Staff

Mami Harada

Master’s course first grade, Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies
(Internship: Sep.-Dec. 2015)

During the internship period, I reviewed the action plans of Noto Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). It was a really rewarding experience to develop the tentative plan I presented as a basis through discussions with the members of the promotion council and Ishikawa Prefecture. In order to present the plan, I studied the promotion system of Noto GIAHS and compared it with other GIAHS regions through documents and field surveys.

Kasumi Kato

Master’s course first grade, Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies
(Internship: Sep.-Dec. 2015)

During my internship research, I focused on Satoyama of Satoyama-Satoumi. I gathered information by actively participating in relevant promotion activities. Based on the information, I proposed plans for the promotion of the future use and management of Ishikawa Forest Park. After the MISIA forest observing event within the park, I created the MISIA Forest Guidebook, which explains in clear terms the relationships between creatures living in the forest, and their relationships with Satoyama, so that elementary school children could easily understand, and outlined the highlights of three routes through the forest.

Akane Matsuo

Junior at master course, Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies (Internship: Sep. to Dec. 2018)

Through internship training, I was able to visit many field sites in Ishikawa, mainly Noto, and interact with various entities, thus achieving the three goals I set at the program’s start: 1. Conduct primary research for my master’s thesis, tentatively titled, “Sustainable local tourism development using satoyama and satoumi: Noto’s GIAHS site as subject,” 2. Understand OUIK’s activities, and 3. Gain real-world experience for career building after graduation.
I was especially focused on the Ishikawa International Cooperation Program for GIAHS. The experience of studying in Noto alongside JICA trainees from Ifugao, Philippines, and UNU study abroad students who took part in the study tour through UNU’s academic program will serve me the rest of my life.
I also had the opportunity to take part in a workshop where we made educational materials for Noto’s GIAHS using the picture book Let’s Make a Harvest Feast!, which reaffirmed the importance, and difficulty, of transmitting the value of satoyama and satoumi to the next generation.
In Kanazawa alone, I learned a great deal about gardens and tea ceremonies and other beautiful aspects of Japanese traditional culture with which I was previously unfamiliar, having grown up in Tokyo. There was a memorable moment when, participating in a tea ceremony using charcoal made in Noto, I realized the intimate connection between Kanazawa culture and the nature of Noto, and the concept of biocultural diversity advocated by OUIK hit me on a gut level. I hope to take all of my heartfelt appreciation for the people of Ishikawa who have helped me during the internship and channel it into my research.

Yuka Mukai

4th year student, Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Bioresources and Environmental Sciences, Ishikawa Prefectural University (May to August 2019)

From October 2018 to March 2019, I went to study in Laos about the essence of environmental education as part of the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). My aim was to give back what I have learned there to the environmental education in Ishikawa Prefecture someday. However, I didn’t fully understand Ishikawa Prefecture’s environmental education and the SDGs, so I decided to study them as much as I can through an internship at OUIK. Through the Feast Project of the Mii SDGs, lectures at the Satoyama Museum in MISIA’s Forest, sea trash surveys at Hegura Island, and participation in SDGs café events and meetings during the internship, I learned about the current state of environmental education and the SDGs, and I also realized the difficulty of developing something through partnerships between the implementers and the governments. Furthermore, through a presentation at the Kanazawa University Satoyama Seminar and by carrying out SDGs education at Iida High School, I was able to impart what I have learned in my studies overseas and made them deliberate on local issues. I was surprised that even high school students have a proper grasp of the local issues and are thinking about them. I also felt that there is a gap between what the adults and the children are thinking, and it made me think about what role I can play in Ishikawa in the future. In the three months of the internship, I learned more than I had imagined I could, and it had allowed me to give shape to a core part of my future career.

Satoka Narushima

(June to September 2019)

For the internship, I set four goals for myself, which I was able to fulfill, namely 1) to learn about the biocultural diversity linking the richness of nature and culture, 2) to learn about initiatives for the SDGs in Ishikawa Prefecture, 3) to learn about OUIK activities, and 4) to get involved in managing events and programs. I was also able to take part in various events and activities, and became aware of many new things during these three months. And for someone like me, who come from Chiba Prefecture, it was also an opportunity to appreciate the wonders of Japanese culture by living in Ishikawa Prefecture and experiencing the traditional crafts and culture representing Japan. In the future, I would like to make the most of my internship experience and continue to explore the ways that I can help realize a sustainable society. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who have made this possible and to all the local people for their support throughout my internship.

Maythawee Ratchatawijin

4th year student, Department of Transdisciplinary Science and Engineering, School of Environment and Society, Tokyo Institute (Internship: Dec 2019 – March 2020)

Three months as an intern at OUIK help me understand about 1) activities in OUIK, 2) biocultural diversity in Ishikawa and Kanazawa and 3) career path as a researcher. By participating as a staff in “Hokuriku SDGs stakeholder meeting 2019” and “SDGs café #9 – Kanazawa transportation in 2030”, I learned about inclusive decision-making in city level. I found Kanazawa citizens active and well-aware of biocultural diversity reflecting the result of UNESCO designation of Kanazawa as creative city. My main contributions at OUIK are 1) designing new look of OUIK website including blogs extracted from booklet’s chapter to boost online access and 2) producing video promotion for Japanese garden research project. From mentioned work, I gained deeper understanding of Japanese garden’s role in biocultural diversity conservation that it serves the city not only through aesthetic elements but also through ecological services. As I got to join team meeting and see the research progress from proposal planning, report writing to public outreach, my career path as a researcher becomes clearer. Since my interest falls between science communication and community-related research, I see how both interests meet in real situation and got highly motivated. The opportunity to be in the city that is rich in biocultural diversity and surrounded by talented and inspiring people also induces my personal growth in many ways. I deeply appreciate this chance and encourage those who are interested in similar experience to pursue this internship opportunity.

Yuya Tsuda

(Internship: Aug 2020 – Nov 2020)

During my internship, I engaged in working on mainly three things: 1. Comparative research on tourism promotion in the Noto region, Kanazawa city and Hakusan city, designated under different UN system initiatives for conservation and sustainable use of natural and cultural resources. 2. The involvement in one of the regular meetings of municipality officers in Japan for the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. 3. The involvement in Kanazawa city’s SDGs promotion policy, especially in the promotion of sustainable tourism and the governance for SDGs.

I learnt the difference and commonalities in the backgrounds and orientations of tourism and the related industries’ promotion policies under the different designation systems. Besides, I learnt the activities for sustainable resource management and use in both the public and private sectors and the governance over them. The key takeaway that I became aware of  in the research is that the influence and its effects of the socio-economic coherence of people stemming from the communities are essential while the complexity of the issues that the regions addresses has increased due to the impact of Covid-19 and the transformation of the population structure.

 I was given a chance to introduce the UNESCO’s SDGs indicators for culture to several municipality officers. I learnt how to operate workshops by supporting operations. Also, I, who started the study of culture from tangible cultural resources, reconfirmed the broadness of what the word, ‘culture’ signifies and realised why the concepts of freedom of cultural expression and the cultural diversity are important to be disseminated. It was a special experience that Kanazawa city’s uniqueness gave me where both traditional culture and innovative and contemporary culture co-exist.

I learnt the methodologies of SDGs promotion policies through the participation in the meetings of Kanazawa city, especially the approach from the perspective of institution development to introduce SDGs local indicators and the approach to foster individual projects in co-operation with the private sector from a bottom-up perspective. Recalling the lectures of industrialisation policies of regions when studying abroad, I could get useful awareness of how to promote SDGs’ realisation of firms.

The internship was an exceptional opportunity to think about what sustainable society is and how to realise it. I express my best gratitude to those I communicated with during this internship. I will work to make better use of this awareness in coming opportunities.