Final Report of the SDG Workshop with Rikuzentakata City

Hosei University and Rikuzentakata City in Iwate Prefecture have been promoting the SDGs Workshop since November 2020 based on the "SDGs Collaboration Agreement".
This workshop was conducted entirely online, with a team of students from Hosei University and four businesses in Rikuzentakata City working together to come up with proposals for solving SDG issues.

A kick-off meeting was held in November, followed by subcommittee meetings once a month for each team and business to hold discussions, and in December 2020, an interim debriefing session was held for each team to share their progress, culminating in this final debriefing session.

At the beginning of the final debriefing, the students received a video message of encouragement from Mr. Futoshi Toba, Mayor of Rikuzentakata City, and President Yuko Tanaka President Hosei University.

Finally, it was time for the student presentations.
Each team gave a presentation on one of the following themes

◆Murakami Lumbermill & Team Mocky: "Creating Mountains Together!
　(For the revival of satoyama, we first came up with the idea of "a mountain that everyone wants to visit.)

◆Hashikatsu Shoten x Team Hashikatsu: "A base to connect SDGs in Rikuzentakata City!
　(A side dish shop will become a base for the SDGs, and we came up with a plan to tackle the SDGs.)

◆Asunaro Home x Team Asunaro: "Creating a town where the word normalization is unnecessary.
　(The team thought about creating a place where people with disabilities can live and interact with others.)

◆Ito Stationery Store x Team Ganbappeshi: "SDGs starting from Ito Stationery Store
　(Book and stationery lovers came up with an SDG plan about the SDGs starting from bookstores.)

The presentation included an analysis of the current situation, the plan that was discussed with the businesses, and the SDG goals to be contributed to and achieved.
The presentations were rich in content, with the students taking the initiative in analyzing the current situation, issues from their perspectives, ideas unique to students, and collaboration among businesses and teams, and each team received a great deal of applause.

After the student presentations, we received comments from participating businesses.

<Comments from participating businesses

Murakami Sawmill: Mr. Hidemasa Murakami
The workshop with the students was very stimulating and educational, and I would like to thank them for putting together their plans in such a short period of four months. I would like to continue to report on the current situation and cherish our connection.

Mr. Shinji Hashizume, Hashikatsu Shoten Ltd.
I feel that the students worked very hard and produced a wonderful plan in a very short period of time. The students worked very hard to learn about "food," a theme that is both familiar and profound, but that is not usually easy to put into practice, and we learned a lot from them. We would like to move forward together, starting with small actions.
Through this workshop, we were able to create time to take a break from work and think seriously about the SDGs, and the students' ideas helped us to organize what we have been thinking about. And we were able to find the possibility that we can actually "do it. What you have come up with will be the seed of what Rikuzentakata City can send out to the world. We would like to make it a reality.

Mr. Shiro Chiba, Asunaro Home, Social Welfare Corporation "Sanzankai
This workshop made me feel that "connecting through the SDGs is a good thing. There are some things we can do and some things we can't do in the plans that the students came up with, but we would definitely like to proceed one by one. First of all, I would like to try Instagram. Please come to Rikuzentakata City, everyone. Thank you very much.

Akiko Ito, Yamaju Ito Stationery Store Co.
At first, before starting this workshop, the only thing I could think of that we could do at the bookstore was to create a corner for books related to the SDGs. However, through the workshop, I came to realize that there are so many things we can do. I would like to start to give shape to my ideas and make them a reality. Although the workshop was online only, I was excited every time a student made a proposal, and it was a lot of fun. I hope you will all come and visit Rikuzentakata City.

Mr. Takatsu of Nikkei BP, Inc., who served as an advisor for the workshop, and Mr. Sayama of the Rikuzentakata City Policy Promotion Office, who managed the workshop in cooperation with our university, gave their comments on the workshop as a whole and on the plans presented by the students.

At the end of the workshop, Mr. Katsuya Hirose Vice President Hosei University, gave an explanation of the history of the efforts made by the university and Rikuzentakata City, and gave a review of the workshop as a whole.

A commemorative photo was taken at the end of the workshop.

The workshop was also live-streamed on YouTube, and we were able to share the results with many people from Hokkaido to Okinawa. In addition, an article on this debriefing session was also published in Tokai Shimpo (a regional newspaper covering Rikuzentakata City and Ofunato City) on March 16, 2021.

In addition, students participated in a panel exhibition on the activities of the "Rikuzentakata City SDGs Promotion Platform" held from March 16 to 21, 2021, at the "Abbasse Takata" public space in Rikuzentakata City.
The students had a hard time to express their plans presented at the final debriefing session on three A1-size posters, but they were motivated to "show the people of Rikuzentakata City the plan we came up with! However, they were able to create posters with high motivation, saying, "Let's show the plan we came up with to the people of Rikuzentakata City!

＜The students who participated in the final debriefing session

◆Team Mocky
　After the final debriefing, the goals and efforts of each team became clear, and I realized once again what my team lacked. I also felt a sense of accomplishment in being able to present the illustrations of the mountains that the teams had thought of and created together at the final debriefing. The four-month workshop ended quickly, but we were able to feel the kindness and warmth of the people of Rikuzentakata City during that time. I would definitely like to visit Rikuzentakata City after Corona is over.

(Yuma Takahashi, 1st year student, Faculty of Social Sciences )

◆Team Shikatsu
　I learned a lot from the other groups' plans and the thoughts of the business owners about the workshop. We are facing so many problems right now, and I think we sometimes become impatient or overly pessimistic because of the seriousness and urgency of these problems. However, I felt that we can solve these problems together by cooperating with various people and making use of our strengths. I would like to continue to take action while searching for the image of a sustainable society.

(Kyoko Mori, 1st year, Faculty of Law )

◆Team Asunaro
　We recognized once again that solidarity across businesses is necessary to promote the SDGs. I was curious to see how the discussions among the teams were ultimately incorporated into the plan, but I was impressed by the fact that all the teams incorporated collaboration with other businesses while remaining independent as businesses. I feel that this was the result of our discussion on "What benefits does collaboration among businesses have for Rikuzentakata City and for the SDGs?

(Yuriko Nakagoshi, 1st year Faculty of Law student)

　I have mixed feelings of relief that we were able to display the culmination of our activities to date, and sadness that our activities will now come to an end. It was a very valuable experience for me to hear the real voices of the businesses in Rikuzentakata City and to be given the opportunity to think about the issues faced by the businesses and the community together, not from the perspective of an "outsider," but as if I were a citizen. In addition, the team had many discussions online until late at night, and we were able to interact with each other beyond our faculties and grade levels, which I believe was possible only because of the Corona Disaster. I hope that the longstanding exchange between Rikuzentakata City and Hosei University will continue into the future.

(Noriko Nagai, 1st year master's student, Graduate School of Business Administration )

◆Team Ganbappeshi
　I decided to participate in this program because I wanted to do something about the SDGs and thought I could participate if it was held online. I was nervous during the first ZOOM with the business owners. Because of this, it ended without me being able to speak up easily, and I wondered if I would be able to come up with a plan. After that, however, I began to make frequent contact with the people I would be working with on the program, and was able to participate in the planning process, albeit only a little. I heard that the completed posters were being displayed and distributed by the businesses in their stores. I feel the joy of having actually been able to give shape to the project. It was a very rewarding and intense four months. Thank you very much.

(Tomoka Takebe, 1st year student, School Faculty of Bioscience and Applied Chemistry )

＜Last but not least...

The students had some difficulties and conflicts in the activities of the team, which was organized across faculties and grades, but they were able to overcome them. This was because the teams were able to share their own ideas, collaborate with each other, and work as workshop members as a whole, rather than thinking only for each team. The fact that the teams were able to experience Goal 17 "Let's achieve our goals in partnership" with each other was a great accomplishment.

In this initiative, we placed importance on "connecting people with people. Although we were unable to actually visit Rikuzentakata City due to the Corona disaster, we feel that we were able to foster bonds of "wanting to visit and see each other" by connecting "people to people" and providing a warm place for exchange. Although this effort was conducted entirely online, we hope that students will take action locally after the Corona Convergence.

Hosei University will continue to collaborate with Rikuzentakata City to contribute to and achieve the SDGs.

◆Rikuzentakata City x Hosei University SDGs Workshop Final Debriefing Session (March 12, 2021)
　Video URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx7XPOHCPVQ&t=46s

◆Workshop Letter No.1
　 https://www.hosei.ac.jp/sdgs/info/article-20201224160742/

Workshop report 2
　 https://www.hosei.ac.jp/sdgs/info/article-20210113111750/