Women Empowerment Project in Nepal

Our mission is to make ISAK a place where taking action becomes the norm, and where every student has the courage to turn "zero into one." We hosted Entrepreneur Weekend twice during our Grade 10 year, bringing together ISAK students and middle and high school students from across Japan to develop startup ideas over three days, with mentorship from professional entrepreneurs. As we moved into Grade 11, we began sending Grade 10 students to Startup Weekend events in Tokyo and Nagoya, creating a cycle where students pass down the mindset of leadership to future cohorts.

I am Lola, a proud South African who refused to let distance silence my activism against the GBV crisis in SA. I hosted an educational talk and fundraiser to support victims back home and promote awareness. I want to inspire support for the fight against GBV in SA, which many students have done by connecting our global communities. As UWC students, we are catalysts for the future, and so I hope this story inspires others to take that step towards positive change in their own worlds.

PEASO, or Peer Education and Support Organization, is a CAS project started at UWC ISAK Japan. With our motto "from students to students," we aim to learn and develop new ways to combat a multitude of issues within academically intense and culturally diverse school environments. Mental health, academic stress, safeguarding, identity, and multicultural communication are what PEASO strives to learn about and ultimately prevent.

Restoring Hope supports 36 displaced girls in Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia, who were affected by the Tigray War. Combining psychological rehabilitation with educational reintegration, the project helps them rebuild confidence, emotional wellbeing, and motivation to return to school in a safe and supportive environment.

We tackle coffee waste by combining science with community action. Our team engineered E. coli to remove caffeine from spent coffee grounds, making them safe for use as fertilizer. Beyond the lab, we partnered with coffee shops, taught students through workshops and camps, and brought sustainability education to rural communities, empowering people to turn everyday waste into a resource.

Maybe it's just a routine. Maybe it's just another spot in the timetable, but maybe, there's more to our usual Stop and Clean. Being nominated for the Impact Award recognizes how small, consistent actions can create meaningful change on how we view communal spaces. Stop and Clean in the KAC Entrance represents an opportunity to practice responsibility, mindfulness, and respect for the community environment.

Nagano Harvest is a student-led CAS initiative at UWC ISAK Japan focused on sustainable agriculture and community learning. Through hands-on farming experiences in Nagano, students explored practical methods of more sustainable food production while building a deeper understanding of the relationship between people, land, and food systems.The project aimed to bring this learning back to the ISAK community by helping students better understand where their food comes from and why responsible farming practices matter. By growing food, working with local agricultural knowledge, and sharing their experiences, the team encouraged the community to think more carefully about food consumption and sustainability.Nagano Harvest highlights how small, practical actions can strengthen connections between students and the local community of Karuizawa while promoting more thoughtful and sustainable approaches to agriculture.

Teacher orientation is a flood of new information to digest — teachers feel overwhelmed and underprepared. When faced with challenges in the classroom or procedures to follow, the right information is rarely at hand. The result is stressed teachers and inconsistent application of school approaches.Decision Point uses bespoke simulations so teachers can make decisions in a low-stakes environment. The result is more confident teachers, less procedural error, and less administrative burden.

Inspired by my grandfather’s hearing loss, I See Life works to bridge the gap between deaf and hearing communities. Through exchange trips and activities to a local deaf school, weekly sign language sessions, and events on World Hearing Day, we encourage more people to connect with the hard of hearing community, one that often gets overlooked in our daily lives. #DeafAwareness #Inclusion #SignLanguage #TechForGood #uwc #uwcisakjapan #isakimpactawards #isakimpact #nagano #karuizawa