Hildegard Roosen

The initiative in Nordhorn City, Germany to provide commuting training on city buses

Panel Discussion

Furthermore, I believe that our project has had signiﬁcance for society and thecommunity overall. As the know-how we have accumulated through this project
can be used at other schools and facilities, in the future I would like to widen
the scope of the project to other communities.
One more point that I would like to emphasize is that the concept of thisproject is eﬀective not only for people with disabilities, but also for the elderly.
In both Germany and Japan the aging of society is continuing to advance andit is anticipated that public transport will increasingly be used by the elderly
generation. I believe that the concepts and accumulated know-how of the
MogLi Project will be useful when considering the use of public transport by
the elderly.
In truth, I believe that the single largest merit of the MogLi Project is it
potential usefulness to the aging society. If projects like MogLi were to be
implemented in other countries and regions around the world, I expect that it
will be possible to create social infrastructure that will respond to the realities ofan aging society.

Towards Support for Commuting by Students with Disabilities

IATSS Seminar
Saturday, December 7, 2013, Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Panel Discussion

Moderator

Chapter 2

Fumihiko Nakamura
Professor, Dean, Institute of Urban Innovation, Yokohama National University
Panelists

Hildegard Roosen
Former Headmaster of Vechtetalschule

Toru Ando
Vice Principal, Kanagawa Prefectural Seya Special Needs School

Keita Suzuki
President and CEO, Kaien Co., Ltd.

Towards Support for Commuting by Students with Disabilities
Looking at the Person, Not the Disability
is research focused on the public transport necessary for persons
Nakamurawith intellectual disabilities to participate in the community. We considered
this an opportunity to implement training on the use of public transport for thecommute to special needs schools by students with intellectual disabilities andimplemented various research activities and actual experiments. In this panel
discussion, based on the lecture provided by Ms. Roosen, I would like to engage
in further discussions, together with Mr. Suzuki, whose company provides
employment support for persons with developmental disabilities and Mr. Ando,the Vice Principal of Seya Special Needs School. Could I ask Mr. Suzuki and
Mr. Ando to ﬁrst give a brief self-introduction?
Suzuki: I previously worked as an announcer at NHK, but I found this work
uninspiring, so I went to graduate school in the United States, where I received
an MBA. It was at this time that my three-year-old daughter was diagnosed
with developmental disorder accompanying an intellectual disability. I asked
myself whether there was something that I could do to help and during this18

19

Panel Discussion

Towards Support for Commuting by Students with Disabilities

Fumihiko Nakamura

20

Keita Suzuki

Hildegard Roosen

Toru Andotime I discovered the Danish company called Specialisterne, which employs
people with developmental disorders as software engineers. The encounter with
Specialisterne inspired me to establish Kaien Co., Ltd. We are mainly involved inwork to support the employment of persons with developmental disabilities. We
have two training facilities in Akihabara, one in Shinjuku, and one in Yokohama.
On weekdays approximately 80 persons are participating in training.

cooperation of local bus companies. The school that is the subject of the project,
Vechtetalschule, has created a three-stage program for traffic safety education
and aims to enable students with disabilities to gain the skills necessary tocommute independently to school. The project is an advanced one in that thebuses that are used for commuting are not those owned by the school, but arethose run by the city bus association.

Ando: I am Vice Principal of Kanagawa Prefectural Seya Special Needs School.
As a part of this research project, in January 2013 we used our school bus toengage in actual ﬁeld tests. It was an extremely beneﬁcial opportunity and onethat I am very grateful for. Seya Special Needs School was the ﬁrst of the morethan 20 special needs school to be established in Kanagawa. We currently haveapproximately 300 children on our roll, from first grade elementary school
students to third grade high school students.
The type of inclusive education that Ms. Roosen spoke about is exactly thekind of education that we are aiming for in Kanagawa, and indeed around thecountry, and we are engaged in eﬀorts based on traﬃc safety education. Support
for commuting is of great signiﬁcance for students as it broadens the scope of
their everyday lives. However, with regard to the systemization of such education
in a school-based environment, I think that there are many areas that require
further attention, in terms of the time devoted to such education and whether it
has become truly systemized.

Roosen: Thank you for the introduction. I would add that the school buses arerun by the city and are the responsibility of the city authorities. However, given
the extreme diﬃculty of planning and implementing such a system, the staﬀ at
the school worked together with the bus authorities to coordinate the system.
Looking at the situation across the whole of Germany, until now it has been
mainly the case that schools have operated their own school buses. I imagine that
this is also the case in Japan. My concept was to move away from such a system.
Are the school buses in Japan generally operated by the schools?

Nakamura: Thank you. I would now like to brieﬂy introduce the MogLi Projectthat is being implemented by Ms. Roosen. The project was started in 2007 in
the German city of Nordhorn, which is located close to the border with the
Netherlands. It is a project that provides training to students with disabilities
on using city buses to commute to school, and is implemented with the

Nakamura: This may be a very Japanese-oriented question to ask, but are there
any agreements in place between the school and the bus operator concerning thescope of responsibility for the commute to school?

Ando: In the case of Japan, although in my case I am speaking purely about
Kanagawa Prefecture, basically it is the schools that operate bus services
themselves. As we are a prefectural school, it is the prefectural Board of
Education that selects the bus company and pays for the service. However, it
is generally the schools themselves that engage in direct contact with the bus
drivers and bus companies concerning bus routes and other matters.

Roosen: I think that such decisions regarding responsibility will depend from21

Panel Discussion

Towards Support for Commuting by Students with Disabilities

Fumihiko Nakamura

20

Keita Suzuki

Hildegard Roosen

Toru Andotime I discovered the Danish company called Specialisterne, which employs
people with developmental disorders as software engineers. The encounter with
Specialisterne inspired me to establish Kaien Co., Ltd. We are mainly involved inwork to support the employment of persons with developmental disabilities. We
have two training facilities in Akihabara, one in Shinjuku, and one in Yokohama.
On weekdays approximately 80 persons are participating in training.

cooperation of local bus companies. The school that is the subject of the project,
Vechtetalschule, has created a three-stage program for traffic safety education
and aims to enable students with disabilities to gain the skills necessary tocommute independently to school. The project is an advanced one in that thebuses that are used for commuting are not those owned by the school, but arethose run by the city bus association.

Ando: I am Vice Principal of Kanagawa Prefectural Seya Special Needs School.
As a part of this research project, in January 2013 we used our school bus toengage in actual ﬁeld tests. It was an extremely beneﬁcial opportunity and onethat I am very grateful for. Seya Special Needs School was the ﬁrst of the morethan 20 special needs school to be established in Kanagawa. We currently haveapproximately 300 children on our roll, from first grade elementary school
students to third grade high school students.
The type of inclusive education that Ms. Roosen spoke about is exactly thekind of education that we are aiming for in Kanagawa, and indeed around thecountry, and we are engaged in eﬀorts based on traﬃc safety education. Support
for commuting is of great signiﬁcance for students as it broadens the scope of
their everyday lives. However, with regard to the systemization of such education
in a school-based environment, I think that there are many areas that require
further attention, in terms of the time devoted to such education and whether it
has become truly systemized.

Roosen: Thank you for the introduction. I would add that the school buses arerun by the city and are the responsibility of the city authorities. However, given
the extreme diﬃculty of planning and implementing such a system, the staﬀ at
the school worked together with the bus authorities to coordinate the system.
Looking at the situation across the whole of Germany, until now it has been
mainly the case that schools have operated their own school buses. I imagine that
this is also the case in Japan. My concept was to move away from such a system.
Are the school buses in Japan generally operated by the schools?

Nakamura: Thank you. I would now like to brieﬂy introduce the MogLi Projectthat is being implemented by Ms. Roosen. The project was started in 2007 in
the German city of Nordhorn, which is located close to the border with the
Netherlands. It is a project that provides training to students with disabilities
on using city buses to commute to school, and is implemented with the

Nakamura: This may be a very Japanese-oriented question to ask, but are there
any agreements in place between the school and the bus operator concerning thescope of responsibility for the commute to school?

Ando: In the case of Japan, although in my case I am speaking purely about
Kanagawa Prefecture, basically it is the schools that operate bus services
themselves. As we are a prefectural school, it is the prefectural Board of
Education that selects the bus company and pays for the service. However, it
is generally the schools themselves that engage in direct contact with the bus
drivers and bus companies concerning bus routes and other matters.

Roosen: I think that such decisions regarding responsibility will depend from21

Panel Discussion

Towards Support for Commuting by Students with Disabilities

case to case and also on the way of looking at each case. It would depend on
what type of accident occurred. Naturally the school takes on a certain degreeof responsibility, but we are unable to comprehensively provide guarantees for
all aspects of travel. However, this situation is not limited solely to special needs
schools, as there are often reports of accidents on regular school buses in thedaily news.
What is important for us is that we gain the support of the parents, including
with regard to such risks. In other words, it is necessary for the parents towant their children to gain the skills to be able to commute independently
and in so doing give their support to our eﬀorts. If students are able to acquire
independence on the commute to school they gain the confidence to doother things independently, like, for example, going to buy something at thesupermarket. This helps to broaden the horizons of the students. Thankfully todate no accidents have occurred at our school, although there was one case wherea student got to know a girl on the bus and didn’t actually arrive at school (laughs).
I don’t know whether this could be referred to as an “accident,” but this is thelevel of things we have had to deal with so far, which was something we could
laugh about.
Nakamura: Yes, rather than being an accident, that is an example of pleasantexchange and interaction on the bus, isn’t it? As part of the MogLi Project,mobility coaches accompany students on the buses to give guidance about thecommuting route. Are these mobility coaches actually teachers from your school?
Or are they from the bus operator or persons with special qualiﬁcations?
Roosen: When the project started there were approximately 100 students who
were participating. As it would have been diﬃcult for school teachers alone toprovide tuition and training to such a large number, using the budget for the
MogLi Project we advertised in the local newspapers for trainers. A varietyof people applied for the positions, including retired teachers and nurses. We
conducted a stringent screening process and finally employed a total of 15“mobility coaches” from among the applicants. We also gave training to these15 coaches in order that they could fully understand the purposes of the MogLi
Project and the needs of the students.
We currently employ directly at our school a person who possesses qualiﬁcations

22

in social education. It is this person who provides mobility support to students
on their way to and from school. During school hours she/he also provides
various mobility-related training to students and also takes charge of a numberof classes. Initially it was necessary to have 15 mobility coaches, but now we havefound that one full-time position is suﬃcient.
Nakamura: In order to achieve commuting using city buses I imagine that inaddition to providing training to students, it is also important to educate bus
drivers. What kind of education and training are you providing to such people?
Roosen: In Germany bus drivers are required by law to participate in training
four times a year. We implement training relating to commuting for students
with disabilities within the framework of this regular training. We created
the training program for bus drivers in collaboration with Giessen University( Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen). Approximately 150 bus drivers took thefour-hour training course. Given the fact that 150 drivers were taking the course
the training was implemented over the course of several weeks. Although fourhours may be a relatively short period of time, we believe that it has produced
many positive results.
Nakamura: As the students are riding regular city buses they will be sharing thebus with regular passengers. Have you engaged in any public relations to makecitizens aware of your eﬀorts?
Roosen: That is a difficult question. Naturally we cannot provide training to
all citizens and residents about how to respond to persons with disabilities.
However, I believe that it is possible to eliminate any unease or concerns
through actual contact with persons with disabilities. It is important to create
opportunities where people can get to know and understand each other better.

23

Panel Discussion

Towards Support for Commuting by Students with Disabilities

case to case and also on the way of looking at each case. It would depend on
what type of accident occurred. Naturally the school takes on a certain degreeof responsibility, but we are unable to comprehensively provide guarantees for
all aspects of travel. However, this situation is not limited solely to special needs
schools, as there are often reports of accidents on regular school buses in thedaily news.
What is important for us is that we gain the support of the parents, including
with regard to such risks. In other words, it is necessary for the parents towant their children to gain the skills to be able to commute independently
and in so doing give their support to our eﬀorts. If students are able to acquire
independence on the commute to school they gain the confidence to doother things independently, like, for example, going to buy something at thesupermarket. This helps to broaden the horizons of the students. Thankfully todate no accidents have occurred at our school, although there was one case wherea student got to know a girl on the bus and didn’t actually arrive at school (laughs).
I don’t know whether this could be referred to as an “accident,” but this is thelevel of things we have had to deal with so far, which was something we could
laugh about.
Nakamura: Yes, rather than being an accident, that is an example of pleasantexchange and interaction on the bus, isn’t it? As part of the MogLi Project,mobility coaches accompany students on the buses to give guidance about thecommuting route. Are these mobility coaches actually teachers from your school?
Or are they from the bus operator or persons with special qualiﬁcations?
Roosen: When the project started there were approximately 100 students who
were participating. As it would have been diﬃcult for school teachers alone toprovide tuition and training to such a large number, using the budget for the
MogLi Project we advertised in the local newspapers for trainers. A varietyof people applied for the positions, including retired teachers and nurses. We
conducted a stringent screening process and finally employed a total of 15“mobility coaches” from among the applicants. We also gave training to these15 coaches in order that they could fully understand the purposes of the MogLi
Project and the needs of the students.
We currently employ directly at our school a person who possesses qualiﬁcations

22

in social education. It is this person who provides mobility support to students
on their way to and from school. During school hours she/he also provides
various mobility-related training to students and also takes charge of a numberof classes. Initially it was necessary to have 15 mobility coaches, but now we havefound that one full-time position is suﬃcient.
Nakamura: In order to achieve commuting using city buses I imagine that inaddition to providing training to students, it is also important to educate bus
drivers. What kind of education and training are you providing to such people?
Roosen: In Germany bus drivers are required by law to participate in training
four times a year. We implement training relating to commuting for students
with disabilities within the framework of this regular training. We created
the training program for bus drivers in collaboration with Giessen University( Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen). Approximately 150 bus drivers took thefour-hour training course. Given the fact that 150 drivers were taking the course
the training was implemented over the course of several weeks. Although fourhours may be a relatively short period of time, we believe that it has produced
many positive results.
Nakamura: As the students are riding regular city buses they will be sharing thebus with regular passengers. Have you engaged in any public relations to makecitizens aware of your eﬀorts?
Roosen: That is a difficult question. Naturally we cannot provide training to
all citizens and residents about how to respond to persons with disabilities.
However, I believe that it is possible to eliminate any unease or concerns
through actual contact with persons with disabilities. It is important to create
opportunities where people can get to know and understand each other better.

23

Panel Discussion

Towards Support for Commuting by Students with Disabilities

In other words, it is important for people to see not the disability, but the person.
That is what I have learned from my various experiences.
There are times when problems arise. Let me give you an example. There was atime when an autistic child on the bus was jerking his body in various positions,which caused concern to other passengers. Apparently the bus driver said to theother passengers, “This child is autistic. Although he may jerk his body aroundlike that it is important for you to be kind to him” There was another example
when a bus driver on a commuting route returned from his summer holidays andwas actually hit by an autistic student. During his holidays the bus driver had
become very sun tanned and he had also had his hair cut shorter than previously.
The student therefore thought that he was a diﬀerent man, felt uneasy, and thenwent on to strike out at the driver. After this incident the bus driver has become
to understand that this is one of the characteristics of autism, so the next time
when he took holidays he told the student in advance, “ I am going on holiday,
and when I come back, I might be a little sun tanned and look different, butthere is no need to worry.” What is of primary importance is for people to have achance to get to know and understand each other. Naturally we could have sentout detailed information in advance to all citizens about the characteristics ofautism, but I do not believe doing that alone would be enough. I think, even withsuch information, there would be some people who become worried and anxious,or even a little annoyed.
Another example is children with Down’s syndrome, whose behavior has various
specific characteristics. They may suddenly touch or embrace another person. We
would like the bus drivers and other citizens to learn about how to respond to suchsituations f rom actual experiences. What is important is to respond calmly andnot to be af raid, but rather to say quietly to the child that you don’t want to beembraced or kissed. Diﬀ erent disabilities present diﬀ erent characteristics, but it isimportant to look not at the disability itself but rather the child, and respond in an
accepting and accommodating manner. That is what is meant by “learning by doing.”
Suzuki: I believe that for a child with autism, although it may be possible toremember one route, it is diﬃcult to get them to respond to a second or third route.
How do you apply your project in such situations? A child may be able to remember
the route between home and school, but be unable to go beyond this route. I wonder
whether this type of training could be applied well to children with autism.

24

Roosen: Autism presents itself in various diﬀerent ways. For example, in thecase of autism where the child concentrates on minute details and has extremely
good memory skills, he or she may be able to memorize the entire bus timetable.
However, for diﬀerent types of autism it may be diﬃcult to broaden the scopeof the route. The response diﬀers depending on the type of autism. There will becases in which the route is limited to that between home and school, but othercases where it is possible to broaden the routes used. What we try to do is to
apply the training in accordance with the characteristics of each child. Children
with the capability to understand are provided with small maps and bus route
charts.
Nakamura: After graduation students will go on to ﬁnd employment, so is it
possible for the students to apply what they have learned in the MogLi Projectto other situations, for example the route to their place of work? Or is there a
project plan in place that responds to the needs of adults in a similar manner?
Roosen: This is an extremely important topic. It is also one of the objectives ofour project. In Germany there are workshops and studios available for persons
with disabilities, but many of our students really want to work in a regularenvironment. If they work in a regular environment there are no special buses
available and therefore they must be able to commute independently to theirplace of work. If they are able to commute by themselves they may be able toﬁnd a regular job. Our project is therefore also very important for our students as
it will enable them to use public transport, including buses and other modes oftransport, to travel to their place of work.
In the MogLi Project we conduct commuting training using real buses and thereal transport environment. By applying the skills they have learned many of25

Panel Discussion

Towards Support for Commuting by Students with Disabilities

In other words, it is important for people to see not the disability, but the person.
That is what I have learned from my various experiences.
There are times when problems arise. Let me give you an example. There was atime when an autistic child on the bus was jerking his body in various positions,which caused concern to other passengers. Apparently the bus driver said to theother passengers, “This child is autistic. Although he may jerk his body aroundlike that it is important for you to be kind to him” There was another example
when a bus driver on a commuting route returned from his summer holidays andwas actually hit by an autistic student. During his holidays the bus driver had
become very sun tanned and he had also had his hair cut shorter than previously.
The student therefore thought that he was a diﬀerent man, felt uneasy, and thenwent on to strike out at the driver. After this incident the bus driver has become
to understand that this is one of the characteristics of autism, so the next time
when he took holidays he told the student in advance, “ I am going on holiday,
and when I come back, I might be a little sun tanned and look different, butthere is no need to worry.” What is of primary importance is for people to have achance to get to know and understand each other. Naturally we could have sentout detailed information in advance to all citizens about the characteristics ofautism, but I do not believe doing that alone would be enough. I think, even withsuch information, there would be some people who become worried and anxious,or even a little annoyed.
Another example is children with Down’s syndrome, whose behavior has various
specific characteristics. They may suddenly touch or embrace another person. We
would like the bus drivers and other citizens to learn about how to respond to suchsituations f rom actual experiences. What is important is to respond calmly andnot to be af raid, but rather to say quietly to the child that you don’t want to beembraced or kissed. Diﬀ erent disabilities present diﬀ erent characteristics, but it isimportant to look not at the disability itself but rather the child, and respond in an
accepting and accommodating manner. That is what is meant by “learning by doing.”
Suzuki: I believe that for a child with autism, although it may be possible toremember one route, it is diﬃcult to get them to respond to a second or third route.
How do you apply your project in such situations? A child may be able to remember
the route between home and school, but be unable to go beyond this route. I wonder
whether this type of training could be applied well to children with autism.

24

Roosen: Autism presents itself in various diﬀerent ways. For example, in thecase of autism where the child concentrates on minute details and has extremely
good memory skills, he or she may be able to memorize the entire bus timetable.
However, for diﬀerent types of autism it may be diﬃcult to broaden the scopeof the route. The response diﬀers depending on the type of autism. There will becases in which the route is limited to that between home and school, but othercases where it is possible to broaden the routes used. What we try to do is to
apply the training in accordance with the characteristics of each child. Children
with the capability to understand are provided with small maps and bus route
charts.
Nakamura: After graduation students will go on to ﬁnd employment, so is it
possible for the students to apply what they have learned in the MogLi Projectto other situations, for example the route to their place of work? Or is there a
project plan in place that responds to the needs of adults in a similar manner?
Roosen: This is an extremely important topic. It is also one of the objectives ofour project. In Germany there are workshops and studios available for persons
with disabilities, but many of our students really want to work in a regularenvironment. If they work in a regular environment there are no special buses
available and therefore they must be able to commute independently to theirplace of work. If they are able to commute by themselves they may be able toﬁnd a regular job. Our project is therefore also very important for our students as
it will enable them to use public transport, including buses and other modes oftransport, to travel to their place of work.
In the MogLi Project we conduct commuting training using real buses and thereal transport environment. By applying the skills they have learned many of25

Panel Discussion

Towards Support for Commuting by Students with Disabilities

the students become able to travel to various places independently. Of course
there are cases where it is necessary for the students to have support and beaccompanied by assistants, but acquiring mobility skills helps to broaden theirchoices with regard to the type and place of work.
In actual fact, we are currently seeking to launch the MogLi2 Project, basedon the results of the original MogLi Project. This project will target not only
students with intellectual disabilities but also adults with disabilities. Ultimately
we want to further broaden the scope to also include the elderly, and develop
a transport education program that will improve mobility for them too. Thisis something that Giessen University is very interested in and it is applying tovarious transport-related organizations in Germany to implement the project.

Creating cooperative networks
Ando: How does cooperation and collaboration among the police, hospitals,
government administration and schools work under the MogLi Project?
Roosen: Cooperative relations were truly vital to the success of the project.
What we had to do was to ensure that everyone concerned was on board thesame “MogLi boat.” We had to become a group sharing a common objective
and destiny. It was particularly important to create a network among the persons
concerned. To achieve this it was of great importance to persuade people throughface-to-face interactions and impress upon such people that their support wasessential to the success of the project.
This project could not have been realized by the school working alone. For the
MogLi commuting training we received the cooperation of the bus company
and the local police service. It was vital to the success of the project that wewere not working alone, but rather than that we made eﬀorts to create a social
network. Although a person on their own may be powerless, if all such people
join together in a network it becomes possible to achieve change. Efforts do
not simply end when the network has been formed; it is important to continue
to develop the network through regular exchange of information and otheractions. It is thanks to such cooperative relations that if anything happens we canimmediately telephone the bus company, transport authority or local government
oﬃcials.

26

Ando: I believe that schools in Japan also understand very well the importanceof networks with the police and local government administration. Once or
twice a year members of the local police force visit our school to conduct traﬃcsafety education, providing training on how to understand traffic signals andhow to cross the road at crossings. In terms of commuting training our schoolstaﬀ members also regularly accompany students to the bus stop and teach them
about how to queue and manners when on board the bus.
What I was really impressed to hear was that under the MogLi Project traﬃcsafety education is actually positioned as part of the classroom curriculum. Whatis important for schools is not to implement training as a one-oﬀ exercise, but toincorporate traﬃc safety education into the standard curriculum and to support
students in becoming able to commute independently through a staged approach.
I would like to ask Ms. Roosen to speak in a little more detail about how thetraﬃc safety education has been incorporated into the school curriculum.
Roosen: In Germany too, transport education is not an official subject inschools and it has been largely ignored in the curriculum to date. However, it
is compulsory to conduct transport education and so it has been the case thatteachers implemented the minimum level of education in order to fulfil thislegal requirement, conducting transport education about once a month. Over thelast ﬁve to six years there have been signiﬁcant changes and transport education
has gained a more prominent position. The launch of the MogLi Project had asigniﬁcant impact in this regard and it is being developed to apply to not justspecial needs schools but all kinds of schools. In addition, as we are aiming toprovide education that relates to behavioral skills in general, including knowledge
about traﬃc safety, as well as awareness of the transport environment and healthissues, we were able to develop it in a way that made it possible to incorporate it
as an oﬃcial subject in school. Furthermore, as the implementation of the MogLi

27

Panel Discussion

Towards Support for Commuting by Students with Disabilities

the students become able to travel to various places independently. Of course
there are cases where it is necessary for the students to have support and beaccompanied by assistants, but acquiring mobility skills helps to broaden theirchoices with regard to the type and place of work.
In actual fact, we are currently seeking to launch the MogLi2 Project, basedon the results of the original MogLi Project. This project will target not only
students with intellectual disabilities but also adults with disabilities. Ultimately
we want to further broaden the scope to also include the elderly, and develop
a transport education program that will improve mobility for them too. Thisis something that Giessen University is very interested in and it is applying tovarious transport-related organizations in Germany to implement the project.

Creating cooperative networks
Ando: How does cooperation and collaboration among the police, hospitals,
government administration and schools work under the MogLi Project?
Roosen: Cooperative relations were truly vital to the success of the project.
What we had to do was to ensure that everyone concerned was on board thesame “MogLi boat.” We had to become a group sharing a common objective
and destiny. It was particularly important to create a network among the persons
concerned. To achieve this it was of great importance to persuade people throughface-to-face interactions and impress upon such people that their support wasessential to the success of the project.
This project could not have been realized by the school working alone. For the
MogLi commuting training we received the cooperation of the bus company
and the local police service. It was vital to the success of the project that wewere not working alone, but rather than that we made eﬀorts to create a social
network. Although a person on their own may be powerless, if all such people
join together in a network it becomes possible to achieve change. Efforts do
not simply end when the network has been formed; it is important to continue
to develop the network through regular exchange of information and otheractions. It is thanks to such cooperative relations that if anything happens we canimmediately telephone the bus company, transport authority or local government
oﬃcials.

26

Ando: I believe that schools in Japan also understand very well the importanceof networks with the police and local government administration. Once or
twice a year members of the local police force visit our school to conduct traﬃcsafety education, providing training on how to understand traffic signals andhow to cross the road at crossings. In terms of commuting training our schoolstaﬀ members also regularly accompany students to the bus stop and teach them
about how to queue and manners when on board the bus.
What I was really impressed to hear was that under the MogLi Project traﬃcsafety education is actually positioned as part of the classroom curriculum. Whatis important for schools is not to implement training as a one-oﬀ exercise, but toincorporate traﬃc safety education into the standard curriculum and to support
students in becoming able to commute independently through a staged approach.
I would like to ask Ms. Roosen to speak in a little more detail about how thetraﬃc safety education has been incorporated into the school curriculum.
Roosen: In Germany too, transport education is not an official subject inschools and it has been largely ignored in the curriculum to date. However, it
is compulsory to conduct transport education and so it has been the case thatteachers implemented the minimum level of education in order to fulfil thislegal requirement, conducting transport education about once a month. Over thelast ﬁve to six years there have been signiﬁcant changes and transport education
has gained a more prominent position. The launch of the MogLi Project had asigniﬁcant impact in this regard and it is being developed to apply to not justspecial needs schools but all kinds of schools. In addition, as we are aiming toprovide education that relates to behavioral skills in general, including knowledge
about traﬃc safety, as well as awareness of the transport environment and healthissues, we were able to develop it in a way that made it possible to incorporate it
as an oﬃcial subject in school. Furthermore, as the implementation of the MogLi

27

Panel Discussion

Towards Support for Commuting by Students with Disabilities

Project has encouraged regular exchange with the various organizations andgroups I have mentioned and invigorated networks, we are being supported inour eﬀorts to achieve the inclusions of traﬃc safety education in the curriculum.

From traﬃc safety to transport education
Nakamura: As Mr. Ando has just noted, in Japan we use the term “education
on traﬃc safety,” but you just used the term “transport education.”
Roosen: In the past the concept was focused on “traﬃc safety.” Now we use theterm “transport education” in order to convey the meaning that the education
includes measures to gain social skills through transport-related learning. For
example, we seek to promote education that asks such questions as why it isnecessary to obey traffic rules, and, from a health perspective, why it is betterfor the environment to travel by bicycle rather than automobile, or what
method of transport is the best for the environment. We do not stop merely atteaching traﬃc safety rules, but aim to provide education on transport in a morecomprehensive sense. In a situation in which a ﬁght or altercation occurs on thebus on the way to school, the social skills that are needed to know how to behave
in such a situation go beyond the framework of traﬃc safety. The students learn
about such skills and situations by experiencing the actual transport environment.
Suzuki: You have mentioned that the students each have a mobile phone so that
there are prepared for any unexpected situation, such as the bus being late or
failing to arrive. What kind of software have you developed? Could you tell us
about how it is used?
Roosen: We commissioned a specialist software company to develop thesoftware. Although I understand the functions of the software that we use, I am
afraid that I do not know the speciﬁcs about how it was developed.
The functions of the software are extremely simple. Only a limited number ofkeys, from 1 to 5, are used and by pressing “1” the student can call his/her parents,
or press “2” to speak with a travel route assistant. If the bus has been delayed thesoftware provides information to the student automatically, via voice mail or text
message. It is a well though-out system, but in actual fact the students hardly

28

use the software. We realized that there were very few situations in which it
was necessary for them to use it, which demonstrates the high level of mobility
skills the children already had. Naturally it is important that we developed thesoftware and provided it to the students to be prepared for any unexpected
situation. However, what is more important is to draw out and develop the skillsof the person who is using the software. Rather than depending on technology
for everything it is important to believe in people’s skills and work to develop
them further.
Suzuki: Recently those who involved in the welfare sector in Japan have cometo have very high expectations of application software and I also tended to have
similar expectations, too. However, listening to what Ms. Roosen has just said
has reconﬁrmed for me the importance of believing in people’s skills too.
Nakamura: We are running out of time. Can I ask you all to make final
comments?
Ando: For me, what was most important in today’s discussions was therealization that there are various things that can be implemented simply inschools. Rather than allotting special time for classes in schools, other things
could be easily done are, for example, to draw a line down the middle of theschool corridor and make a rule that students should walk on the right. This kindof activity incorporates some aspects of transport education and this is one of thehints I have gained from today’s discussion.
We are seeking to implement transport education at our school with thecooperation of the police, medical institutions, local government and bus
operators. If all these people and organizations could work together as a team I
feel that even more progress could be made with regard to transport education.

29

Panel Discussion

Towards Support for Commuting by Students with Disabilities

Project has encouraged regular exchange with the various organizations andgroups I have mentioned and invigorated networks, we are being supported inour eﬀorts to achieve the inclusions of traﬃc safety education in the curriculum.

From traﬃc safety to transport education
Nakamura: As Mr. Ando has just noted, in Japan we use the term “education
on traﬃc safety,” but you just used the term “transport education.”
Roosen: In the past the concept was focused on “traﬃc safety.” Now we use theterm “transport education” in order to convey the meaning that the education
includes measures to gain social skills through transport-related learning. For
example, we seek to promote education that asks such questions as why it isnecessary to obey traffic rules, and, from a health perspective, why it is betterfor the environment to travel by bicycle rather than automobile, or what
method of transport is the best for the environment. We do not stop merely atteaching traﬃc safety rules, but aim to provide education on transport in a morecomprehensive sense. In a situation in which a ﬁght or altercation occurs on thebus on the way to school, the social skills that are needed to know how to behave
in such a situation go beyond the framework of traﬃc safety. The students learn
about such skills and situations by experiencing the actual transport environment.
Suzuki: You have mentioned that the students each have a mobile phone so that
there are prepared for any unexpected situation, such as the bus being late or
failing to arrive. What kind of software have you developed? Could you tell us
about how it is used?
Roosen: We commissioned a specialist software company to develop thesoftware. Although I understand the functions of the software that we use, I am
afraid that I do not know the speciﬁcs about how it was developed.
The functions of the software are extremely simple. Only a limited number ofkeys, from 1 to 5, are used and by pressing “1” the student can call his/her parents,
or press “2” to speak with a travel route assistant. If the bus has been delayed thesoftware provides information to the student automatically, via voice mail or text
message. It is a well though-out system, but in actual fact the students hardly

28

use the software. We realized that there were very few situations in which it
was necessary for them to use it, which demonstrates the high level of mobility
skills the children already had. Naturally it is important that we developed thesoftware and provided it to the students to be prepared for any unexpected
situation. However, what is more important is to draw out and develop the skillsof the person who is using the software. Rather than depending on technology
for everything it is important to believe in people’s skills and work to develop
them further.
Suzuki: Recently those who involved in the welfare sector in Japan have cometo have very high expectations of application software and I also tended to have
similar expectations, too. However, listening to what Ms. Roosen has just said
has reconﬁrmed for me the importance of believing in people’s skills too.
Nakamura: We are running out of time. Can I ask you all to make final
comments?
Ando: For me, what was most important in today’s discussions was therealization that there are various things that can be implemented simply inschools. Rather than allotting special time for classes in schools, other things
could be easily done are, for example, to draw a line down the middle of theschool corridor and make a rule that students should walk on the right. This kindof activity incorporates some aspects of transport education and this is one of thehints I have gained from today’s discussion.
We are seeking to implement transport education at our school with thecooperation of the police, medical institutions, local government and bus
operators. If all these people and organizations could work together as a team I
feel that even more progress could be made with regard to transport education.

29

Panel Discussion

Towards Support for Commuting by Students with Disabilities

Suzuki: I would like to make two points.
Firstly, welfare in Japan is often said to be focused purely on isolated points,
with no kind of systemized support to link these pin-pointed eﬀorts together.
Although such efforts have made progress I still feel the necessity for moreprogress on creating linked-up networks.
The second point that I would like to make is that prior to joining this panel
discussion I thought that discussion would focus mainly on infrastructure (hard)
aspects of transport systems. However, today most of the discussion has been
about the non-infrastructure (soft) side of efforts, including how to provide
information, the education curriculum and mechanisms for cooperation. I heard
from Ms. Roosen that she was bewildered by the sheer volume of informationin Tokyo, which made me feel the real importance of considering not merely thetransmission of information, but the ways in which it is transmitted and othernon-infrastructural aspects.

Darmstadt) , who engaged in a study of all efforts being implemented inGermany, which led us to the MogLi Project. I believe that in this sector MogLi
is one of the world’s most outstanding projects. If there is an opportunity to doso, I believe it to be of the greatest importance for people from Japan to visit
Nordhorn and observe the situation there, both in the town and at the school. At
today’s seminar we have participants involved in the welfare sector in Japan andalso those from urban planning-related associations. There are various examplesof trials and research into transport mobility for persons with disabilities and I
hope to have an opportunity to share such examples with you in the future.
I would now like to conclude the panel discussion. Thank you all very much.

Roosen: It has been my pleasure today to provide a report about the MogLi
Project. However, I do not believe that what we are trying to achieve throughthe MogLi Project is so groundbreaking. From what I have heard in today’s
discussions I believe that in Japan too various efforts are underway within
Japanese transport systems and also in schools. Although the promotion of a
project naturally entails costs and it may be said that budgetary allocation isrequired, it is not the case that nothing can be done without funding. I believethat the situation is similar in Japan and Germany. What is important is toengage in the actions that it is possible for us to engage in. There are still many
problems and challenges remaining in Germany. It is therefore important for us
to learn from each other and the various projects we are implementing in ourcountries, so I would very much like to visit Japan again in the future. I hopethat exchange between our countries will continue. I am very grateful for theopportunity to visit Japan on this occasion. Thank you very much.
Nakamura: When launching this research project we started by studying whatkind of research is being conducted in Japan concerning transport mobility for
persons with intellectual disabilities. However, what we found was that there areregrettably very few examples of such research in Japan. We sought advice froma professor at Darmstadt University of Technology (Technische Universität

30

31Panel Discussion

Towards Support for Commuting by Students with Disabilities

Suzuki: I would like to make two points.
Firstly, welfare in Japan is often said to be focused purely on isolated points,
with no kind of systemized support to link these pin-pointed eﬀorts together.
Although such efforts have made progress I still feel the necessity for moreprogress on creating linked-up networks.
The second point that I would like to make is that prior to joining this panel
discussion I thought that discussion would focus mainly on infrastructure (hard)
aspects of transport systems. However, today most of the discussion has been
about the non-infrastructure (soft) side of efforts, including how to provide
information, the education curriculum and mechanisms for cooperation. I heard
from Ms. Roosen that she was bewildered by the sheer volume of informationin Tokyo, which made me feel the real importance of considering not merely thetransmission of information, but the ways in which it is transmitted and othernon-infrastructural aspects.

Darmstadt) , who engaged in a study of all efforts being implemented inGermany, which led us to the MogLi Project. I believe that in this sector MogLi
is one of the world’s most outstanding projects. If there is an opportunity to doso, I believe it to be of the greatest importance for people from Japan to visit
Nordhorn and observe the situation there, both in the town and at the school. At
today’s seminar we have participants involved in the welfare sector in Japan andalso those from urban planning-related associations. There are various examplesof trials and research into transport mobility for persons with disabilities and I
hope to have an opportunity to share such examples with you in the future.
I would now like to conclude the panel discussion. Thank you all very much.

Roosen: It has been my pleasure today to provide a report about the MogLi
Project. However, I do not believe that what we are trying to achieve throughthe MogLi Project is so groundbreaking. From what I have heard in today’s
discussions I believe that in Japan too various efforts are underway within
Japanese transport systems and also in schools. Although the promotion of a
project naturally entails costs and it may be said that budgetary allocation isrequired, it is not the case that nothing can be done without funding. I believethat the situation is similar in Japan and Germany. What is important is toengage in the actions that it is possible for us to engage in. There are still many
problems and challenges remaining in Germany. It is therefore important for us
to learn from each other and the various projects we are implementing in ourcountries, so I would very much like to visit Japan again in the future. I hopethat exchange between our countries will continue. I am very grateful for theopportunity to visit Japan on this occasion. Thank you very much.
Nakamura: When launching this research project we started by studying whatkind of research is being conducted in Japan concerning transport mobility for
persons with intellectual disabilities. However, what we found was that there areregrettably very few examples of such research in Japan. We sought advice froma professor at Darmstadt University of Technology (Technische Universität

3031