Baseline report RCE Greater Sendai

Transcription

1 Baseline report RCE Greater Sendai I Summary Geography The City of Sendai is located in the Tohoku region in the north of Japan s largest island Honshū. Tohoku is mostly rural with a few large cities such as Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture. Currently, the Greater Sendai Area covers the area within Miyagi Prefecture, but might include cities, towns and villages in neighbouring prefectures in the future. Municipalities that are actively involved in the RCE include the City of Kesennuma, Japan s first "Slow Food" 1 City, which lies approximately 80 km northeast of Sendai and is famous for its fishing port, and the Town of Tajiri, which lies approximately 50 km north of Sendai and is known for abundant rice production. Challenges The Greater Sendai RCE is characterized by its internal diversity. It strives to practise ESD adapted to the distinctive characteristics of the metropolitan city of Sendai with its 1 million population, the rural town of Tajiri, and the coastal city of Kesennuma. The RCE is intended to start from environmental education (EE) aimed at a recycling-based society co-existing with nature and by expanding EE into ESD. Sustainability issues that the Greater Sendai RCE will address include: 1 The "Slow Food" movement was initiated in Italy in 1986 in response to the opening of a major fast food chain there.

2 Sustainable Production and Consumption As the largest consuming region and the business center in Tohoku, Sendai must promote sustainable production and consumption through 'green purchasing' and other initiatives. Community Revitalization Problems of depopulation and economic decline caused by out-migration have been pronounced in small towns and villages in Tohoku. Rapid depopulation has led to problems in the provision of education and other social services in such places. In addition, the aging population and the twin pressures of trade liberalization and deregulation are having devastating effects on local primary industries. Greater Sendai RCE s role in the region Along with the City of Sendai, which launched "Forum for Environmental Education and Learning in Sendai, City of Trees" (also called "FEEL Sendai") in 2004, the Miyagi University of Education (MUE) is taking the lead in developing the Greater Sendai RCE. FEEL Sendai is an entity that coordinates partnerships between and among NGOs, schools, universities, public administration, businesses and others. As a major teacher-training institution, MUE is in a perfect position to link local boards of education and promote ESD in local schools. Building on the activities of the Environmental Education Center (EEC), MUE is promoting ESD through education, research, and outreach. The Greater Sendai RCE will serve to coordinate disparate grassroots activities in the region into a concerted endeavor to achieve a sustainable society. It can also address the strong role rural communities can play in ESD in addition to the role of urban communities. Goals of the RCE Develop public understanding and awareness about SD and ESD Foster an increased quality of teaching and learning in ESD Develop a 'regional knowledge base' Short-term objectives Enhance and coordinate existing activities, partnerships and networks in the region, with MUE serving as a hub of networking Develop a platform for dialogue between NGOs and school teachers and administrators, and between environmental administration and educational administration

3 Long-term objectives Raise public awareness about the value of the immediate natural environment, wildlife, and traditional knowledge about a sustainable way of life in the region Enhance trainers training and develop ESD materials Create a 'regional knowledge management system' to collect, manage and disseminate good practices and to deliver effective ESD to local people Promote greening of the urban Sendai district, restore "Satoyama" (a traditional agricultural ecosystem) in rural communities, conserve the riverine and marine environments, and promote eco-tourism Promote green purchasing and local production and local consumption, support sustainable agriculture, and reduce waste Organizations involved The initial partners include municipalities, local boards of education, local schools, and local NGOs that have closely collaborated with MUE. Sendai Science Museum, Shizugawa Nature Center, and other educational institutions, NGOs and business organizations participate in the RCE under their long-standing partnerships with MUE and/or local schools. Governance structure The RCE Steering Committee, launched on 24 June 2005, is organized by about 20 important stakeholders in the region to act as a decision-making body. MUE s UNU-RCE Promotion Committee hosts the Secretariat of the Steering Committee. Committee members are representatives from three sub-regions (Sendai, Tajiri, and Kesennuma) and organizations that oversee the region as a whole. Overarching organizations include MUE, Environment Bureau of the City of Sendai, Environmental Policy Division of Miyagi Prefecture, the Tohoku Office of the Ministry of the Environment, Tohoku Global Seminar (NGO), the local newspaper Kahoku Shimpo, Tohoku Office of Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), and UNU-IAS. Representatives from sub-regions include FEEL Sendai, local municipal governments, local boards of education, local schools, and local NGOs such as the Japan Association of Wild Geese Protection. Activities The Greater Sendai RCE builds on rich and diverse activities in the region, including:

4 1. Various awareness raising and capacity building programs run by FEEL Sendai, Tohoku Global Seminar, "Igune School in Sendai" and other NGOs 2. Pre-service and in-service teacher training programs developed and administered by MUE in close collaboration with local civil society 3. Kesennuma Omose Elementary School s systematic EE program (1 st through 6 th grade) developed and implemented in horizontal collaboration with MUE and various regional and global partners 4. An experimental program to utilize post-harvest flooded rice fields as feeding and resting grounds for wintering waterfowl to promote sustainable agriculture in the Town of Tajiri, where the Ramsar site Kabukuri-numa is located. Achievements 1. Discussion about creating an RCE in Sendai Area started in late Many meetings were held to reach consensus on the concept of the Greater Sendai RCE. 2. The Greater Sendai RCE officially started from June 2005, when the first meeting of the RCE Steering Committee was convened. 3. The Liaison Council of University Centres was launched in MUE, which is led by the Vice President. The Liaison Council coordinates all six affiliated centers of MUE, including the Environmental Education Center, International Education Center, and Special Education Center. This facilitates MUE to address diverse strategic perspectives of ESD. 4. Various new collaborative projects were developed under the framework of the Greater Sendai RCE. For instance, a program was developed in Kesennuma to promote vertical alignment of ESD curriculum from elementary through high school. II Structure of the Greater Sendai RCE The United Nations took up education towards a sustainable society (development) as a major task for the 21st century. A sustainable society requires the creation of an ideal method of education to apply citizens resources from each area to solve global environmental problems and issues of human rights, along with economic problems. The United Nations University designated Sendai and its surrounding areas as an advanced local foothold to promote "education for a sustainable society" (development). The greater Sendai area s primary, secondary and advanced education systems target education for a sustainable society in cooperation with NPOs and citizens, and local communities. Through environmental education and international exchanges, they

5 strive to create a sustainable society (development) in an area while retaining its local characteristics. Educational activities for a sustainable society that are administered through outreach programs are formulated and led by the Miyagi University of Education. Through its actions, it can improve these communities through citizens works, administration, and through the cooperation of companies and businesses. In the greater Sendai area, this strategy is used and advanced for education for sustainable society in three areas. - International exchange with other countries is aimed at safeguarding the natural environment for the City of Trees, waste reduction, promotion of environmental education, and a recycling society aimed more at a recycling society for the urban area surrounding Sendai City. - At the Kabukuri / Izu marshes near Tajiri, wetland maintenance is undertaken. In accordance with the Ramsar Convention, symbiosis of agricultural and natural environments is proceeding well. - In the Kesennuma area around Kesennuma City, environmental education and ecotourism that observe marine environmental safeguards are encouraged along with international exchange. The greater Sendai area aims at education toward a sustainable society in urban, rural, and natural environments that use characteristics of coastal areas. Environmental education that is aimed at a circulating society is proceeding from this starting point. III Activities of Miyagi University of Education The greater Sendai RCE and Miyagi University of Education "education for sustainable development (ESD)" addresses the treatment of the environment, the economy, and pervasive social problems, but it is also active in international understanding and human rights education through ever increasing measures. The greater Sendai area can advance mainly in the area of environmental education now because interest in the process and its momentum are high. Environmental education performed conventionally is evaluated regularly. Activities of the greater Sendai area RCE that are intended to foster a sustainable society are aimed mainly at Tajiri town, Kesennuma City, the Greater Sendai area and the Miyagi University of Education.

6 (1) Miyagi University of Education promotes actions such as environmental education with grades K-12 and international understanding of education in collaboration with the Prefectural Board of Education and municipal Boards of Education. (2) In the Greater Sendai area, the citizens environmental education promotion committee (secretariat / Sendai City environment city promotion section) of the Mori no Miyako promotes environmental learning in cooperation with citizens groups and companies. (3) In Kesennuma City, the program centres on K-12 cooperation of elementary schools, junior high schools and the Kesennuma senior high school. The City promotes environmental education and international exchanges with the State of Texas. (4) The use of Lake Kabukuri and surrounding farmland is as appointed in the Ramsar Convention in Tajiri. Environmental education and environmentally protective agriculture (winter flooded rice fields) are promoted there. In addition, prefectural efforts are also promoted in the greater Sendai area RCE. The greater Sendai area ESD / RCE Steering Committee meetings of this greater Sendai area RCE cooperative are held in February, June, August, and November. The meetings include members of grades K-12 and citizens groups, with companies participating in ESD activities and discussing matters and future regional development plans. They invite public participation. The United Nations University RCE Promotion Committee was approved in a faculty meeting in May 2005 to promote administration of the greater Sendai area RCE in school activities of Miyagi University of Education and the United Nations University RCE Promotion Committee. This committee takes support from the United Nations University and research institutes. The greater Sendai area ESD / RCE Steering Committee performs PR of the Sendai wide area zone as a model of RCE and university education. This committee is organized and led by four education centres of the school: an education clinical synthesis research centre; a support synthesis education centre; a special centre for truants, that particularly promotes environmental education practice and a research centre that emphasizes environmental education, early English education and Japanese education; and an international awareness education centre that promotes international understanding, and disability education. An RCE inspection team visited the school and the greater Sendai area (Sendai City, Kesennuma City) from Tongyeong City government, Korea, from October A meeting was also hosted by the United Nations University on 16 November 2005, to present the actions of ESD to a promotion committee. In addition, discussions were held

7 with universities involved in the RCE initiative - affiliated representatives of the Beijing university, a Malaysian Science University, the Japanese UNESCO committee, Toronto York University, and a representative of the South Pacific University. The four centres described above cooperate with the Miyagi Board of Education and the Sendai City Board of Education. The environmental education practice research centre provides teacher training for environmental education and a library of environmental education teaching materials. The international awareness education center provides English education. The special support synthesis education centre provides educational promotion and the research centre of special support education provides a study of school refusal issues for ESD at a university again. A subject group was established to investigate modern problems that hinder development of a sustainable society and a practical curriculum was formulated to include cooperation not only with lectures, but also area studies. Programs for subject groups, special support education, education for multicultural understanding, along with environmental education, and health education will be introduced into the educational system. IV Activities of the Greater Sendai Area To solve contemporary environmental problems and create sustainable societies, it is necessary to improve every person s lifestyle to decrease the burden on the environment. As a guideline, the "Sendai City Environmental Education and Learning Plan was formulated in August In accordance with the proposal on this plan, the Forum for Civic Environmental Education and Learning in "Mori no Miyako (City of Trees) (also called FEEL Sendai, Secretariat: Sendai Environmental Office) was founded in May 2004 as a promotional organization that advances environmental education and learning through collaboration. Sendai City has moved ahead to spread environmental education and learning to realize sustainable societies with particular emphasis on the FEEL Sendai enterprise and advances in ESD, while aiming at cooperation with activities in other areas within the RCE s geographic scope. Mori Mori Environment Rescue Team Project

8 Despite being a large city, Sendai, the City of Trees, has a rich natural environment and urban environment. It can be said that the whole city is a perfect milieu for environmental education and learning. The Mori Mori Environment Rescue Team Project is intended to create opportunities for environmental education in these natural and city environments using expertise from local environmental organizations, and intellectual resources including universities. Through this project, it is expected that children and citizens can rediscover the attractiveness of the region and form an attachment to it. In the fiscal year 2005, the theme of "food", linked to all living matter, was selected and learning programs were prepared by six environmental organizations. Program preparation and practice lectures were held in cooperation with the Miyagi University of Education. Programs include the following content: manufacture and circulation of food, the food situation in the world, the influence of our eating habits on the environment, trees supporting food manufacturing, and the relationship between the distribution of animals, plants and food. The program s approach is that environmental problems can be addressed through food-related issues. The programs are also spread by FEEL Sendai. About 4,000 citizens have participated in these programs to date. Environmental Forum Sendai and Civic Forum Environmental Forum Sendai is an awareness event, in which environmental activity groups, students and others cooperate, plan, manage, and ultimately provide citizens an opportunity to learn about environmental problems. The forum was held with the theme Education for Sustainable Development on 2 October The forum provided an opportunity to transfer the concept of ESD easily through a school-style lesson. The Civic Forum was held with the same theme the previous day, and discussion was carried out from various viewpoints, such as local community promotion and wholesome growth of children. In addition, the relationship between environmental education and ESD was considered. Environmental Social Experiment This enterprise is intended to invite plans for advanced performance, in which partnerships among citizens, companies and NPO can be enhanced through the theme of familiar environmental problems. They can then be adopted as Environmental Social

9 Experiments. It is expected that, through this enterprise, activities can be supported and disseminated. Sendai Eco Challenge Sendai Eco Challenge asks that every citizen carries out a self-check on life at home and acquires a lifestyle that is more amenable to the environment. This can be performed through a website. Campaigns, such as the Eco-Challenge Stamp Rally, are held every year to motivate participation. Transmission of Information Environmental learning activities, events and NGO information are published on the website. Information on public and private sector facilities is disseminated through a botanical garden, a science museum, and a recycling center. Environmental Challenge Contest The 5 th Environmental Challenge Contest, sponsored by Sendai City, fostered elementary and junior high school students transferal of research knowledge and experience about the environment using newspapers, the internet, and a picture-card show. In the fiscal year 2005, 361 students of 26 elementary and junior high schools used 99 projects to demonstrate environmental issues as diverse as protection of the planet, acid rain, and recycling of the Star Festival (Tanabata) decorations. V Activities of the Kesennuma Region Kesennuma City, with about 60,000 inhabitants, is a remote municipality in the Miyagi Prefecture. Some parts of Kesennuma are designated protected areas of the Rikuchu-Kaigan National Park. For that reason, tourism is an important industry in the city, along with fisheries. Kesennuma City passed a legislation called the Basic Environmental Ordinance in 2002, and today there are many movements for the preservation of the natural environment. The city is promoting on-site environmental learning using the area s rich nature its forests, rivers, ocean, and island. 1. Formal Education (Local Schools) The formal education sector, comprising Omose Elementary School, Omose Junior High School and Kesennuma High School, is now working to align an environmental education curriculum vertically under the leadership of the Kesennuma Board of

10 Education. These three schools are also partnered with their counterparts in Texas, USA, to develop and implement a global environmental education program. Omose Elementary School (OES) has developed and implemented what it calls a global inquiry-based environmental education program across all school grades (1 st through 6 th grade) in collaboration with MUE and other research institutes and the local community by organizing the OES Project Partnerships Promotion Committee. A systematic EE program at OES, the global inquiry-based environmental education program aims at fostering an appreciation of nature and an understanding of ecosystems and environmental issues in children using the aquatic environment and regional characteristics of Kesennuma as a fishing port. Along with other specialized knowledge institutions, local government, and local industry organizations, MUE provides guidance on the development of the EE program at OES, assists the implementation of the program, and dispatches guest teachers to OES. Because the EE program of OES has been developed through forging dynamic partnerships with local civil society, learning processes of individual students at OES are closely linked to regional development processes. In addition to establishing partnerships with MUE and local civil society, OES has secured additional resources to develop and run the global inquiry-based environmental education program by taking advantage of external funding. The OES participated in the Fulbright Memorial Fund Master Teacher Program (MTP) and the Miyagi Prefectural Board of Education s School Revitalization Proposal Model Project. The Fulbright Memorial Fund launched the MTP in It is intended to bring elementary, junior-high and high schools in the United States and Japan together in a collaborative exchange and education process using Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Through MTP, the OES has worked with Lincoln Elementary School in Wisconsin for three years starting in Since 2005, Omose Elementary School, Omose Junior High School, and Kesennuma High School together have participated in MTP and work with their counterparts in Texas, thereby strengthening the vertical links in the formal education sector and enhancing their links with schools abroad. Omose s case is significant in that the local board of education fully supports innovative means of collaboration among various stakeholders, both local and global, to promote EE. The Kesennuma City Board of Education has an institutional mechanism to support and spread the pioneering, experimental case of EE at OES to different levels of education as well as to other elementary schools in the City. In Kesennuma, an in-service teacher training program called the Education Researcher Program is conducted by the Board of Education. These researchers consist of elementary and

11 junior high school teachers who conduct research on cutting-edge education topics and present results of their studies to schools across the City. 2. Non-formal Education Institutions In the Kesennuma area, fishery workers plant trees every year under the slogan of "The Forest is the Sweetheart of the Sea. This tree-planting campaign is aimed at growing healthy forests as a water source to nurture marine life. Fishery workers have been cooperating with residents in mountainous districts in planting trees at an annual festival of the same name for more than 10 years. This campaign has made residents living along the river more conscious of their impacts on the aquatic environment. In March 2003, Kesennuma City also declared itself Japan s first Slow Food City, committed to promoting fresh, locally produced food. The declaration states that the City will create a more unique and attractive community sustained by a rich variety of local food while conserving nature and culture. Kesennuma intends to strive for community-building through raising awareness of local people and collaboration with local businesses. Experiential programs on Ōshima Island, which hosts school trips for students from Sendai City, Iwate Prefecture and Tokyo, serve as a means to revitalize the community. A plan also exists to use the National Park Resort Village on the island as a centre of environmental education. Another example is a well-known tree-planting campaign. 3. Kesennuma RCE Promotion Committee To promote ESD/RCE in Kesennuma under the leadership of the Kesennuma Board of Education, Kesennuma City is now organizing the RCE Kesennuma Promotion Committee by forging a dynamic partnership with MUE, other local specialized knowledge institutions, local governments, and local industry organizations. This should allow the school and activists of EE to benefit from distinctive local resources and the expertise offered by these partner institutions.

12 Table 1: Members of Kesennuma RCE Promotion Committee (24 organizations) Specialized knowledge Institutes Miyagi University of Education Kesennuma Miyagi Prefectural Fisheries Experimental Station Shizugawa Nature Center Rias Ark Museum of Art Local Government (Public Sector) Miyagi Prefectural Kesennuma Civil Engineering Office Environmental and Health Division, Kesennuma City Planning and Policy Division, Kesennuma City Kesennuma City Board of Education ShiShiori River Preservation Committee Local Industry Organizations Kesennuma Office of Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. Minami Sanriku Agricultural Coop. Association Kesennuma Fisheries Coop. Associations Kesennuma Chamber of Commerce Kesennuma Ookawa Freshwater Fish Association NPO and Volunteer Kesennuma UNESCO Association Slow Food Kesennuma Association Kesennuma Nature School NPO I Love Oshima Oshima Experience Station Kesennuma Butterfly Association MELON Educational Organizations Kesennuma Omose Elementary School Kesennuma Omose Junior High School Kesennuma High School Other schools Figure 1: Model of Kesennuma RCE

13 VI Activities of Tajiri Region Restoration of Biodiversity and Improvement in Agricultural Land Resource Quality through Fuyumizutambo: Winter-flooded Rice Fields A multi-institutional team project including farmers, researchers, local wildlife preservation organizations, schools, and NPOs has been formed in Tajiri, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. This project conducted experiments on farms in the Kabukuri and Izunuma lowlands to test the effects of Fuyumizutambo, or winter-flooded rice fields (WfRF), for restoration of biodiversity and improvement of agricultural land resource quality over nine winter seasons (1998/ /06). The WfRFs were compared with conventional fields that were left completely dry after the fall rice harvest until the following spring. Farmers were supported by researchers of Tohoku University and the Miyagi Institute of Agriculture and Paddy-field Wildlife Organizations of NPO Tambo and the Japanese Association for Wild Geese Protection. Winter-flooded Paddy Field Habitat for Waterfowl Results of a survey conducted in Tajiri town demonstrate that winter-flooded paddy fields are an ideal environment for wild geese and ducks for their feeding, nesting, resting, and other activities. Moreover, work on winter-flooded paddy fields throughout Japan and the remainder of the world has proved that this phenomenon occurs generally in winter-flooded paddy fields. Advantages of Winter-flooded Paddy Fields for Agriculture Winter-flooded paddy fields are thought to offer the following four advantages for agriculture: (1) suppressing weeds like suzumenokatabira, suzumenoteppou (Alopecurus pratensis, Alopecurus aequalis), and konagi (Monochoria vaginalis) in rice fields; (2) controlling weeds through action of surface-feeding waterfowl; (3) fertilization by waterfowl manure; and (4) increased biodiversity and creation of added environmental value in paddy field. Substance Transfer and Paddy Field Organisms Tubificid worms and waterfowl such as white-fronted geese not only consume and decompose matter in paddy fields. They also play a part in substance transfer. We know that these organisms are closely related to fertilization and weed control.

14 Survey of Paddy Field Organisms This survey was undertaken to verify harvest yields, fertilizing effects, and weed-control effects, while also surveying organisms living on different paddy field surfaces. Those surfaces were unplowed cultivated paddy fields that had been inundated with water in winter, but not treated with any agricultural chemicals or chemical fertilizer, compared to customary farming and organic cultivation methods using farm chemicals and weed killers. This survey was conducted in three areas. In June, some tubificid worms (2.2 million per 10 a) were observed in winter-flooded unplowed cultivation paddy fields. The February survey showed that 1.64 million worms inhabited the fields, even in the winter flooded state. Tubificid worms disturb the soil, thereby releasing bacteria from the soil into the water. Consequently, algae and green protoplasts such as spirogyra, euglena, duckweed, sayamidoro, and amimidoro proliferate, along with water fleas, rotifers and other protozoa are found. Biotechnology for Field Improvement An amendment to the Land Improvement Law will bring a shift to field improvement based on environmental considerations. Newly built drainage channels will enable roach and killifish to return upstream for spawning. This type of biotechnology develops infrastructure to protect living organisms. It also merits research as an element of environmental decoupling. However, biotechnology that makes use of living organisms is also necessary from the viewpoint of agriculture. Effects will not be achieved unless field improvement along with environmental consideration works in tandem with methods of agriculture as biotechnology. For more information: Prof. Takaaki Koganezawa Miyagi University of Education t-koga@staff.miyakyo-u.ac.jp Mr. Jinich Matsumoto Director, Career Services and Coordination Division UNU-RCE Promotion Committee Miyagi University of Education 149 Aramaki-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai , Japan Tel: