On December 18, for the fifth time in 2021, and the seventh time overall, a Partners Meeting was held in Kanazawa. Three organisations, Yaku-yaku Renkei SDGs Kanazawa, Zweigen Kanazawa and the nonprofit organisation Nitto, gave short presentations and shared their concerns. There were more than 20 participants.
Yaku-yaku Renkei SDGs Kanazawa is an organisation of pharmacists and other people involved in the field of pharmaceuticals, which is working to achieve SDGs through Yaku-yaku Renkei. Places such as pharmacies, where medications are prepared for patients, produce a lot of plastic garbage every day. A lot of that garbage is packaging made of a variety of plastics, including polyethylene and polypropylene. With plastic garbage being a problem all over the world, Yaku-yaku Renkei SDGs Kanazawa is reflecting on workplace conditions and considering what the solution could be. For example, they are wondering if the garbage could be recycled as fibers such as polyester and used to make clothing and other products. They are also wondering if the sales profits could be donated to support developing countries. With the cooperation of specialists in resource recycling, they would like to solve the problem of plastic garbage.
Zweigen Kanazawa, the city’s J-League soccer club, is strengthening collaborative activities to benefit society.For example, this year, they held food drives社in cooperation with Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company and Ishikawa Food Bank Network. Zweigen Kanazawa’s vision is to develop a local tradition of connecting with communities to take on challenges that will lead to many innovations.
Lastly, the nonprofit organisation Nitto shared issues related to the goal of creating a society in which people with dementia can lead worry-free lives, as well as issues faced by patients with dementia and their support organisations. Nitto provides services to support dementia patients in their daily lives. With the high rate of dementia among the elderly, if society continues to age at the same rate, it is predicted that by 2050, one in 10 people will have dementia. It is necessary to think about how to create a “sustainable” society in which people with dementia will have peace of mind, and in which people will be able to support one another.
There is a lot of misunderstanding and prejudice with regard to dementia patients; discriminatory remarks and casual comments can make the person with dementia and their friends and family lose confidence, and the fact that this makes life difficult is also an issue. Moreover, when it comes to nursing and healthcare services for these patients, because they are treated poorly and they are not valued by society, there is a shortage of people aspiring to become caregivers, especially young people.
After the short presentations, participants were divided into three discussion groups. Each organisation was asked for more details about its situation, and ideas for solving problems were shared. Many ideas were shared by each group. It would be wonderful for these discussions to lead to new forms of cooperation and collaborative projects in view of realising the goals of Kanazawa Future Visions.
