IHI Employees Hold Classes at Two Elementary Schools in Hioki, Kagoshima Prefecture
On November 29 and December 1, 2023, employees from IHI conducted classes at two elementary schools in Hioki, Kagoshima Prefecture. The classes were part of the city’s environmental education program. The company has seconded employees to the municipal government since fiscal 2022 to assist with local decarbonization efforts.
On November 29, employees taught 36-year-six students at Yuda Elementary School about ammonia. The employees created the curriculum. Students experimented with creating, cooling, burning, and dissolving this substance. The employees then overviewed IHI’s current ammonia business. The children were delighted to see the ammonia dissolve in flasks of water and spurt under controlled conditions to ensure the safety of all participants.
In a class on December 1, 32-year-five students at Isaku Elementary School learned about forests and soil ecosystems. The instructor was Project Associate Professor Kazuya Yoshimura from the Institute of Science & Education of Ochanomizu University. Students observed soil organisms collected at the school and other locations and learned about the origins of forests and the food chain. All participants used stereo microscopes. They identified several rare soil organisms, attesting to the area’s great environmental diversity.
In both classes, employees used photos and panels to outline the IHI Group’s deep connections with Kagoshima Prefecture. Examples they cited of its many operations were the Nanatsujima Biomass Power Plant in the city of Kagoshima and the launches of IHI Aerospace-developed Epsilon rockets from the Uchinoura Space Center in the town of Kimotsuki.
The IHI Group will keep deepening municipal government ties in areas where it operates to help foster youth development through classes at schools.
