1. Project Objectives
The objectives of this project are:
1) To establish and spread a community building model utilizing community indicators and goals to make community building outcomes more visible and promote participation among various stakeholders in the community in Japan;
2) To introduce to Japanese community change-makers and practitioners a U.S. network that facilitates information exchange and peer learning of local community building programs by utilizing community indicators and promoting participation of residents, local governments and other community stakeholders;
2. Project Background
1) Decline and ageing in the population have resulted in critical shortage of active community leaders across Japan, and various stakeholders are now expected to engage collaboratively in solving problems in the community. As such, there is need for participatory community building programs that can create and nurture proactive and engaged community leaders.
2) While many communities have local or regional goals established by local governments, only few have had those goals widely shared in the community. In order to take effective action based on those goals, clarifying concrete outcomes and indicators by community participation is needed.
3. Project Contents
1) CSO Network Japan (CSPNJ) have supported the development of participatory community building model in Kurobe, Toyama prefecture in Japan. ‘ 5 Goals for Kurobe ‘, Kurobe Social Welfare Action Plan has been implemented as a residential participation program through setting up participatory community indicators and operating an awareness-raising website modeled after the program of the Community Indicators Consortium: CIC.
2) CSONJ invited representatives from CIC and hosted symposiums and information exchange session in Yokohama, Kurobe and Shinagawa to introduce CIC’s initiatives and programs, and to had various parties involved in community building in Japan interact and learn from each other.
Symposium in Yokohama City University on January 16, 2020
Forum in Kurobe Aqua Hotel on January 18, 2020
Information Exchange Session in Shinagawa on January 15, 2020
Presentation material for CIC Impact Summit, PechaKucha Session on October 10-11, 2019
3) CSONJ made a video presentation to share our challenges with CIC members at the CIC annual Impact Summit held in the US on October 10-11, 2019.
CSO Network Japan (CSONJ) have investigated community building mostly in depopulated local areas triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake and developed a ‘Community Power Assessment Tool (CPAT)’ comprising of sustainability indicators in 2016. We presented the outcomes of this tool at CIC’s annual Impact Summit in 2016. We then participated in the CIC’s Impact Summit again in 2018 whereby we shared our thoughts with the CIC on introducing their work in Japan, which could be required to spread a participatory community building by multi-stakeholders.
Community Indicators Consortium(CIC) is a U.S.-based network that advances and supports the development, availability and effective use of community goals and indicators for making measurable and sustainable improvements in quality of community life. CIC has provided resources and tools of community indicators and hosted annual conference named Impact Summit attended by more than 200 people from around the U.S. as well as Canada, Australia, and other countries sharing and exchange their practices.
*This project has been granted by the Japan Foundation, Center for Global Partnership (CGP) since April 2019.
