Kana Lauren Chan

Co-Founder and Director at INOW

Japan

Kana is Japanese and Chinese, born and raised in Canada. She is the Co-founder and Director of INOW, an educational tourism program based in Kamikatsu, the first “Zero Waste Village” in Japan, and a member of the Zero Waste Academy.

INOW facilitates educational and transformative educational experiences to encourage participants to explore, reflect, and, through experience, learn about zero waste and sustainability. Her work focuses on sharing zero waste and the Japanese culture of “satoyama” to connect people’s lifestyles with nature.

In 2021, she was selected as an Emerging Climate Leader Asia-Pacific through the ProSPER.Net Leadership Programme hosted by UN University - Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability and Social Innovation Japan.

She previously worked for the European Union and Asian University for Women. She completed a Master of Science (M.Sc), Erasmus Mundus European Master’s in Tourism Management and a Bachelor of Commerce in Business Administration. Kana cares deeply about climate action, sustainable tourism, and education.