UNESCO CHAIR WENDIRESILIENCE BRIEF 2021
BY GRADUATE STUDENTS

KYOTO UNIVERSITY UNESCO CHAIR WENDI

Course for Creating Resilient Societies
MARCH 2021

The UNESCO CHAIR WENDI Resilience Brief 2021 is a collection of brief reports by Kyoto
University UNESCO Chair WENDI graduated students, who have worked on their
independent studies or fieldworks under a compulsory elective subject: 1) “Social Innovation
and Resilience” or/and 2) “Practices for Creating Resilience” provided by Course for Creating
for Resilient Societies (CRS) in UNESCO Chair on Water, Energy and Disaster Management
for Sustainable Development (WENDI), Kyoto University, during 2020-2021. The authors
also contributed to the session “How can Resilience Approach address SDGs?” inInternational Forum: Accelerating SDGs Implementation Through SDGs Innovators which
was held on 21st January, 2021, to share their activities and drive collaborative dialogues foractions with invited participants from different backgrounds. We hope this report willcontribute to building collaborative knowledge on creating resilient societies. We will keep
working on the theme of Creating Resilient Societies with relevant vigorous activities andresearch.
Mika Shimizu
KYOTO University WENDI Course of Creating Resilient Societies Faculty
Member/Associate Professor
Contents

To increase resilience of Japanese marginal village communities: a case study of Senjo
village in Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture
Porte Leo
Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University

pp.3-7

Collaborative Approach for Commons in Sustainable Society: Case of Sugarcane
Bagasse Concrete in Okinawa
Ribeiro Bruno
Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability, Kyoto University pp.8-13

Resilience-Based Public Policy to Address the Toxic Smog in Lahore, Pakistan
Waqas Ahmed Raza
Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University

1

pp.14-20

Applying Insights drawn from Yakushima School to University Community Efforts with
SDGs
Haissam Khan
Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University

pp.21-26

Case study of Cardboard Compost as a resilience practice toward sustainable waste
management
Masako Ichihara
Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University

pp.27-30

Authors

Ribeiro Bruno

Porte Leo

Waqas Ahmed Raza
Porte Leo

Masako Ichihara

Haissam Khan

2

UNESCO CHAIR WENDICREATING RESILIENT SOCIETY

To increase resilience of Japanese marginal village communities: a case study of Senjo village
in Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture
Porte Leo - M2
Graduate School of Global
Environmental Studies
１．Introduction

megalopolises, such settlements are howeverlacking the attention they deserve.

In recent years, an increasing number ofrural localities have disappeared in Japan,
provoking beyond the extinction of local
population, the unnoticed loss of countless
historical materials and intangible cultural assets.
The causes can be found in successive waves ofrural-to-urban migration (Masuda, 2011), thecollapse of mountain-based industries in the post
war era and the adverse effects of an aging
society. This phenomenon, with 91.62% of thecountry population living in cities, 70% of it
being concentrated on only 3% of the land6, isparticularly affecting mountainous villages,
victims of their geographical isolation.
Prior to extinction, such settlements are defined
as marginal villages (Ohno, 2005), characterizedby half of their population being age over 65
years old. In this situation, the village
community, aged and diminished, is struggling
to fulfil its traditional functions and ensure thecontinuation of its social organization, economic
activities, residence, transmission of culture andmanagement of the village infrastructures andlocal environment.
In a disaster prone country like Japan, where theoccurrence and intensity of natural disasters liketyphoons and floods is expected to increase overthe coming years because of climate change,
populations of marginal villages appear to beparticularly vulnerable to their geographical andsocial marginality. Far from the archipelago’s

２．Senjo village

Senjo village belongs to the municipality of
Saijo in the prefecture of Ehime on the island of
Shikoku. Saijo City is the result of fourmunicipal merges (1919, 1950, 1985, 2004) that
continuously dragged rural population to its city
center, concentrating services and economic
opportunities on the coastal and flat lands to thedetriment of mountainous areas although they
represent 70% of the municipal land.
Located about 15 kilometers south of theurban center of Saijo, Senjo presents a uniqueman-made landscape of 2500 terrace paddy
fields built in the 16th century on a gentle slope
facing west. This rare example of satoyama
environment strongly bounds the livelihood,

Figure 1. View of Senjo terraces in 2015.

3

cultural and religious practices of its community
to agriculture.

Management was created in response by themunicipality to mitigate such disasters in the
future. Successful programs have been
implemented in collaboration with the United
Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and
the Japanese International Cooperation Agency
but such initiatives remain limited to urban areas.
Interviews of municipal officers revealed that noparticular protocol or guideline have beendeveloped for marginal villages like Senjo in theevent of a disaster, the responsibility being left
to the local leader, 79 years old, to secure all of
the villagers by himself.
According to the National Research Institute for
Earth Science and Disaster Resilience, thevillage location is categorized as the highest
level of probability (26 to 100%) for possible
earthquake risks in the coming thirty years5.
Additionally, landslide hazard also appears to beimportant and poses a direct threat to both avillage community house, which functions as a
traditional shelter, and Senjo main road, only
access to the village.
Officers of Saijo City Division of Crisis
Management stated that material like sedimentdisaster hazard maps have been distributed to all
the municipality inhabitants to increase theirawareness on natural disaster risk, but none of
Senjo villagers declared to have ever seen suchkinds of maps.

The end of mining and forest activities in the
1960’s, in opposition to Saijo booming coastal
industries and largescale farming rapidly
depopulated the village and resulted in theclosing of all services and shops. Of the thousand
inhabitants, only seventeen are now remaining,
the youngest of which being in his 50’s. As aconsequence, the village lost most of its politicalpower and decision making capacity, historicallandmarks are disappearing together with local
festivals and the ancestral agricultural landscapeof the terraces is fading under growing
vegetation. No plan has been developed by themunicipal government to hinder this trend andmost of Saijo urban citizen remain unaware of
the village very existence.
3.My research and field activity
During my fifteen field trips to the village
between May 2019 and December 2020,
including a period of three months in which I
lived in the village, the general lack of interestof the municipality for Senjo pushed me to try tocontribute to the village in any possible way. The
vulnerability of its community to natural
disasters appeared to me as evident and thus I
tried to understand and assess the risks thatvillagers are facing and identify key informationon the village vulnerability that can betransmitted and useful for the local governmentof Saijo City in the event of a disaster. In
addition, I also wanted to propose approach toincrease the resilience of the community itself.
To do so, my research was based on fieldobservations, the interview of 15 villagers, 26previous villagers and 3 municipal officers andthe use of GIS tools.
4. Understand the vulnerability

In 2004 an unprecedented series of typhoon
flooded Saijo and provoked a landslide on thevillage main road that locked down its
inhabitants for 10 days. A Division of Crisis

Figure 2. Landslide on Senjo’s main road in 2004.

4４．Identify key information

a. Current condition of the housing
To support my research in the village forthe three months I lived there I used a lot of
secondary data like topographic maps from thelocal government. To my surprise most of themaps were outdated or presented mistakes by
displaying numerous houses that do no longer
exist. Although the understanding of housing
condition is of primary importance in theaftermath of a disaster for emergency services tosearch and rescue the right locations with nodelay, the reality can also be confusing for themunicipality as several houses that are no longer
inhabited are still registered as mailing addresses.
This blurs the comprehension on the real numberof inhabitants in the village from an
administrative point of view.
Through observations and interviews, I could
reliably assess that of 78 houses and storages
displayed on available maps, 7 were in ruins, 26
abandoned, 33 used occasionally in the day timeby previous villagers and only are still 12
inhabited. In addition, referring to Saijo City
Sediment Disaster Hazard Map, of the 12
inhabited houses, 9 are located in an area prone
to major landslide risk.

Figure 3. Comparison of villager’s risk
identification with municipal hazard evaluation.

Based on the interview, it is recognized thatwhile a small majority of villagers have a certain
understanding of the areas at risk, for example
none considered to seek shelter in the village
community house, located in a dangerous area,
in case of an emergency as an option. Yet, theawareness of each of them could significantly be
improved if their individual knowledge wasshared and the dedicated materials effectively
reached them.
c. Villagers vulnerability
Furthermore, the overall assessment on thevulnerability of each of the village households
was made to identify the most vulnerable
villagers. This was achieved by the combinationof various factors such as: the number of people
per households, the location of the house,
capacity to identify hazardous areas in thevillage, available ways of mobility (car or onfoot), physical condition, social capital andreliance on others in the case of an emergency.
Unfortunately, three households couldn’t be
included in this assessment as they refused any
kind of social interaction. This attitude of social
isolation is also expressed towards the rest of thevillage community, leaving these threehouseholds cut from the local social network andthus particularly vulnerable. This lack ofcooperation within the community limits its

b. Awareness towards disaster risks Iinterviewed villagers to assess how they
understand the risks they face. As none of them
was familiar with municipal informationmaterials indicating the location of hazardous
zones in the village, I asked villagers
individually to designated areas they believed to
be dangerous. As a result, 5 appeared to becorrect, 4 were partially correct and 2 were
wrong while 3 stated that they didn’t know, 1
declared that the whole village was safe while
another said oppositely that nowhere was.

5

resources and capacity to respond to disasters.
even with the rest of the village community
which itself poses a serious threat to these
isolated households but also to the village
capacity to effectively respond to disasters as agroup through its social organization (Li et all,2019).
Besides these three households, among thetwelve successfully investigated ones four wereconsidered to be particularly vulnerable andrequiring a special attention from local
government dedicated services. With little
surprise, all of these vulnerable households
appear to be inhabited by widows living on theirown - women having a higher life expectancy in
Saijo municipality than men (87.9 against 80.8
as 2015) - with a low social capital, no car, a bad
physical condition and relying on relatives that
already migrated to urban areas in the event ofan emergency.

Figure 4. Identified available lands

Located on average 42 meters to villagers’
households these lands could also contribute to
the restoration of the village ancestral sceneryand restore the pride that villagers attached to it.
Positively, 100% of the villagers I interviewed
recognized the benefit of such approach. A
majority of them, 66% of interviewed residents,
believe that it could improve the social life andsupport the local annual festival of the village
craving for manpower.

5. Possible approach to resilience
How can resilience be increased in Senjo
village? Numerous researches in Japan haveemphasized the importance of a strong social
capital to support aging communities based on
the collaboration between both urban and rural
residents (Shaw et all., 2012). Linked to urban
areas on a regional scale, the missing labor canbe provided once again from outsiders to protect
and sustain villagers lives, environment andtraditional assets.
However, in the case of Senjo, few urban
residents are already coming to the village tocultivate a small number of terraces.
Furthermore, their interactions with the villagers
are very low in both qualities of the relationships
and size of the network.
As a potential clue to increase these interactions,
I identified with landowners willing to lend theirlands 209 terraces over 5 hectares that could becultivated by outsiders to join such agriculturalactivities.

To achieve a significant resilience able tosustain Senjo’s last villagers in this critical final
stage, resources from both inside and outside thevillage need to be mobilized by a multiplicity ofactors as the village suffered too long of its
prolonged isolation. Urban residents have thecapacity to directly support villagers but theirinitiatives and efforts should be backed by themunicipality of Saijo who must consider andemphasize the safety of all its citizen regardlessof their rural or urban affiliation. As thecondition of the upstream mountainous
environment directly affects the coastal cities on
the downstream, an effective
revitalization of Senjo village would not only
benefit to the villagers but also to the residents
of dense urban areas who should remember thenatural connectivity of mountains, humans andoceans.

6

3. Ohno, A. (2005). Introduction to Mountain
Village Environmental Sociology. Rural
Culture Association Japan, 300.
4. Shaw, R., Takeuchi Y., Rouhban, B. (2009)
Education, Capacity Building and Public
Awareness for Disaster Reduction. In: Sassa K.,
Canuti P. (eds) Landslides – Disaster Risk
Reduction. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-699705_26
5. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/10/2
3/national/extreme-weather-japan-expertsrain-floods-typhoons/
6. https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/handbook/c0117.htm

Reference
1. Li, M., Yuji, H., Yuna, N. (2019). Study on
disaster risks and countermeasures influenced
by the impact of the modernization process inhistorical mountain villages: A case study ofHanazawa
historicalvillage,
Japan.
International Journal of Disaster Risk
Reduction, 41, 101290.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101290
2. Masuda, H. (2014). The Death of Regional
Cities: A horrendous simulation regional cities
will disappear by 2040 a polarized society will
emerge. Discuss Japan, 18.
https://www.japanpolicyforum.jp/politics/pt20
140120152454.html

7

UNESCO CHAIR WENDI CREATING RESILIENT SOCIETY

Collaborative Approach for Commons in Sustainable Society:
Case of Sugarcane Bagasse Concrete in Okinawa
Ribeiro Bruno
Graduate School of Advanced
Integrated Studies in
Human Survivability
PhD 3rd Year
1 Sugarcane Bagasse Concrete in Okinawa
1.1 Introduction
The infrastructure in a region usuallydepends on the availability of natural resources
like sand and gravel. However, exhaustivemining leads to vegetation decrease, loss ofwater retaining strata, lowering of thegroundwater table, and disturbance in theexisting ecosystem. Several regions adopted
mining restrictions that reduced suitable
aggregates' availability at shorter haul distances
for these reasons. Consequently, thetransportation of aggregates from longer
distances to construction sites increased theircost, leading to an increase in the total cost of
construction [1].
The use of local aggregates for concrete isdesirable not only to reduce costs but also to
reduce environmental impact since longer
transportation distances emit more CO2.
However, resources limitation does not allow
several regions to produce their own aggregatesor suffer a shortage of options. Also, for islands
with small land areas, it is imperative to conduct
eco-friendly production activities from theviewpoints of waste reduction, resource-saving,and prevention of global warming.
Okinawa Prefecture is one of the 47
prefectures in Japan and is located in thesouthwest of Japan. Since Okinawa Prefecture
consists of a series of small islands, the concrete
aggregates are generally crushed stone and sea
sand; once there is a lack of adequate river basins
to obtain ordinary river aggregates [2]. The
aggregates' mining/collection is concentrated on
the main island of Okinawa, where the capital
city Naha is located. Therefore, the aggregatesare transported from the main island of Okinawa
to smaller islands by vessels. Figure 1 illustrates
the prices per m3 of the fine aggregates, which
are available online or published monthly in a
magazine [3] [4], and the location of sugar
factories in Okinawa Prefecture [5].
1.2 Sugarcane Residues
The bagasse ash is rich in silica and has apotential for pozzolanic reactivity and filler
effect in concrete and mortar mixtures [6]. For
this reason, in order to improve the quality of theburned residues collected from the boiler, a reburning treatment process is applied [7] [8].
However, the re-burning treatment may be anunsustainable process due to the additional CO2
emissions.
In some studies, it was observed that theaddition of polypropylene and steel fibers
improves the mechanical properties of concrete[9] [10] [11]. It is known that plain concrete8Figure 1. Price of the fine aggregates and location of sugar factories in Okinawa [24]under tension exhibits brittle failure with initial
cracking when there is no reinforcement [12].
However, the use of fibers in concrete as nonconventional mass reinforcement has been
proved a promising alternative since it primarily
enhances the inherent deficiencies of concrete,such as the weak tensile strength and the limited
deformation capacity in the presence of cracking[13]. This happens because cracking and,eventually, tensile failure of fiber-reinforced
concrete requires a debonding and pulling of therandomly distributed fibers in the concrete [9][14].
Considering the results of the above
mentioned previous studies, the bagasse fiber incement composites may also improve concrete's
mechanical properties. Previous studies reported
that natural fiber-reinforced cement composites
have a high potential for replacing standard fiber
materials due to their high performance inmechanical properties and low cost [15] [16] [17][18]. Therefore, the use of sugarcane residues intheir original form - that is, in the form theresidues are generated out of mills or boilers –may be a way to make both the civil engineering
industry and the sugar/alcohol industry moresustainable [19].

1.3 Sugarcane Bagasse Concrete
In a previous study [19], sugarcane
residues were classified into three different
categories by the process of sieving: bagasse
fiber, bagasse sand, and bagasse ash. These
residues were utilized to prepare mortar
specimens and to investigate the mechanicalproperties of mortars. The study revealed thatmortar added with 2% of bagasse fiber showed ahigher percentage of water retention than themortar specimens without fiber due to the highamount of bagasse fiber. However, the fibers
used in this research were those that passed
through a 4.76 mm sieve and remained in a 2 mmsieve, leaving bagasse bigger than 4.76 mm to be
cut or used in another way.
1.4 Sugarcane Bagasse Concrete to Address
Challenge in Sustainable Society
Recently, the Urban Heat Islands (UHI)
has become a critical challenge in a sustainable
society. The large proportion of artificial
surfaces, such as concrete, absorbs and store
more heat than natural vegetation, increasing thetemperature in urban areas [20]. Several
measures have been developed over time to9

mitigate UHI. These measures include thedesign of cool pavements by increasing thealbedo of surfaces and making them morereflective, permeable, porous, and water
retentive [21], and more.
Since the sugarcane bagasse fiber isknown for its high-water retention and water
absorption characteristics, it is possible to takethese advantages and use the bagasse fiber
bigger than 4.76 mm as concrete aggregates forthe production of sidewalk blocks, since they do
not need to have high strength.
Furthermore, local sugarcane residues as
aggregates for concrete, especially for islands
with small land areas like Okinawa, are desirable
for a sustainable society since they can reduce
environmental load and decrease transportation
CO2 emissions. Besides, the development of
more construction material options is criticalsince a country's policies may repeatedly change.
Japan's government announced that it aims to
reduce coal-fired power generation by about
90% by 2030 [22]. This can dramatically reduce
fly ash production in all of Japan, andconsequently, it may impact the use of fly ash as
aggregates.

This project started by contacting the local
government, companies, academic experts, local
farmers, and citizens to invite them tocollaborate with this project.
This project's aim was explained to thecollaborators and volunteers, giving them abasic knowledge of the background of thesugarcane bagasse concrete. Also, the possible
contributions to the environment, civil
construction industry, sugar/ethanol industry,
and farmers and government by using sugarcane
residues were explained as well.
Following the overall explanation,
preparation for the project's execution was
begun by laying interlocking concrete blocks ina park together to the local community. The
details, such as determining the location where
the paver blocks were placed, dates, and the mix
proportions of the blocks, were decided together
with the collaborators. The mix proportions of
the block are described in 2.2. Concrete
Mixture of reference [23].
Right after the execution of the work,
evaluations about this project were made. It
includes interviews and surveys about what thecollaborators and volunteers thought about theinterlocking concrete blocks with sugarcane
residues and about this project in general.
Finally, all the processes, interviews, andsurveys made in this study were summarized andpresented in a workshop.

2 A Follow-up Project
2.1 Overview
Based on the above previous research, afollow-up project including community work
and workshop was conducted with aims to:

2.2 Community work
The interlocking concrete blocks withsugarcane residues were laid in a park on
November 12th, in Nishihara Town, Okinawa
Prefecture, at the Nishihara Athletic Park, shownin Figure 2 (a). This location's choice was
motivated due to the park's users slip on the wet
grass since the location inclines approximately
30 degrees. After deciding where to lay theblocks, the work of digging the ground has
begun. An area of 6.0 m2 was dug approximately
8 cm deep, as shown in Figure 2 (b). The blocks'
preparations the same as described in 2.3
Preparation of blocks of reference [23].

1. let local people know the importance ofusing sugarcane residues for building asustainable society,2. transfer knowledge about the potential use ofsugarcane residues as aggregate in concrete,
3. let local people realize various problems andconsider countermeasures against UHI, and
4. discuss among the local government,
institutions, companies, etc., a sustainable
way to continue the production ofinterlocking blocks with sugarcane residues
and apply them in local communities.

10

(a)

(b)

Figure 3. Construction site after
laying interlocking concrete blocks

authorities; exchanged views and good practices
among participants, and identified possibilities
and challenges for moving towards theimplementation of sugarcane residues asconcrete aggregate.

Figure 2. Construction site

3 Achievements
3.1 Community work
The output of this project is shown in
Figure 3. In order to evaluate the slip resistancefor pedestrians, the test described on JIPEATM-6 was applied. According to the "Manual forInterlocking Blocks Pavement Design andConstruction" published by Japan Interlocking
Blocks Pavement Engineering Association(JIPEA), the sliding resistance value (BPN
value) has to be greater or equal to 40 BPN forpedestrian roads. The average BPN value
acquired from this work was 61.7 BPN whichindicates a fair value compared to the standard.

A total of 15 volunteers were involved inthis work.
2.3 Workshop
A workshop was held on December 7th inNishihara Town, Okinawa Prefecture, at the
University of the Ryukyus, Researcher
Exchange Facility, from 13:00 until 16:30.
The
workshop's
objectiveisstraightforward: to overcome barriers among
stakeholders and different sustainable issues,
including environmental, technological, andeconomic issues. This will be achieved by
combining and advancing existing technologies
for sustainable processing of sugarcane residue
as construction aggregate, generating revenue.
Specifically, this workshop addressed the
3Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycle) ideals,sugar/alcohol and construction industry
problems, and countermeasures that can beapplied to achieve sustainable development inboth industries. Furthermore, the workshop
presented case studies and experiences from
Okinawa Citizens' Recycling Movement of 3Rs
projects; transferred knowledge about thepotential use of sugarcane residues as aggregate
in concrete; received feedback from users andOkinawa Prefectural government and local level

3.2 Workshop
Figure 4 shows a snapshot of theworkshop. The total participants were 37,
including people from the government, privatecompanies including civil construction
companies and sugar companies, academics, andlocal citizens. Overall, the goal of the workshop
was achieved: it was possible to raise awarenessabout the sugarcane residues and local
resources; collaborators came up with new ideas
for the use of sugarcane residues; also, how tomake this business model sustainable wasdiscussed among collaborators.

11

In conclusion, producing concrete secondary
products, such as blocks with added sugarcane
residues, and registering these products as local
brands can be a step forward toward creating aresilient society. Besides in combining this approachwith local business, an innovative business model
can be formed to produce a sustainable and resilient
product with locally available materials, the creationof local brands, urban heat island mitigation, andenvironmental load reduction. To achieve this, it
should involve the whole local community with"commons" that can cover overarching public
interests, stakeholders and generations; in the case of
Okinawa Prefecture: sugarcane.

Figure 4. Participants of the workshop

4 Collaborative Approach for Commons: Toward
Sustainable and Resilient Society
Sugarcane residue can contribute to asustainable society in that it can be used as aconstruction material for its worldwide accessibility
and because of its renewability. Besides, by usingsugarcane residue as construction materials,
conventional resources such as sand can be saved.
This will result in the avoidance of landscapedestruction. Moreover, the reduction of greenhousegas emissions is another promising factor [24].
To face hurricanes, earthquakes, extreme heat,and flooding posed by climate change, less warm
urban areas will do a far better job at maintaining
habitable temperatures in the event of an extended
power outage. As such, the buildings usingsugarcane residue will emit far less carbon dioxide,
which contributes to climate change, during normal
operations.
It is to note, in addition to the previous
research that identified the high-water retention andreduced surface temperature as a countermeasure for
UHI when natural bagasse fibers are incorporated inconcrete blocks for pavements [23], strategies toincrease the resilience and adaptive capacity to use
local materials and products should be taken into
account. This is especially because the lack ofprecedents of the use of sugarcane residue concrete
makes its implementation difficult. By introducing
the knowledge and information to different
stakeholders, it will be possible to increase resilienceand facilitate the adaptation of sugarcane residue as
construction material, even without precedents.

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Hydration Heat and Thermal Strain of Concretewith Addition of Sugarcane Bagasse Fiber,"Materials, vol. 13, no. 13, 2020.
[19] Ribeiro, B., Yamashiki, Y. & Yamamoto, T,"A study on mechanical properties of mortar withsugarcane bagasse fiber and bagasse ash," Journalof Material Cycles and Waste Management, 2020.
[20] Sushobhan Sen, Jeffery Roesler, Benjamin
Ruddell and Ariane Middel, "Cool Pavement
Strategies for Urban Heat Island Mitigation in
Suburban Phoenix, Arizona," Sustainability, vol.
11, 2019.
[21] Mohajerani, A. Bakaric, J. and Jeffrey-Bailey,"The Urban Heat Island Effect, its Causes, andMitigation, with Reference to the Thermal
Properties of Asphalt Concrete," Journal ofEnvironmental Management, vol. 197, pp. 522538, 2017.
[22] NHK World Japan, "Japan to cut coal-fired
power generation by 90%," NHK World Japan,
July
2nd
2020.
[Online].
Available:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20200
702_19/. [Accessed July 3rd 2020].
[23] Ribeiro, B.; Uchiyama, T.; Tomiyama, J.;
Yamamoto, T.; Yamashiki, Y., "Development ofInterlocking Concrete Blocks with Added
Sugarcane Residues," Fibers, vol. 8, no. 61, 2020.
[24] Ribeiro, B.; Uchiyama, T.; Tomiyama, J.;
Yamamoto, T.; Yamashiki, Y., "An Environmental
Assessment of Interlocking Concrete Blocks
Mixed with Sugarcane Residues Produced in
Okinawa," Resources, vol. 9, no. 93, 2020.

13

UNESCO CHAIR WENDI CREATING RESILIENT SOCIETY

Resilience-Based Public Policy to Address the Toxic Smog in Lahore, Pakistan
Waqas Ahmed Raza
Graduate School of Engineering
2nd Year Master Student

1

the sun in the atmosphere and produce smog3). It is

INTRODUCTION

poisonous to humans and animals and adverselyThis paper attempts to address the rising threat ofaffects plants and nature as a whole. Besides, totoxic smog in Pakistan's megacity and develop by
introducingaresilience-basedsmog

inhibit plant growth, ground-level ozone in the smog

policyalso damages crops and vegetables and wheat, rice,

framework that can be adopted to tackle the rising

tomato, and cotton substance to infection when they

threat of toxic smog in Lahore. Through this process,are exposed3).

the existing policy gaps will also be identified, andsome strategies and approaches to reduce the toxic

2

smog will be provided in this paper.

TOXIC SMOG MENACE IN LAHORE

Smog is a type of environmental pollution,

Smog is one of the most severe environmental

generally deemed a combination of smoke and fog in

issues in Pakistan. The most developed and urbanized1)

the atmosphere . It may also be defined as a mixture

city of Pakistan, called Lahore, faces toxic smog forof several gases, including dust, sand, smoke, pollen,

the last few years (see the detail in section 3). From1)and water vapors in the environment . Smog is a

October to February, devastating smog has beenyellowish or dark hazy air that causes breathing

experienced every winter in Lahore (see fig.1), which

problems, suffocation, upper and lower respiratory

causes several health issues and serious road mishaps

distress, cold, flu, and inflammation of lung tissues

that lead to many injuries and deaths in the city3,4).

that lead to chest pain, cough, eye irritation, and poor

Fig 1 shows the average annual concentration of PM

2)visibility environment . It is produced by sunlight

2.5 µg/m3 in Lahore during 2017, 2018, and 2019. It

intervention with nitrogen oxide and particulate

also shows the average monthly concentration of PM

matter, pollutants emitted from various sources

2.5 µg/m3 in Lahore during 2020. Lahore has beenrelease into the atmosphere such as fuel burning,ranked no. 1 in the top 10 most polluted cities

industrial smoke, and vehicle emissions, react with

globally on 21st December 2020 by IQAir (see fig. 2).

Fig. 1 Average annually (2017 to 2020) & monthly concentration of PM 2.5 µg/m3 in Lahore4)
14

3

RATIONALE OF SMOG IN LAHORE
In recent years, smog has worsened due to theincreasing environmental pollution, secondary toestablishing large numbers of mills, brick kilns,
heavy traffic, remarkable construction, deforestation,and reduced biodiversity due to urbanization. Fig. 3
shows the sector-wise contribution to pollution in
Lahore whereas, fig. 4 shows the smog condition in
Lahore in December 2020. However, the main reason
for smog in New Delhi was the farmer’s burning ofcultivated waste. Since Lahore is very close to theIndian borders, this might be an additional reason tosmog more thickly in Lahore.
stFig. 2 Top 10 cities with bad air quality on 21 Dec,
20204)In addition to this, the motorcycles andrickshaws equipped with two-stroke engines inTable 1 PM 2.5 legend with limit values4)

WHO target

0-10 µg/m3Good10-12 µg/m3

Lahore are the most inefficient vehicles as they
release Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Oxides(NOx), Hydrocarbons (HC), and Particulate Matter
3

Moderate

12.1-35.4 µg/m

Unhealthy for sensitive35.5-55.4 µg/m3(PM) in the air7). One of the most hazardous pollution
for human health is Particulate Matter because,
according to WHO, around 9% of global fatalities

groupsUnhealthy55.5-150.4 µg/m3

Very unhealthy

150.5-250.4

fromcancer,5%offatalities

fromcardiopulmonary illness, and approximately 1% of
fatalities from respiratory diseases are caused byµg/m3

HazardouslungParticulate Matter.

>250.4 µg/m3

Furthermore, population growth (increasing
population means increasing people’s needs andTable 1 shows the PM 2.5 legend with thedemands leading to pollution), increased industries

limit values. On 21st December 2020, Lahore has

and factories in the urban center (toxic smoke fromcrossed the limit of hazardous level and ranked as no.

factories), usage of heavy transport, high temperature

1 in the top most polluted cities globally. Recently,

or sunny climate, reduced biodiversity, burning of

Lahore residents have experienced a dense blanket ofcoal or combustion of fuels like petroleum, wood,

smog that, in addition to the other problems, caused

coal, etc., improper waste management system,

low visibility, respiratory and eye distress5,6).

heavy construction dust (rapid construction works

Whereas burning eyes, severe breathing, sneezing,severelywheezing, and cough were the most significant signs

impedetheecosystem,

reducing

biodiversity), crops waste burning in the farms, coal-and symptoms in Lahore5,6).
15

fired power plants and urbanization are the main

Under this policy, the Environmental Protection

reasons for increased air pollution in Lahore.

Department will closely monitor rice stubble-burning
activities in Punjab, whereas the Home Department
shall impose a complete ban on open burning of rice
stubble, solid wastes, and other hazardous materials.
This ban shall be enforced by the respective Deputy
Commissioners and District Police Officers. Similar
instructions shall be forwarded to their field offices
by

the

Local

Government

andAgriculture

Department8).
Fig. 3 Sector-wise contribution to pollution in Lahore

In the event of a forecast or actual smog event,

Sources: FAO/United Nations, 2018

Environmental Protection Department will issueadvisory to each department concerned based on the
Air Quality Index (AQI) for PM2.5 and otherparameters8). Primary and Secondary Health Care
Departments shall issue a health advisory and ensurethat it is disseminated widely through paper,electronic, and social media. Additional Inspector
General of Traffic shall issue advisory on the use ofroads, particularly highlighting the forecasted or
prevailing visibility levels and their likely impact of

Fig. 4 Condition of smog in Lahore in December 20204

safe use of roads8).
The Department of Agriculture shall prepare and

SMOG POLICY OF PUNJAB

implement the plan(s) for the disposal of crop

Pakistan has four Provinces, two states, and one

residues in an environmentally friendly manner.

federal territory. The provinces are divided into

Environmental Protection Agency shall not grant

divisions, and then divisions are further divided into

environmental approval to any housing society unlessdifferent districts. Lahore is a district that comesit provides a comprehensive system for managing

under the province of Punjab. The government ofsolid

Punjab has developed a policy on controlling smog in

Government and Housing & Urban Development

20178). The main responsibility for implementing

Departments shall ensure the development of masterPunjabland-use plans through their respective subordinate

smog

controlling

policy

rests

upon

waste

collection

anddisposal.

Local

offices8).

Environment Protection, Home, Local Government,

In addition to the above responsibilities, several

Agriculture, Industries, Education, Primary and
Police,other initiatives have been taken to tackle the smog's

Information Departments, Environmental Protection

threat, but the problems are severely increasing with

Agency and their field agencies8).

every day passing. Although the government has

Secondary

Health,Inspector

General16formulated a smog policy in some ways and is taking

smog policy should be formulated and implemented

several initiatives to reduce the smog, there are manyat the local/community level for each city, and then it

challenges in the existing policy.

should be connected with the provincial and regional

One of the main challenges is the lack of policy
formulationinPakistani Punjab (Lahore) are both facing severe

addressing the smog problem at the local level. Sincesmog (see fig. 5), the regional level policy should also

the Government of Punjab has made policy at the

be formulated. The policy should be revised

provincial level, implementing that policy at theregularly, and duties should be assigned to different

district level is challenging. Only the major

stakeholders for smog reduction.

government departments inprocess, community-based activities such as social

Environmental
Department,

and

implementation

Protection
Transport

processlevel policy. Since Indian Punjab (New Delhi) andPunjab, such as

Department,

Department,

HealthThrough theseminars and public education can also help inIndustries

promoting behavioral changes in local people.

Department, Planning and Development Department

Especially, awareness campaigns at the local

and Local Government Department, etc., are playing

level,

bycollaborating

their roles in implementing the policy, whereas many

departments,

other stakeholders such as businesses, educational

including local people, should be raised to encourage

institutions, NGOs, and local people or political

people to take actions at the individual level for smog

leaders are not taking part in the implementation of

reduction.

NGOs,

with

and

all

government

otherstakeholders,

the smog policy in each district. Knowledge fromdifferent groups of scientists and local community
perspectives has not been incorporated into the policy
formation and implementation process.
The above challenge has led to the lack ofcollaboration among the government departments,
businesses, industries, NGOs, and educational
institutions, which puts the government in difficulty
implementing the provincial smog policy.
Furthermore, it is to note there is no regularmonitoring, assessment, and evaluation of eachFig. 5 Smog in Indian Punjab and Pakistani Punjab

department’s contribution and role in addressing
Based on the gaps in the existing policy and thesmog.
Given the above, in sum, only the government

challenges faced by governments to combat the issue

departments have been involved in the policyof smog, a resilience-based smog policy framework

formulation and implementation process. There is a

is proposed in the next section.

need to include businesses, academia, research
institutions, NGOs, and other stakeholders in thepolicy formulation and implementation process. The

17

5

RESILIENCE-BASED SMOG POLICY

across sectors by taking into account the linkages of

FRAMEWORK

human, natural, and social systems, and incorporates
knowledge from different groups of scientists andA framework of resilience-based public policy

local community perspectives into the policy

based on systems approach and system linkages wasformation process. The monitoring and evaluation ofdeveloped by Shimizu and Clark (2019). Theythedefined “operational” resilience, which is a key in theassessment at each level will be taken into account inresilience-based public policy, as “the enablingthecapacity to create environments or systems thatframework.

policyformation,

proposedpolicyresilience-based

revisions,

smog

and

policyremain functionally intact when impacted by

After the policy formulation at the local level, theunexpected events.” This is accomplished by

next step will be the implementation phase in which

recognizing situational changes and understanding

all the concerned departments, including industries

the whole systems linkages from a short, medium,and factories, will take initiatives to reduce smog andand long-term perspective9).

organize training workshops, and raise awareness

Moreover, building resilience based on the

campaigns. Social media and TV should raiseframework of resilience-based public policy requires

awareness for the general public and educate them tointerdisciplinary research and understanding of thetake necessary steps at the individual level to reduce

importance of collaboration with local actors tosmog. Regular monitoring of the industries, factories,

understand what information is required and how it

and other major contributors to smog pollution

can be implemented in order to design solutions thatshould be carried out. The resilience-based policy

benefit all aspects of society. If Lahore is to beframework, which incorporates different sectors andsuccessful in its fight against smog and poor air

the general public through dialogue platform, isquality, it will need an evidence-based policy

presented in Fig.6.

approach rather than perform a set of superficial tasks
like issuing notices to a few individuals.
By applying the framework of resilience-based
public policy to the smog challenge, a resiliencebased smog policy framework is proposed in Fig.6,
considering the integrated views of possible risks,
impacts, and uncertainty among policy communities.
The proposed policy framework aims at facilitating
to develop a smog policy at the local level for eachcity and connects the local level policy with theprovincial and regional level smog policy. It includes
short, medium, and long-term perspectives forresidents,

communities, andmulti-stakeholders

18

Fig.6: Resilience-Based Policy Framework for Smog Reduction in Lahore

M
o
n
i
t
o
r
i
n
g

Regional Level

Regional smog policy of Indian
Punjab and Pakistani Punjab

Provincial Level(Punjab)Comprehensive policy
guidelines, monitoring, &evaluation at provincial level

Each district should have its
own smog controlling policy

Lahore Smog Policy (District
Level)

Better decisionmaking

Policy&Dialogue about smog
existing situation,
future scenario andalternative approaches

Insight

E
v
a
l
u
a
t
i
o
n

Local
community

Dialogueplatform

Experts,
scientists,businesses

Experts,
universities,
factories, research
institutes, etc.,

Govt.
institutions

Generalpublic, local& politicalleaders, etc.,

EPA, LDA, housing
dept, transport dept,etc.,

Smog policy formulated at local level

Evaluation & Revision/update regularly

6

OUTCOMES OF RESILIENCE-BASED

different groups of scientists, environmental experts,

PUBLIC POLICY

local government institutions, and local leaders andcommunities' perspectives through a dialogue

Applying the resilience-based public policy to theplatform. The dialogue platform will promotesmog challenge enabled integrating knowledge fromforesight dialogues among multi-stakeholders from19

different channels, which will be linked with better

public transport and avoid using private cars for daily

responsiveness of different stakeholders such ascommute purposes.

government institutions, environmental experts,

For this challenge, government assistance is vitalbusinesses, and local communities. The platform willfordealingwith

smog-related

allow the multi-stakeholders and all concerned

government should provide farmers, the necessary

departments to discuss the existing smog situation,

modern crop waste management mechanism. For the

future scenarios, and possible alternative approaches

timely program's implementation, a strong politicalto tackle smog. The outputs and outcomes from thewill is necessary to prevent crop residues' burning. A

foresight dialogue platform will lead to “insights” forconsolidated air quality monitoring policy should besmog policy. The foresight dialogue and insight will

formulated

lead to better decision-making and decisions, andEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA) should

finally, all of these will lead to better implementation

increase their own local air surveillance capabilitiesof the smog policy at the local level.

and capacity, focusing on industrial units.

immediately

by

the

issues.

The

government.

Meanwhile, the government should not tolerate

7

SMOG PREVENTION MEASURES

any infringement by any contributor to existing
environmental legislation. The government should

Long-term smog prevention is essential. The

also focus and take one step forward in conducting

plantation is crucial to control air pollution. Cutting

studies on environmental impact assessment, riskof trees must be prohibited in the cities. It is necessary

assessment, and implementation of strategic impact

to reduce the use of gas-powered engines, oily paints,

assessments for the construction of megaprojects. In

and insecticides to a minimum level. There must be acollaboration with businesses, industries, factories,

ban on two-stroke motors using mobile petrol oil.

education sectors, and NGOs, the government should

Factories should be pulled out from urban centers.

organize capacity-building training and awarenessAfter treatment, household and industrial waste

campaigns to reduce smog.

should be properly disposed of. People should use

8

REFERENCES

1) Rehman, S., and Iqbal, R., 2016. Smog. Pakistan Journal of6) Jamal, 2017. Gulf News. Smog in Pakistan, causing

Medical Research, 55(4), p.98.

accidents, illness, and flight disruption.
7) Khan, M.R., 2006. Banning two-stroke auto-rickshaws in2) Rinkesh, 2016. What is Smog? (Accessed on November 17th,
2020)

Retrievedfrom

Lahore: policy implications. The Pakistan Development

http://www.conserve-energy-

Review, pp.1169-1185.

future.com/SmogPollution.php

8) Government of Punjab, Environment Protection Department.

3) Ashraf, N., 2017. Smog in Lahore: causes and solutions.
(Accessed on November

17th,

Policy on controlling smog 2017.

2020) Retrieved from

9) Shimizu M. and Clark AL. 2019. A modern risk society andhttps://www.technologytimes.pk/smog-lahore-causes

resilience-based public policy: Nexus of resilience and public

solutions/
4) IQAir2020.

policy in a modern risk society, 13-3.

https://www.iqair.com/world-air-quality-

ranking5) Khan, R.S., 2016. Dawn. Lahore smog. It is not a natural
phenomenon.

20

UNESCO CHAIR WENDICREATING RESILIENT SOCIETY

Applying Insights drawn from Yakushima School to University Community Efforts with SDGs
Haissam Bin Abdul Sattar Khan
Graduate School of Management
Masters 2nd Year
1.

Education,

Introduction
Nature is a great place to learn about the life,

science, engineering, art and other disciplines.
Anyone who has spent some amount of time innature, among mountains, forests, trees etc.,
knows that nature actually resonates deep within

Culture,Sports,ScienceandTechnology (MEXT), aimed at narrative learningfrom nature to apply insights to our life based on
the understanding that our whole natural system
encompasses all other sub-systems which standalone yet are inter-connected and inter-dependent.

us. Nature does not only serve as a medium for

The author participated in the Yakushima

understanding ourselves, but for connecting with

SDGs School. Based on the learnings, the author

society and understanding the broader social andprovide insights drawn from the school and apply

environmental ecosystem in the world around us.

the insights to other fields in this paper.

However, researchers and scientists have now

Basically, the holistic approach used inbeen calling for substantial societal changes from

Yakushima SDGs School to visualize and grasp

ourlivelihood

the natural/social/human systems in order toperspective to reduce human-activities related

understand esoteric challenges in sustainable

impacts on nature. Nevertheless even after muchsociety by linking Yakushima and Kyoto withaction sought for conservation has been taken,

collaborative group works is critical in the nature-

naturaldeclinebased learning process. This kind of program will

particularly due to our current high consumption

help to achieve individual transformation, societal

rate. Human and social systems depend directly ontransformation, with social and technologicalthe output of natural system; hence, this decline

advancement as targeted in United Nation’s

will affect us, just as it does with other extinct

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

species.

framework. 1

individual

andenvironment

collective

continues

to

The UNESCO Yakushima SDGs School(called Yakushima SDGs School hereinafter),

2. Yakushima Island and Yakushima SDGs
Schoolheld as a part of Kyoto University’s UNESCO

Yakushima, also known as “The Alps of the

Chair initiative and sponsored by the Ministry of

Ocean” is a small island located in the southern

1 https://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/initiative/education-

sustainable-development-towards-achieving-sustainabledevelopment-goals-esd

21

part of Japan. It is a subtropical island, falls underdesign so the students can engage in co-innovation

the Kyushu area and part of Kagoshima Prefecture.

and implementation of SDGs, ultimately for abetter future, well-being, and more resilient
society.
Yakushima SDGs School also signifies theresearch work

4

that nature-based learning

promotes creativity, critical thinking, problemsolving,
Figure 1: Map of Yakushimasocialinteractions

andacademicreadiness in numerous ways, including impacting

It was awarded the status of UNESCO World

cognitive development, health and well-being. It

Natural Heritage Site (1993) and Biospherealso helps as increased enthusiasm, engagement

Reservoir (1980) 2 due to its rich biodiversity

with learning process and knowledge co-(with over 1,900 varieties of plants and over 80 of

production activities.

them are indigenous to Yakushima) and local

3.

Key Insights

ecosystem as the only case of double designation.

The Yakushima SDGs School encouraged

Yakushima is blessed with diverse natural

students to connect insights drawn through thegeographic conditions as a beautiful blend of trees,

Yakushima SDGs School to how to approach

forests, ocean and human society. It is covered by

SDGs with students’ community efforts by

widespread cedar forests that contain some ofbroadening

Japan's oldest living trees. Trees more than 1000

boundaries’ and acceptance of the outside worldyears old are affectionately called Yakusugi (aby “lowering walls” within and around us. The

combination of Yakushima and Sugi, the Japanese

author has picked up three main key learnings asword for cedar), the most ancient of which are

take-away for this paper:over 7000 years old.

students’vision‘beyondthe Human, Society and Nature Linkage

With this background, the SDGs Yakushima
School provided opportunities for university
students to interact and acquire knowledge
through fieldwork, knowledge co-production

 Locals and Visitors Knowledge Exchange Lower the walls & Look beyond boundaries
Human, Society and Nature Linkages

based workshops on resilience approach from

The model in Figure 2, from “Nexus ofsystem linkages and system capacities prospect,

Resilience and Public Policy in a Modern Riskwith emphasis on grasping linkages among SDGs

Society” (Shimizu and Clark, 2019), was used as

by looking at nature, human and social systems in

an underlying concept for Yakushima SDGs

a continuum. 3 There are several lectures on

School represents correlation, linkages andYakushimacultivatinginterconnections in human, social, and natural

overarching thinking and collaborative systemsystems. It illustrates that community resilience

2 Biosphere reserves are sites established by countries andrecognized under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB)
program to promote sustainable development based on local
community efforts and sound science.

3 https://resilience-initiative.com/special-initiative/
4 https://www.childrenandnature.org/resource-hub/resources/withrespectto22

can be sustained only through linkages withresilience and cannot be handled by Yakushimaoutside systems by incorporating components ofresidents alone.

resilience between community and local or
national

systems

throughpublicpolicy(resilience-based public policy).

Therefore, it is essential to apply a resilience
approach with systems thinking and understandthe complex inter-linkages among different
systems to overcome the gaps, risk mitigation, andcreate more opportunities pertaining to resilienceenhancement of the communities in order to avoid
vulnerability to modern risk society challenges.
These inter-linkages are also crucial to enable any
individual and societal transformation that leads tothe effective implementation of SDGs.
We need to understand that we are connected
to many systems coupled with the influence of ourcircumstances; we belong to a system that is partof another chain of systems. Everything comes in

Figure 2: Resilience in human, social, and natural systems anda continuum in this top-down as well as bottom-

their relationships (Shimizu and Clark, 2019)

up influential process. We cannot eliminate or
skip one dimension for something else to attain a

The residents of Yakushima have long beenable to conserve the natural ecosystem of theirisland against exogenous (deforestation due toillegal logging, pollution etc.) and endogenous(different natural disasters etc.) risks, remain selfsustained, and resilient against extreme weather
conditions for centuries. This incited a tendency toview their resilience as a local or communityrelated matter; however, in the context of amodern risk society, the size, complexity,
uncertainty and the impact of cascading risks are
sometimes beyond the capacities of local

sustainablebusinessandlivingsystem.

Addressing each system separately or focusing onjust one may negatively impact the outcomes ofsustainable society. For example, it is very
important for any manufacturer to realize thewhole product life-cycle starting from scratch till
the end, i.e. design to the disposal. Product design
teams can inter-link and expand their designthinking process to the downstream stages to build
product design with better capabilities for easy
recycling in order to tackle the massive global
waste problem and avoid huge landfills, etc.

community handle. (Shimizu and Clark, 2019)
Few to name are natural disasters such as tsunami

Local and Visitors Knowledge Co-production

risk, population shrinking, and effect of migration

Yakushima Island has been facing increasedof young people to bigger cities to seek

tourism 5 after being declared with the valuable

educational and career related opportunities.

status of both World Natural Heritage Site andThese risk factors pose a question to sustain their
5 Over-tourism in Japan has led the locals to coin a newphrase: kankō kōgai, or tourism pollution.

23

Biosphere Reservoir Site and its unique fauna andpractices, we have to be open up to learn fromflora are the main attraction.

each other and their living. (Brendan, 2016)

Although there have been efforts put in topreserve nature and ecology in its essential form,

Lower the Walls and Looking Beyond theBoundaries

this increased tourism is causing some concealed

What makes Yakushima particularly uniqueproblems such as waste pollution, tourists

is that within this small island it has a subtropical

trespassing the private places or farmlands,

to cool-temperature climate, biosphere reservoir

trampling the corps to take photos, or defacing

diversity and three naturally representative

trees by etching their names on the trunk and otherenvironments: mountains, forests and the sea. We

challenges associated with over-tourism.

shall connect these aspects in order to understand

Therefore, it is again very important to focus

the whole system by lowering the walls andon interlinking connections between locals as wellboundaries as a mountain, forest or sea. Hence,as visitors / tourists in order to develop sustainable

lowering the walls and looking beyond boundaries

tourism or eco-tourism through joint efforts towas another most important insight that weachieve more sustainable communities.

learned during the program.

From the hospitality viewpoint, emergence ofUnited Nation’s SDGs targets are also aboutsustainable tourism as an indispensable tourism

adopting same holistic approach as solution to

culture occurs when the interactions between

look in to details, with and beyond boundaries,

locals as hosts and tourists as guests take place inand understanding problems in the local andthe process of exchange of services, creativities,

global context. It is also essential to realize thecapabilities and incapabilities to fulfil the essence“leaving no one behind” agenda for anyof hospitality, e.g. Omotenashi. They learn from

population, place, island, etc. System linkages

each other to respect and observe the delicacies ofthinking and resilience approach perspective, as

the place, people, and practices (tradition) in order

described in previous pages, based on same

to maintain sustainability.

6

Consequently,

narrative and calls for adapting the new skills,

referred to Figure 2 again, local people asknowledge co-production and co-innovation byindividuals or families are part of the whole set oflooking beyond the boundaries, no matter visible

community and society. Optimally successful

or invisible such as cultural, geographic etc.

results cannot be achieved without taking locals

One interesting example of this notion isand visitors under considerations required from

actually the emerging field of interdisciplinary

policy making and implementation perspective.

studies 7 and research programs. Particularly theHence by understanding the linkages that tourism

UNESCO Chair on Water, Energy and Disastermay have an impact on the evolution of local
culture by means of absorption of visitor’s culture,and it may be an origin or result of sustainability

6 An East Asian/Japanese View on Human and its Implications
to Hospitalities (Lecture by Prof. Y. Deguchi, GSL-KyotoU)

Management for Sustainable Development, Kyoto
University (WENDI) that offers a novel andinterdisciplinary Higher Education and Research
7 Interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of two or

more academic disciplines into one activity.

24

for Sustainable Development (HESD) Programme,

remote and hidden valley, surrounded by

WENDI aims at contributing to achieving themountains, forest and thick snow in winter, near

SDGs as well as establishing resilient societies

Takashima city for three days.

through collaborative education, research andseveral other activities like Yakushima SDGs
School.
4. Applying the Insights
Community Efforts

toUniversity

In today’s world, the large-scale challenges
and complex problems such as climate change,

Night view of the valley: Snow, mountain, forests, sea of stars

water scarcity, poverty, inequality, and many

The local community consists of few people

others cannot be addressed by just individual orpracticing an environmentally-friendly life-stylecommunity resilience. It is now more essential

in most the possible sustainable way. It is a small

than ever before to link the global to national tovillage with many scattered abandoned houses.

domestic to local and community systems as an

The most impressive thing for me was the fully-

impact co-creation and co-innovation by means ofequipped and beautiful elementary school, whereknowledge co-production for sustainable solution.

the author got the opportunity to teach the kids.

Hence,

the

need

for

recognizingtheimportanceofnatureandfieldwork-basedlearning and implementation of outcomes aspractical to give-back-to-society is important.
There has been immense literature (Daniel T. L.
ShekRobert M. Hollister, 2017 etc.) on theimportance of role universities can play by going
beyond the core functions of teaching, research,

School building: Outside viewand service and voluntarily act beyond legal
requirements to promote the public good andenvironmental sustainability. Yakushima SDGs
School program has influenced the author likeother students to take responsibility as a university
community member and participate in impactfulactivities to applying insights learned in the
School entrance: Inside viewprogram.
Takashima Shiritsu Kutsukinishi Elementary

The interesting thing was only three kids livein the area. Most of the native locals have

School in Kutsukionyudani, Takashima
In February 2021, the author (with family) got
an opportunity to visit Kutsukionyudani, a very
25

migrated to big cities. There are two full-timeteachers and one principal who are taking care to
run the school. Due to the long-distance, it cannot

be merged with another school, Takashima
Shiritsu Kutsukihigashi Elementary School.

According to the principal, as long as there
are school children in this area, it will continue tofunction as a school. Once they are done withelementary school and move-on, there remains thequestion of what to do for school children who
come to this area after that.

Inside classroom: During the presentation

All three students were very ambitious, bright,
and confident, even though they get very little
chances to interact with people from outside but
they asked interesting questions. I got theInside classroom: Activity time

opportunity to teach them about few topics related5.

to positive thinking, communication, and learningfrom others and other cultures including few
greetings from Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi language.

Conclusion
Belonging to academia and the university

student community put a bigger responsibility toplay our part in order to achieve an “all-inclusive”
society. We have to look around and beyond theinvisible boundaries of language, culture, distance,and environment by lowering the walls. Working
in such communities will also enlighten us in
return via grasping linkages among SDGs bylooking at nature, human and social systems in acontinuum.

During lecture: Culture & Languages (my toddler also joined
me in the class with three students)

References[1] Brendan Canavan, 2016, Tourism culture: Nexus, characteristics, context and sustainability, Tourism Management[2] Daniel T. L. ShekRobert M. Hollister, 2017, University Social Responsibility and Quality of Life; A Global Surveyof Concepts and Experiences[3] M. Shimizu and A. L. Clark, 2019, Nexus of Resilience and Public Policy in a Modern Risk Society

26

UNESCO CHAIR WENDI CREATING RESILIENT SOCIETY

Case Study of Cardboard Compost as a resilience practice toward sustainable waste
management
Masako Ichihara
Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, D3
1. Overview

Momoyama Citizen

Waste management has been one of
the

most

urgentissue

toPromotionofCommittee for

Eco-friendly

Activities

enable(hereinafter referred to as Momoyama

sustainable city in Kyoto. To date,committee) that engages in cardboard

surrounded by lands, Kyoto city has left

compost. Established in 2015, it has

considerable footprints on environment

worked on raising social awareness of

not only by emitting enormous CO2 in theenvironmental

process of incineration of waste, but also

compost is one of the most importantby burying those ashes and incombustible

activities

wastes in the Otowa Dam, the landfill site

because it is possible to continue it easily

located in Daigo, Fushimi-ku, far apartat each household with relatively small

from resident area. The dam is supposed

cost. Moreover, community people canto reach its limitation in 50 years. Besides,

experience

there are no sites where the alternative

watching

dam can be constructed all over Kyoto city.

because of microbe activities.

This fact indicates the extreme necessity

inprotection.
Momoyama

circular
kitchen

Cardbord
committee

ecosystem

waste

by

disappeared

On the other hand, the Momoyama

of waste reduction.

committee faces some challenges in

Meanwhile, the statistic shows that

diffusing compost activities. One of thenearly 40% of waste from living sector ismost difficult hurdles is involving young

occupied with kitchen waste1, which could

generation who currently have jobs. Thosebe reduced to compost. In fact, many

generation are mostly too occupied with

communities

their work and housekeeping to continueandorganizations

have

adapted compost activities as a solution towaste

management.

cardboard activities.

Momoyama-cho,

Fushimi-ku, Kyoto City also has the

2. Research Objective, Questions

1 Kyoto City, ‘Current situation and challenges of

https://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/kankyo/cmsfiles/contents/0
000248/248968/R01katei.pdf

waste from living sector’, available at:

27

How

in

provided by Shimizu (2015) or Shimizu

Momoyama committee can be enhanced toand Clark (2019) were applied. In specific,

contribute to lesser waste in Kyoto City?

each step of “Ten steps program design set

To address the major question, this study

upon collaborative knowledge creation-

pursued two following questions: i) What

based resilience” framework (hereinafter

are

the

referred to as “10 step’s framework”,

cardboard compost activities practiced by

Table １) was examined in the interview

Momoyama committee? ii) How thoseresults.

thethecompostcurrent

activities

challenges

forchallenges can be overcome through theresilience framework?

4. Response to Research Question 1
When we see the compost activities

3. Methodologies

byMomoyama

committee

from

the

As for the research question i),perspective of the resilience framework

interviews to five stakeholders werementioned above, we find that the

conducted. Next, for the research question

activities are supported by at least fourii), certain suggestions based on thestakeholders: 1) activists, 2) soil providers,revealed challenges were proposed to the3) soil acceptors, and 4) information

Momoyama committee at the monthly

managers. Also, four key resilience factors

meeting in December 2020. Then thewere revealed through the application ofparticipants were requested to make the

10 steps’ framework: established linkagecomments on those suggestions.

among

Throughout
pursuit,atheabove-mentioned

problem-solving

four

acceptancestakeholders,ofdiversegenerousstylesoforiented

participation, frequent communication toresilience framework based on systems

share the problems and actors’ inner

approachconfidence or beliefs in their activities.

andresilience

thinking

Table 2: 10 step’s framework (by author, based on Shimizu, 2015)28

compost activities as communication tools
among families. Second, for capacities for
acceptance, cultivating additional sectors
such as rental farms, and schools was
proposed. Third, for resource assurance,
cultivating additional sector and applying
for additional subsidies were suggested.

Figure 1: structure of compost activities by

In response, the chair of Momoyama

Momoyama committee (by author)committee partly accepted her ideas thatwill be practiced in near future. Those
prospected outputs will be analyzed andevaluated for the purpose of further
development. Also, for the dismissed ideas,
discussion will be made at the committee
Figure 2: systems’ approach (Shimizu & Clark, 2019)

to revise it in feasible manner. SuchAs Figure 1 shows, these factors

learning process will be repeated in acanbe located in similar ways to the figure

broader timeframe to achieve gradualof systems’ approach (Figure 2, Shimizu &improvement of whole systems.

Clark, 2019). This implies the fact that
this compost activities have already6. Discussion

installed some basic factors related withWhile

current

approachofsystems approach or resilience framework

Momoyama committee has a basic factor

However, three challenging were also

related with resilience framework, thefound:

dissemination,

capacitiesforcommunity activity function has a major

acceptance and resource assurance. It ischallenge from broader views: From thetrue that the members acknowledged allperspective of collaborative knowledge

these challenges, but they seem to lack increation system which is related to a

motivation or intention to improve or

broader view of the resilience framework,,

expand their activities, by recognizing

the current Momoyama compost activities

composite activities as something similar

is located almost at the first floor in theto hobbies.

triangle, meaning that resources such asdata, information, experiences, expertise,

5. Response to Research Question 2

ideas have yet properly systematizedThis author made suggestions based
on

three

challenges.

First,(Figure 3, Shimizu & Clark, 2019).

for

Therefore

dissemination, she proposed to maketheiractivityisnotoperational from problem-solving

29

yet

shortcomings can be used as indicators tomeasure resilience in other local activities.
In the process of this study, an
American farmer who operates an organic
farm in a tiny countryside kindly accepted
the author’s visit. He is also a compost
activist with passion to grow his businessas a sustainable practice, which was yet
insufficient
biggestSystem (Shimizu & Clark, 2019)andvulnerable

environmental

change.

Inthecurrent

Momoyama

committee. He confessed that one of his

Figure 3: Collaborative Knowledge Creation

perspectives,intomotivation

comfortabilitybyisliving

sense

of

with

littlenext

footprint on environment, or sense of

decades their activities won’t be fully

obligation to keep in harmony with nature.

sustained because they currently lack in

These two senses are also shared withyoung generations.

Momoyama committee, but there lies

From another point of view, the above

something different in terms of ability oflack of collaborative knowledge creation

practice. Whether

system may imply that they may prefer tobecausebe limited to existing approach to keep

anything else may be another research

their genuine objective or manner. Butquestion. Additionally, Two issues for thethis tendency simultaneously hinders

future research can be raised: First,

their further development in terms offurther conduct ofoperational resilience.

definitely needed. Second, to disseminate
obtained

7. Conclusionofthe difference isculture,insights

generation,orrelated research is
overMomoyama

regions will be another touchstone ofthese key factors.

This case study revealed four key
resilience-related factors observed in the

Referencescardboardby・ Shimizu, M. (2015). Collaborative Knowledge

Momoyama committee, which are linkage,

Creation Based Resilience. Kyoto: Kyoto University

diverse styles, problem sharing, and eachPress

actor’s confidence. On the other hand, it・Shimizu, M., Clark, A.L. (2019). Nexus of Resilienceclarifiedfurtherand Public Policy in a Modern Risk Society. Singapore:obtainSpringer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

activities

thatsystemization

itinconducted

needs
order

to

operational resilience. Moreover, these30