■Educational Actions 
(to organize school lessons)
●Social service classes
- Organize the high school classes in Tokyo -

Since 2007, all high schools in Tokyo have a new subject named “Social Service” which are mainly mandated to the selected NPOs including NICE. We mainly organize environmental protection and global cooperation workshops such as making eco sponges for the villages of Asia, as well as speaking workcamp experience.
In 2009, NICE run classes for 22 times in 12 schools with involving 3,656 students and 163 volunteers of NICE members. We generally get quite positive feedback and impact from the schools and students. NICE also conducts three different kind of classes in the university in Tokyo.

●Sister School Project 
 Organized internationally to promote cultural understanding and exchange among students.

Since 2003 the project team has visited elementary schools in Japan and Bangladesh to introduce　their culture and schools and make gifts to each other.  

■Social Actions 
(for disadvantaged kids & refugees)   
    
●Stop Child Abuse! (by Happy Kids team of NICE)
 This is a specialized project developed by NICE

1) Organizing family workcamps 3-4 times a year
This 2 day camp aims to be a part of the prevention for the parents who are tired and are facing challenges raising their children where:
+ Parents can refresh, reflect and share their problems and know-how with other parents.
+ Children have a chance to experience nature, voluntary service and learn from cultural exchange.
+ Parents and their children can strengten and rebuild their relationship through this event.

2) Awareness campaign for the public
Four times a year (near the stations in Shinjuku and Atsugi). We distribute informative pamphlets and to over 400 people we asked questions about awareness and appropriate action to prevent and deal with this problem.

3) Activities with the orphanage
We organize a weekend workcamp in Kamakura Children's Home in Kanagawa almost every month.
Some examples: organizing a summer camp for those who have no place to go back home to during the holidays, helping with their events of making rice cake, Chirstmas party, bon-dancing, etc.

4) Activities with a group of foster families
We organize weekend workcamps with "Ken-o-Satooya-kai" (a group of foster parents in the central part of Kanagawa prefecture) to care for the foster children while the parents have seminars and we run summer camps.

5) Continuing study and research
We have a monthly meeting to further study the situation of child abuse including reports by members who have spoken with specialists. Plan for future projects and actions of the team.

6) Support to the other specialized NGOs
We have helped with fundrasing concerts of CMPN (a specialied NGO in Kanagawa against child abuse).

●Actions with Refugee (by Refugee team of NICE)
This is a specialized project developed by NICE

1) Meeting with the refugees who are waiting to be formally registered as refugees by the Japanese government and have been forced to stay in the "jails" with foreign criminals, both in Osaka and Ibaraki.

2) Organizing special events to raise public awareness and promote cooperation among related NGOs.
The first one named "Smile Festa" was held in Osaka, in November 2004. We have also distributed
4,000 special bookmarks with some information about this issue in Tokyo.

3) Exchange with the refugees by cooking, playing football, etc.

4) Continuing study and research
We have a monthly meeting to further study the situation of refugees in Japan including reports by members who have spoken with specialists. Plan for future projects and actions of the team.

■Farm Stay Programs 
(to revive agriculture)

More information coming soon!

■Development  
 (to support revival)
●Notebook Action
- Bridge the children’s friendship & cooperation -

a) Description:
Vols. deliver notebooks with messages from children who donate to children who needed.

b) Aims:
 Create exchange, friendship & global education between children in different nations
 Improve educational environment of the children in the receiving countries
 Promote actions of volunteers and new types of cooperation between 2 NGOs

c) Results
 NICE collected 265 notebooks in 2006 from 3 elementary schools in Kobe (where there was a huge earthquake in 95) which were distributed in the workcamp with IIWC Indonesia in 2007, Jogjakarta that was hit by a big earthquake.

 In 2007, NICE collected 361 notebooks and vols. carried to the schools and the orphanage in Nepal in cooperation of NIFC. Return messages were delivered back to all the Japanese children!
It was done again with Nepal in 2008 and 2009.

●Inaka de Hataraki-Tai
- Revive the depopulated areas by youth power -

Pilot project with Agricultural Ministry (NICE was selected as one of 20 NPOs for this project) to send 10 youth to 5 farming villages of Japan for 6-9 months who coordinate the workcamps & other voluntary projects, find the hidden treasure to be introduced on the internet shop, etc.

With the strong links with these 5 villages all of which have hosted various types of workcamps, NICE tries to deepen development plan in each place and also promote networking different local partners by the meetings and mutual visits. The results were quite positive in 2009!

■Environment 
●Green Foster Parents 
 (forest protection)
This is one of the biggest activities in Greening Asia (a common action to protect forests) by NVDA (Network for Voluntary Development in Asia).   
    
Aims
 a) Green Japanese forests by reviving native trees
b) Green Asian forests through partnership with Asian NGOs of international voluntary projects
c) Encourage a green way of thinking by asking them to grow the seedlings  
    
 Activities
 a) Green Foster parents of the seeds
In 1999, international volunteers collected seeds from Tanzawa mountains where deforestation has occured and more native trees are needed. We asked 1,300 "parents" to grow them in their homes, companies, schools, etc. for two years. We then planted over 300 trees that were grown and cared for by volunteers. We re-start this project with different seeds every year.

●Greening Asia Fund
This Fund consists of donations, support from sponsoring foundations and fund raising. We have
collected about 4,000 US$ and part of which is used to hold tree-planting workcamps in Fiji and Mongolia. Partner NGOs in Asia are NVDA members who are help to plant trees and are able to help maintain them.

●Promotion of acrylic sponge use 
 (for environmental protection)
This is one of the activities in Greening Asia (common action to protect forests) by NVDA (Network for Voluntary Development in Asia)   
    
Aims
 a) To improve water quality and to make the water environment cleaner by reducing the amount of washing soap that is flushed into our water systems
b) Raise awareness on the importance of protecting our natural environment and promotion of concrete actions
c) Save on the cost of buying washing soap, the time it takes to wash dishes and protect your health from the use of chemical soaps (health of your skin and of our water systems)   
    
 Activities
 Step 1. You will make sponges using acryl during the workcamps, seminars, wherever!
Step 2. Then, you will use it to wash dishes without washing soap in the workcamps.
Step 3. Volunteers and local people can keep using them and promote it after the projects
* You need only acryl (which you can easily get from many shops) and only a stick to make them!

Results
・Eco sponges（Selling in the festival）
・Woman in Hanoi（Her house on the river）
 Since 2003, over 7,000 sponges were made and used by over 5,000 people of 10 countries (by IIWC Indonesia, MOVE Malaysia, SJV Vietnam, INEX Slovakia, CONC UK, UNA UK, LEG Italy, CONC France, MCE Mongolia, etc.)
 In the mountain village of Borneo, Malaysia where people flush water from daily life directly to the river, vols. promoted to use the sponges.
 4 women in the slum of Vietnam made 189 sponges all of that were sold in Japan & Taiwan and generated about 600 US$.


●World Tanabata Action
- Green the land & heart to stop climate change -

a) Description:
This is a global common action to
1. Plant trees (or other actions to decrease CO2)
2. Study/ discuss on the climate change issue
3. Write “my action” on “Tanzaku” papers

Tanzaku papers are collected and exhibited in the G8 Summit, the UNESCO Conference, etc.
It was started by NICE in 2008 (co-organized with NVDA, CCIVS and CONCORDIA)/ collaborated with any NGOs & people of all over the world.

Tanabata is a Japanese old custom from the old, romantic tale and people write wishes on the Tanzaku papers and hang them on the bamboo trees in the night of 7th July every year!

b) Aims:
 Decrease CO2 emission by practical actions
 Raise awareness on climate change
 Promote cooperation among NGOs and people

c) Results
 In 2008-09, 48 NGOs in 34 countries were registered and 16,587 persons planted 205,961 trees and 11.906 tanzaku papers were collected,

 Tanzaku papers were partly introduced at the G8 Summit in 7-9 July in Hokkaido, Japan by the great efforts of Special G8 Workcamp by NICE!

 Tanzaku art was beautifully exhibited in the ESD Seminar in UNESCO, Paris in Sep. 2008.

 Special Tanabata Workcamp was organized in Paris, Nov.-Dec. 2009 to help organizing and also present at the UNESCO’s NGO Conference.
 

■Networking
(to promote international volunteering)
●“Citizen Cabinet”
- Advocacy through the NGO networks -

A new government of Japan wants to strengthen partnership with NPOs/ NGOs, so a network called Citizen Cabinet was founded in Jan. 2010 by over 400 NPO activists. President of NICE is a “Foreign Minister” to coordinate the international policies and actively proposes AVS (Asian Voluntary Service) and Long Term Workcamps to revive the forests and fields.