasted for over 90 minutes and was concluded at around 21:00.
