Development Course

At REN04, the focus for the Development Course was cooperation in development projects among governments, businesses and NGOs. Just as the three other courses at REN, the Development Course had members from 21 countries who had all previously taken part in an exchange program hosted by the Cabinet Office.

 

Discussions and Projects

At the National Olympic Centre (NYC) the Development group spent time discussing development from the angle stated above, and we also tried to come up with possible development projects for the REN participants to initiate after returning home.

In order to get us started thinking about development prior to arrival in Japan, we had all written an essay about a development project. Some made a presentation of their homework, and we also discussed the homework- projects in smaller groups. Furthermore, we talked about other development projects in our countries in which more than one sector was involved.

After brainstorming about possible projects to undertake after REN, the Development group decided upon three possible projects: "REN Global Internet Network", "Meaningful holidays" and "Making technology available". The Development Course made presentations at the Young Leaders Forum and at the Global Youth Conference, thus sharing our thoughts and ideas with the other groups at REN.

 

Field trips

The Development Course went on several field trips in Tokyo and Shimane prefecture in order to experience some Japanese examples of development projects with cooperation between governments, businesses and NGOs. Some of the field trips are described here.

 

 

Waseda shopping district, Tokyo

We went to Waseda to find out how the local merchants started a recycle station in order to vitalize the community and attract more customers to the shopping district. Mr. Yasui first gave us a tour around the Waseda University campus, and then took us to one of the Eco-Stations. As shown on the picture you can recycle plastic bottles by putting them into a machine, and the machine puts the user on a draw for a possibility of winning various coupons. These coupons can only be used in the local shops, and this has been a very successful way of revitalizing the local community.

Roppongi Hills, Tokyo

Roppongi Hills is a huge urban development project. It consists of offices, shops, residences, cinema, hotel etc. It is the largest private redevelopment project thus far in Japan, and the idea was to create a cultural centre for Tokyo. In order to build this, a residential area had to be removed, and the development company Mori Building Co. had to spend many years negotiating with the local residents before they could start building Roppongi Hills. The Development group had a guided tour of the area, and we even went on top of one of the buildings where there was a garden in which they were growing rice and vegetables.

Hoshizaki Electric Company, Shimane prefecture

In the afternoon of first day of our trip to Shimane prefecture we visited Hoshizaki Electric Company. We first had a tour of the factory and then had a presentation of the company.The factory has been in Shimane for thirty-four years and its production includes icemakers, refrigerators, dishwashers, draft beer servers, dispensers and various kitchen machines. The production has been done using an assembly line, but the factory is now about to change the production-process. In order to make the production more efficient, the management of Hoshizaki Electric Company is about to implement a system where one person can do all the work in making one machine. Thus, the company will avoid the problem of the slowest person on the assembly line being a bottleneck in the production. We were shown how this new way of producing machines has already been implemented in some parts of the factory in Shimane.

The Hoshizaki Electric Company is important for Shimane prefecture for several reasons. Firstly, about ninety percent of its workers are people from the local community, and therefore the company is a major employer in the area. Secondly, the Hoshizaki Electric Company has a corporate ideal which says that ¨Good products from a good environment¨. As a result of this, the company has founded the Hoshizaki Green Foundation. This foundation has developed various projects relating to natural environment preservation and protection of local fauna and flora. We were able to visit two of the projects that the Hoshizaki Green Foundation is funding: Shinjiko Green Park and Gobius Shinjiko Nature Museum. The Shinjiko Green Park is situated in a bird watching house on the shore of Lake Shinjiko. At Shinjiko Green Park people are welcome to watch birds and learn about the birds in the area through information provided at the site. We also visited the Gobius Shinjiko Nature Museum, an aquarium and research center that focuses on the species living in Lake Shinjiko and Nakaumi. The Hoshizaki Electric Company is one of the few examples of a company in Japan not only seeking profits.

 

Hiikawa Club, Matsue city

The Hiikawa Club is a non-profit environmental organisation. Among other things the organisation recycles oil, protects the mountains and is involved in saving the forest. The Development group learnt how to make Take (bamboo) pots for reeds, as shown on the pictures. Seedlings are planted inside the pots in reforestation areas and are thus protected when they are most fragile. Also the pots made by the Development group members will be used to plant new trees in Shimane prefecture.

 

Performance

Thanks to guitar-playing Guillermo and singing Spike the Development group turned out to be good performers. We performed for our homestay-families in Masuda city and at the farewell party in Tokyo. Due to a busy schedule time for practising was short, but nevertheless we all joined in singing "Twist and Shout" and "La Bamba".

Social activities

 

Matsue dinner

In Matsue city the local committee organised a welcome party for the Development group. The party was held at a traditional Japanese restaurant, and numerous delicious Japanese dishes were served. We enjoyed interacting with the locals of Shimane prefecture, and experiencing another region in Japan enriched our stay in Japan.

 

Yukata party

In Masuda city we decided to have a Japanese style party, so we all dressed up in our yukatas at the traditional Japanese hotel. We all had great fun and felt quite Japanese for a while.

 

Inger Johanne Hinna