Takaaki Koganezawa, Miyagi University of Education Yoshitaka Miyake, Ph.D. student, the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa

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1 The Collaboration between Regions and a University to Pursue Sustainable Regional Development at an Interregional Scale: Greater Sendai ESD RCE ActingCommittee and Miyagi University of Education Takaaki Koganezawa, Miyagi University of Education Yoshitaka Miyake, Ph.D. student, the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa 要旨持続可能な地域社会地域社会を目指目指す広域広域の地域地域 大学連携 ~ 仙台広域圏 RCE~ 小金澤孝昭 ( 宮城教育大学 ) 三宅良尚 ( ハワイ大学院 ) 国連大学が提唱しているESD( 持続可能な開発のための教育 ) の 10 年 (2005 年 ~ 2014 年 ) を具体的に進めるために 国連大学は世界各地域に地域拠点 (RCE) を認定し ESDの普及 拡大を図っている 本報告は 世界で最初に認定された RCEの1 つである仙台広域圏 RCEを事例に取りあげ 仙台広域圏 RCEの成立プロセスと今後の解題について整理する 仙台広域圏 RCEの特徴は 多くのRCEのような 1 つの地域の ESD の推進ではなく いくつかの地域の連携によって ESD を推進する地域連合型の RCE ということであり 1 つの地域から他の地域に ESD を普及拡大するモデルケースとして認定された経緯がある 仙台広域圏は 現在宮城教育大学と仙台地域 気仙沼地域 大崎 田尻地域 七ケ宿 白石の 1 大学 4 地域の連携から構成されている 宮城教育大学では 持続可能な未来のための教員養成を目的にし 仙台地域では 持続可能な循環型社会を目指した環境学習 気仙沼地域では小学校 中学校 高等学校と地域が連携した持続発展教育の実践を目標にしている 大崎 田尻地域では持続可能な農業とエコツーリズムによる環境学習 七ケ宿 白石地域では水源地の里山保全と里山資源を活用した持続発展教育を目標にしている ( なお 本報告の和文は 小林英嗣編 地域と大学の共創街づくり (2008) 学芸出版社に収録されている 研究に際し 国際理解教育センターの助成を受けた ) キーワード持続発展教育 (ESD:Education for Sustainable Development) 地域拠点 (RCE: Regional Center of Expertise ) 仙台広域圏 RCE( Greater Sendai RCE) 国連 (United Nations ) Sustainable Regional Development At the beginning of the 21st century, the United Nations starts to use sustainability as a keyword to solve the problems about the environment, population, poverty, and peace on the globe. As the progress of sustainable development is set as a goal, the development of human resources to lead this progress is set as an important objective to this end. As Japanese government and NGOs proposed the development of sustainable society in Johannesburg Summit 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development or Earth Summit, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the engagement for the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD). Beginning in January 2005, as the pursuance for

2 Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) becomes world-wide, countries formulate the promotion plans. In March 2006, Japanese government formulated the basic plan to promote ESD in Japan. Before it, to popularize ESD all over the world, the United Nations University started the designation of Regional Center of Expertise (RCE) as an activity model. Today, 54 regions in the world are designated. Six regions in Japan are designated as RCEs. In Greater Sendai, a university leads the linkage of multiple regions. In Okayama and Yokohama, public agencies play a leading role. Kobe Hyōgo and Chūbu Nagoya try to cause the collaboration in a greater area. At the same time, ESD-J, a national organization to progress ESD in Japan, assists and links the activities for development of sustainable society in regions around the country. Ministry of the Environment designates 14 regions in the country as a region to promote ESD. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, and Science and Technology takes ESD into a new national curriculum and organize it as zizoku hatten kyōiku. This chapter reports the formation of Greater Sendai RCE, a designated regional center for ESD, and the function of a university. Then, the chapter clarifies the prospect to attain the region s goal: a cyclical community to coexist with the natural environment. Sustainable Regional Development and Activities in Greater Sendai Greater Sendai RCE conducts activities as it defines its goal as the coexistence between the maintenance of the natural environment and human lives. The characteristic of ESD activities at Greater Sendai RCE is the formation of activity network between a university and a region. The organizational structure has Greater Sendai ESD RCE Acting Committee link sustainable activities in Miyagi University of Education and three regions, Sendai, Kesennuma, and Ōsaki Tajiri. Greater Sendai RCE sets three problems to conduct activities. First, one university and three regions respectively set a goal to conduct activities for sustainable future. Second, a region learns from each other s notable activities. Third, one university and three regions cooperate to set a common goal to pursue. Table 1 summarizes the activities of the university and three regions. ESD at Sendai A base organization to progress ESD at Sendai is Forum for Environmental Education and Learning in Sendai (FEEL Sendai). The organizer of FEEL Sendai is Department of Environmental City Promotion, Environmental Bureau of the City of Sendai. FEEL Sendai consists of 18 organizations such as Sendai City Board of Education, Miyagi University of Education, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Consumer Co-op, NPOs, and individuals. FEEL Sendai started a preparation committee in 2001 to be established in June 2004 as an awareness campaign organization to progress the collaboration between the city government and citizens for environmental education and learning. The Sendai City appropriates funds to manage FEEL Sendai. For FEEL Sendai, the City of Sendai provides the framework of activities. The partnership between public agencies and citizens develops the contents inside the framework. Both of the followings are difficult that only citizens organize sustainable activities and that only public agencies hear public opinions to lead activities. FEEL Sendai started to fill this gap. As activities of FEEL Sendai to progress sustainable regional development, the partnership between public

3 agencies and citizens conducts the following activities to aim for a cyclical society: the information transmission and reception activities; a social experiment on the environment (Projects for Sustainable Future); Morimori Rescue Project; Environmental Forum Projects; Eco-Challenge. One unique activity of FEEL Sendai is a social experiment on the environment. This activity started before the beginning of FEEL Sendai and continues for six years in This is a subsidizing project to start an experimental project to solve an environmental problem and to progress environmental education. The project tries to have the experiment well-established. Open competitions receive the proposals from NPOs and businesses to select an experiment to support. To each selected experiment, the maximum limit of grant is 300,000 yen. The recycle of garbage, the campaign to clean the Hirose River, the volunteer activities to clean a city stadium, etc. have been selected. Because many of experiments continue to be well-established after support periods, the activity of FEEL Sendai can be regarded as a subsidizing project to promote and establish citizen activities well. Another unique activity is Morimori Rescue Project. This program continued for five years in 2008 to formulate environmental education programs. While this initially started as a subsidized project of Ministry of the Environment, FEEL Sendai took over it. This project simultaneously develops environmental education programs and develops essential human resources to sustain environmental education and learning. A NPO proposes an idea to formulate an environmental education program from its concrete practice. The NPO participates in a series of seminars to learn the methodology to substantiate an idea and the know-how to develop educational materials from the practice. The seminar series is delivered by the alliance of Environmental Education Center at Miyagi University of Education and other educational institutions. The formulated program becomes printed as text to distribute among elementary and junior high schools in Sendai City. When a school chooses one of the programs, a correspondent NPO goes to school to deliver a lecture. While NPOs develop an educational program with the funds for this program development, they learn the methods to put together their ideas and activities as well as to formulate the educational program. The results are used in environmental education in elementary and junior high schools. Thus, this is an effective method to develop human resources for environmental education and learning. ESD at Kesennuma In December 2006, Kesennuma ESD Promotion Committee was established as the base to progress ESD in Kesennuma City. While Kesennuma City Board of Education became an organizer, the committee consists of 22 organizations including the board of education, public agencies, an art museum, the UNESCO association, NPOs and elementary to high schools. The characteristic of ESD at Kesennuma area is a school education program for sustainable future. To create this program, local residents, related organizations, and elementary to high schools have worked together. Omose Elementary School is considered as a case here because the school conducts environmental and international teachings from Omose Elementary School develops an educational program which raises students to recognize and consider the sustainable environment and region by themselves. The school develops a systematic program with specific educational themes for each grade. The themes were related to students developmental stages. First and

4 second grade students conduct the project to celebrate the festival of nature and to produce vegetables. They recognize the connection between nature and human beings through the festival and vegetable production. Third grade students use woods and ponds as sites to conduct an insect project. Using the five senses, they observe living things such as insects and recognize the ecology of living things and seasonal change. Fourth grade students use the Omose River as a site to observe aquatic species and microorganisms. They recognize the connections among living things and consider the river ecosystem. Fifth grade students conduct a project about the ocean to think of the connection between the ocean and the forest. They learn the natural environment in a systematic and solid way. Sixth grade students conduct a project about a future city. Based on hands-on research, they demonstrate the future image for sustainable regional development on a diorama. To practice this type of educational program, the alliance between teachers is strengthened; the collaboration is created with people like those from region s agricultural and fishing households, businesses, and NPOs; owing to the collaboration with instructors from Miyagi University of Education and specialists such as museum staffs, an educational program becomes specialized but understandable. ESD at Kesennuma applies the educational program of Omose Elementary School to schools in the region as it revises the program in consideration of the situation of schools. To progress sustainable regional development, one school takes up international education; another school takes up food education. Additionally, elementary schools in Kesennuma City are registered as UNESCO schools to practice ESD. Table 1: Characteristics and Problems of One University and Three Regions Regions, etc. Characteristics Challenges Sendai region Under the theme of environmental education and learning, citizens, public agencies, and a university collaborate based on their unique partnership rules. Confined only to environmental education. Not enough collaboration with educational scenes of elementary and junior Kesennuma region Tajiri region Miyagi University of Education The expansion to other regions and interests Under the theme of environmental education and international education, a program for all grades in an elementary school is developed, and the collaboration from elementary to high schools and with a region progresses. Under the theme of sustainable agriculture, farmers, farm organizaions, public agencies, and NPOs are linked. Education of sustainable economic activities is progressed. The university has the strong connection with the three regions. It orchestrates the regions as a coordinator. The collaboration is created with the education boards of Kurihara City, Shichigashuku Town, and Iwanuma City. high schools. While ESD progresses advanced in eduction, the engagement in ESD is still weak in regional industries and economy. The area of school education is not dealt with well. When organizations share the merits, the partnership is not well developed. It is good in the area of teacher and leader training. It has the limit in a comprehensive approach. The collaboration was only with core members. The collaboration with entire regions and organizations will be explored.

5 ESD at Ōsaki Tajiri As a base to progress ESD at Ōsaki Tajiri, RCE Promotion Committee in Tajiri District of Osaki City was established in February The city s department of industrial development organizes this committee. This committee consisted of 19 organizations such as the city government, a community center, an agricultural cooperative, agricultural organizations, NPOs, and neighboring towns. The characteristic of regional development in this region was the advancement of agriculture to create the environment and the advancement of ecotourism using this type of agriculture. Tajiri area has the Kabukurinuma. This is designated by the Ramsar Convention, an international convention to maintain wetlands and swamps. Every winter, 80 thousand migrant birds such as swans and geese visit this pond. To attain rural development for the symbiosis with migrant birds, public agencies, farmers, and a university work to use this pond as a site for practical environmental education. To attain the symbiosis with the birds, public agencies and farmers develop and establish fuyumizu tanbo to produce rice without fertilizer and pesticide. This method fills rice paddies with water in winter, uses rice paddies as feeding and watering sites for migrant birds, and maintains the habitat of the birds. Moreover, as a result of the method, the dung of migrant birds becomes organic fertilizer; the paddies become the habitat of tubifexes; the method suppresses the growth of weeds. Therefore, without pesticide and synthetic fertilizer, the paddies become the ecology to accommodate various creatures. Thus, fuyumizu tanbo method to grow rice and ecotourism to utilize the environment with various creatures are the characteristics of this area. Fuyumizu tanbo practice is noticed as agriculture to coexist with migrant birds. Ecotourism is used for a school trip and an outdoor activity. ESD at Miyagi University of Education In June 2005, Miyagi University of Education established United Nations University RCE Promotion Committee (currently named Miyagi University of Education ESD RCE Promotion Committee) on campus and develops a teacher training program for ESD. In Miyagi University of Education, Environmental Education Center, International Education Center, Special Needs Education Research Center, and Center for Clinic Education have respectively progressed an educational program for sustainable future to serve the purpose of each center. The university networks the practice of each center and works on teacher training for sustainable future. At the same time, Miyagi University of Education arranges the collaboration with three regions as an organizer of Greater Sendai ESD RCE Acting Committee. As explained above, a schema of Greater Sendai s work on ESD started with the collaboration to link one university and three regions. We try to progress further collaboration with other regions in Miyagi Prefecture and with other universities within a few years. Activities of Greater Sendai RCE and the University s Leadership Currently, ESD activities of Greater Sendai RCE involve one university and three regions. Each of them has a promotion organization and advances characteristic activities. Sendai aims for a cyclical society. Kesennuma aims for ESD. Osaki Tajiri aims for sustainable agriculture. Miyagi University of Education does for teacher training for ESD. To connect these activities in a horizontal network, we maintain an organizational system as Greater Sendai ESD RCE Acting

6 Committee. For years to come, we start to network Shichigashuku region and Kurihara region. Shichigashuku tries to protect forest in a water source area. Kurihara tries to protect satoyama. Next is the description about the formation of this organizational system. Miyagi University of Education and its Cooperation with Regions Around 2001, people in Sendai started to create citizens alliance to consider environmental issues, and an instructor of Miyagi University of Education participated in a preparation committee of the alliance. The City of Sendai sent student and NPO representatives to Johannesburg Summit 2002 and advocated the advancement of environmental education and the formation of cyclical society. Following this citizen movements, an environmental forum to report NPOs activities was annually held. In 2004, Environmental Education Center of Miyagi University of Education joined to form FEEL Sendai. In 2001, as a school teacher from Kesennuma City participated in a teacher training program about American studies directed by Miyagi University of Education with the funds from the Japan-U.S. Educational Commission, instructors of Miyagi University of Education started the collaboration with a teacher of Omose Elementary School in Kesennuma. As Omose Elementary School started the collaborative education with U.S. schools with the funds from the Fulbright Memorial Fund in 2002, the personal collaboration between instructors and teachers was upgraded to the organizational collaboration between Miyagi University of Education and Omose Elementary School. To practice the collaboration with school teachers, university instructors were assigned to educational programs of each grade according to their specialty. In this sense, the education program in Omose Elementary School mentioned above was cooperatively developed by Omose Elementary School and Miyagi University of Education. In 2006, Kesennuma City Board of Education and Miyagi University of Education signed a memorandum about mutual cooperation. Around 2000, instructors in Environmental Education Center at Miyagi University of Education started to visit the Kabukurinuma in Tajiri Town as a site to practice environmental education. As Friendship Project, to practice environmental education, university students became a teacher to take elementary school students to the Kabukurinuma. Also, as university instructors participated in town-led Ramsar Festival, the collaboration between the university and the practice of environmental education in Tajiri area becomes deepened. Greater Sendai RCE and Miyagi University of Education Then, in 2003, a laboratory of Miyagi University of Education earned the funds from the Japan Fund for Global Environment and started the Global Seminar to progress ESD. The planning committee of Global Seminar included the City of Sendai, Ministry of Environment, the United Nations University, the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies, citizen organizations, university students, and so on. The seminar included public lectures about ESD, periodical reports on the practice of environmental education in Sendai, Kesennuma, Tajiri Town, etc, and the publication of reports. As the ESD Global Seminar was held from 2003 to 2005, the university and three regions cooperated to create the collaboration. In November 2004, this collaboration worked as an accomplishment to trigger the formation of a planning committee for a regional center toward the DESD. The committee consisted of Miyagi University of Education, the three regions mentioned above, the Prefecture of Miyagi, the City of Sendai, JICA, the regional office of Ministry of the Environment, Kahoku

7 Shimpo, etc. The Department of Career Development and Collaboration at Miyagi University of Education worked as an organizer of the planning committee. This prepared for the formation of Greater Sendai RCE. In June 2005, the faculty council of Miyagi University of Education was informed of the establishment of United Nations University RCE Promotion Committee in the university. Also, the promotion committee of Greater Sendai ESD RCE was established. Then, in the seminar of the United Nations University and UNESCO in Nagoya in June that year, the United Nations University officially designated Greater Sendai as one of six incipient RCEs for ESD. For the time being, Kesennuma and Tajiri Town respectively organized the promotion committee of each region in December 2005 and in February An independent interregional network was created to replace the conventional extension service of Miyagi University of Education for regional development with. To advance the DESD from regions, Greater Sendai RCE started from separate attempts for research and education to connect university instructors, regions, and schools. Then, the collaboration between the university and the regions was promoted. The collaboration was upgraded from personal to organizational levels. Moreover, the network centering on the university was made from the activities which the university helped the creation of. While the regions separately acted, ESD became a common goal to form a network. To advance ESD at a region, only one university to organize regions is not able to attain a comprehensive capability, only to organize in an exclusive way. To enable multiple university and regions to participate, universities, organizations, and regions with a promotion organization need to network in an equal manner. To this end, the current framework was formed to have the acting committee of Greater Sendai ESD RCE become a core to link universities and regions. This lets various organizations participate as a new member. The Outlook for Sustainable Regional Development Table 2 shows development stages of organizations inside Greater Sendai RCE from July In November 2006, the first stage to share the realization toward ESD ended. At that time, the goal of the second stage, to establish regions administrative organizations, was also accomplished. In 2007, we accomplished the third stage to set up the system for one university and three regions to participate in mutual learning to cooperate. In 2008, as the fourth stage, we expand an organization and tackle a common issue of Greater Sendai RCE. Table 2: Development Process of Greater Sendai RCE Stage Accomplishment and Goal at Each Stage Time Period of Each Stage First stage Sharing the recognition of connection with each other. Because this is established by Greater Sendai Promotion Committee, core members in each region are aware of this. They can immediately conduct collaboration activities. June 2005-October 2006 Second stage Each region and university establishes its own organization to coordinate (This is not the connection of core members as points but the connection as a plane to connect organizations in each region). This is finished in Miyagi University of Education, Sendai region, and Kesennuma region. Tajiri region started the preparation committee. June 2005-February 2007

8 Third stage Fourth stage Having a sense of cooperation and collaboration as a region participate in an activity of the other regions. For this purpose, we set the ESD month. We share the information about activities of each region and network people. We created the questionnaire and produced a panphlet to introduce partners, organizations of each region. We made seeds to collaborate with other regions. The formation of framework to learn the strength of each other. A communication project for this purpose. We pursue the common problem of Greater Sendai and progress the collaboration with other regions and universities. November 2006-December 2007 April 2007-present It takes at least three years that regions get together to develop as a strong region. They are strong enough to continue in action for three years. However it was, from the beginning, Greater Sendai RCE did not aim for the comprehensiveness of a region or organization. Instead, it aims for a model to let regions with a strong point cooperate to enhance their own comprehensiveness. Our methodology is to team up one university and three regions to share their strong points. Through the process, each actor tries to enhance its comprehensiveness. University-led regional development reaches the stage of interregional network. At the stage to establish a network, it is effective that a university becomes the core to cooperate with multiple regions and to form an interregional network. If we end at this stage, a network gets into a rather closed one with certain universities and regions. That is to say, ESD activities do not lead up to the linkage with various actors to expand a network. Here, to manage an equal interregional network, we establish Greater Sendai ESD RCE Acting Committee as the core of network to conduct activities. To develop a network, we need to try the followings: strengthening the function of an acting committee causes each university and region to recognize the linkage and cooperation to advance ESD. An ongoing problem is to clarify a common theme for Greater Sendai RCE to conduct activities. Currently, as a theme, we pursue Regional Development through Food Education to Advance Environmental Protection, Recycle-Oriented Life Style, and the Development of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery to connect the ocean, mountains and towns, i.e. the characteristics of Greater Sendai area. Also, under a subtheme, we are expected to establish a working group of young people led by a network of university students and an ESD working group for school education. As Miyagi University of Education takes a leadership role, ESD network of Greater Sendai RCE expands from points, lines, to a plane. While the university has headed this networking process to expand to the plane, it is expected to reinforce its function as a coordinator and to create the linkage with various novel actors. Bibliography Miyagi University of Education & Kesennuma Board of Education. (2007). Mebius: Kesennuma ni okeru chiiki senmon kikan kaigai to renkei shita kokusai kankyō kyōiku puroguramu no jissen (Mebius: the collaboration with regional and specialist organizations and foreign organizations for the practice of international environmental education).

9 FEEL Sendai. (2008). Morimori kankyō resukyū tai kankyō puroguramu shū(morimori environmental rescue troops environmental program collection). Sendai City Department of Environmental City Promotion, Bureau of the Environment: Sendai, Japan. Greater Sendai ESD RCE Acting Committee. (2008). ESD sokushin jigyō houkoku sho (The report on ESD promotion classes). Greater Sendai ESD RCE Acting Committee: Sendai, Japan. Kesennuma Board of Education. (2008). Kesennuma shi kankyō kyōiku ESD karikyuramu gaido (The curriculum guide for ESD environmental education in Kesennuma City). Greater Sendai ESD RCE Acting Committee : Sendai, Japan.