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Awards Entry

2014 Jci World Congress
PAY IT FORWARD ~circulation of the consciencechanges the world~
JCI JAPAN
Best Local Community Empowerment Program

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Entry Information
Award
Program:2014 JCI World Congress

Category:

Best Local Community Empowerment Program

NOM Information
National Organization:

JCI JAPAN
Kazuya Suzuki
E-mail: japan@jci.cc

National President:

LOM Information
Local Organization:
President:

JCI Osaka
Norimasa Nakatani

President Email: nori72nori72wanokokoro@gmail.com

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Basic Information
Duration : Mar. 21, 2013 - Mar. 21, 2014
Staff : 58 members
Sponsors : Osaka North Ward Office, YANMAR Co. Ltd., and Subaru enterprise
Budget : US $ 10,891
Profit / Loss : None
In which UN MDG bestfit (if apply): ?:Who is benefited ?: Approx. 2.67 million people living in Osaka
Objective : Our objective is to enhance the qualifications of local communities and toactivate them.
People make positive change through their conscience.
And they become active citizens by acting and cooperating together withthe aim of building a better local community.
Because local citizens and companies contribute to the community, theysuccessfully improve the value of the community as well as themselves.
As a result, the qualifications of the community will be enhanced and it willdevelop to be a better one.
Overview : Our objective is to enhance qualifications of local communities thereby
advancing JCI Mission and Vision.
To achieve this goal,
1. We launched "Blooming Flowers at the banks of the Yodoriver" program called "Hana wa saku."
2. We aimed to enhance qualifications of the local community throughchanging a run-down place with illegal dumping and farming into abeautiful one with flowers in each season.
3. We chose a 1 km strip of land along the banks of the Yodo river,which is a symbol of Osaka, as the site of our program.
4. We implemented our program 7 times so that local companies andcitizens could make a positive change in the community.
The 1st "Blooming Flowers" program -planting astragalusMar. 20th Number of participants: 314 people
The 2nd "Blooming Flowers" program -growing astragalusApr. 21st Number of participants: 325 people
The 3rd "Blooming Flowers" program -blooming astragalusMay. 19th Number of participants: 308 people
The 4th "Blooming Flowers" program -planting cosmosJul. 6th Number of participants: 330 people
The 5th "Blooming Flowers" program -blooming cosmosSep. 14th Number of participants: 142 people
The 6th "Blooming Flowers" program -planting field mustardOct. 19th Number of participants: 283 people
The 7th "Blooming Flowers" program -blooming fieldmustardMar. 21st Number of participants: 214 people
5. Approach to media We promoted our program to many people byposting advertisements in newspapers, on TV, SNS, and theinternet.
Results : 1,916 people changed into active citizens who could act for others and the
local community through our program.
We received a sponsorship of 1.2 million yen from "Green Funds" which
agreed with our "Blooming Flowers" program by participants’ call forcooperation. ( "Green Funds" is the organization which finances thegreenery business, established by a local popular TV channel, KTV, and alocal popular newspaper, Sankei Shimbun.)
We improved the soil with the use of sponsorship to make the banks more
beautiful.
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NHK, the most popular TV channel in Japan, looked at our movement andagreed with it so they then broadcasted it on TV.
The number of citizens who became aware of our program throughdonation and news increased. As a result, 10 other communities ran thesame program as ours.
Actions Taken : From Jan. to Mar, 2013
1. We chose rough banks of the Yodo river with illegal dumping andfarming as a place to recall conscience.
2. Local governments agreed with our project.
3. They gathered 7 local companies which cooperated with us.
4. We had 17 meetings with local governments, citizens, andcompanies.
In the meetings we discussed how to change the rough bank into abeautiful field of flowers.
5. We picked up trash and stones with local citizens, companies, andkindergartner at the rough riverbank.
We tilled the ground in cooperation with YANMAR Co.Ltd. which isone of local major companies.
6. We held a training seminar for participants so they could plantseeds smoothly.
From Mar. to Nov, 2013
1. We watered the plants everyday with local citizens and companies,
looking forward to blooming flowers.
2. We promoted our program to encourage many people’s
participation.
announcement to local companies, schools and citizens.
advertisement on media such as newspapers, TV, SNS, andthe internet.
Recommendations :1. We provide many opportunities for local citizens and companies tomake positive change because we run as many as 7 programs
throughout the year.
2. Anybody can participate, regardless of age or sex, in the program.
3. Not just the banks of the Yodo River but any places or communities
can hold this kind of program which is thought-provoking.
4. This is a well-organized program because people can act throughfamiliar and easy ways, and many opportunities are provided forthem to make positive change.
5. We can change riverbanks into a field of flowers through ourprogram and it can be a starting point from which people can act
proactively. In addition, it enhances qualifications of local
communities.
For the reasons set forth above, we recommend our program.

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Award Category criteria

1

Objectives, Planning, Finance and Execution

What were the Our objective is to enhance the qualifications ofobjectives of this local communities and to activate them.
program? People make positive change through theirconscience.
And they become active citizens by acting andcooperating together with the aim of building abetter local community.
Because local citizens and companies contribute to
the local community, they successfully improve thevalue of the local community as well as themselves.
As a result, the qualifications of the local
community will be enhanced and it will develop to
be a better one.
How does this This program aligns to the JCI Plan and Action,
program align to 2013.
the JCI Plan of Our objective is to provide opportunities for people
Action? of all generations to make positive change.

Actions taken are the following 3 steps.
This program aims to realize problems in thecommunity and improve the situation.
It aims to make an annual plan aiming for
producing active citizens in cooperation withlocal governments and companies, and to
implement the plan.
To promote people’s participation in our
program, we approach media, such as
newspapers, TV, SNS, and the internet.
Was the budget an The budget was an effective guide for the financial
effective guide for management of the program.
the financial
management of the We asked local governments and companies to coverproject? expenses in order to prioritize budget allocation toadvertising expenses. In cooperation with them, we
did not need to take participation fee.
1. We distributed leaflets to promote our program
to many local citizens and companies. A totalof 14,000 sheets /7 event($4,473)
2. In order to promote our program to many
citizens and companies, we recorded scenes of
our activities on a video tape and used it as apromotion tool. ($3,150)
As a result, we could gather 1,916 participants and
25 companies.
The budget was an effective guide when we managed
our finances and promoted our program incooperation with local governments and companies.
How does this This program advanced the JCI Mission as below.
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project advancethe JCI Mission
and Vision?

We provided opportunities for citizens,
especially young ones, to become aware that
their small action can develop their community.
They recognized the significance ofrelationship with the community through thisexperience.
Then, they realized the necessity ofcontributing to the community voluntarily andimproving themselves.
We motivated young citizens to improve themselvesand create positive change.
This program advanced the JCI Vision as below.
We created a local network which could be abase of a global network.
Aiming for this, we provided opportunities for
citizens, especially young ones, to take actions
in cooperation with other citizens and local
companies.
1. We got them to become aware of theirconscience by showing them local
problems.
2. They worked on the problems with othercitizens, and then contributed to thecommunity.
3. They successfully became active
citizens who could take proactive
actions aiming for a bigger community.

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Award Category criteria

2

Membership Participation

By number, howmany members
were involved inthis program? 58 members
By percentage,
how manymembers of the
Local Organization
were involved inthis program? 80%
Describe the main January to March, 2013:
roles of the 2 members had a total of 17 meetings with local
participating governments.
members in thisprogram. February to September, 2013:

5 members tilled the ground for 6 days incooperation with YANMAR Co., LTD, one of the local
major companies.
Two months from one month before the event:5 teams (10 members in each team) promoted ourprogram.
We promoted our program continuously to local
companies, schools, citizens and media.
As the minimum number of people required:
1. 3 guards outside the site
2. 3 guards inside the site
3. 6 assistances
4. 14 people taking charge in an area (2 people ineach area x 7 areas)
5. recorder/photographer 2 people
Total: 28 people
Time needed to set up the site: 1 hour

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Award Category criteria

3

Community Impact

How did the Local We verified community impact by the followings.
Organization
measure1. The number of participants:
community impact
We promoted our program to local companies,
for this program?
schools, citizens and media. We set a goal to

get 1,000 participants.
2. The number of access to the web site:
We aimed to get 10,000 access to the website in order to measure people’s interest in
our program.
3. Questionnaires to participants:
Our goal was to get an answer, "Yes." from
more than 70% of the participants.
4. The number of programs:
We verified local impact by the number ofprograms conducted by local citizens andcompanies that made positive change.
Describe the actual 1.
community impact We built a cooperative relationship with local
produced by this governments. This brought cooperation among
project. politicians, local citizens, and companies.

As a result, 7 companies cooperated with us.
2.
We promoted our program throughout the year andran 7 programs at the North ward in Osaka city. We
achieved a total of 1,916 participants, which was
almost twice as many as our target number.
We achieved 11,840 access as of Dec. 2, 2013,
which was over our target number, 10,000 access.
As a result, we could produce many active citizens
who made positive change.
3.
We conducted survey research with questionnaires
to participants.
i. One of our objectives is to change thecommunity by individual’s actions. Did you
have a great time in this program?
Yes: 99%, No: 04%, No answer: 0.6%
ii. Are you willing to take actions for thecommunity through familiar and easy ways
after participating this program?
Yes: 97%, No: 2%, No answer: 1%
More than 70% of the participants answered, "Yes."
We could create numerous starting points for local
citizens to become aware of various problems in thecommunity.
4.
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Local citizens and companies who made positivechange launched their own programs in 10
communities. It successfully led to a good cycle ofconscience in the community.

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Award Category criteria

4Impact on Local Organization

How did the Local Through our program, many people made positive
Organization change, and then we could improve trust with local
benefit from citizens, governments, and companies.
running thisproject? NHK, the most popular TV channel in Japan, lookedat our movement, agreed with it, so they thenbroadcasted it on TV. Because of this, the numberof citizens who became aware of our program
increased.
In addition, by participants’call for cooperation, we
received a sponsorship of 1.2 million yen
from "Green Funds" which agreed withourm "Blooming flowers" program. ( "Green
Funds" is the organization which finances thegreenery business, established by a local popular TV
channel, KTV, and a local popular newspaper, Sankei
Shimbun. ) We had abundant funds in cooperation
with local governments and companies, and thencould provide opportunities for many people tobecome active citizens.
Moreover, the number of citizens increased who
became aware or our program through the media.
10 other communities launched the same programas ours. As a result, we successfully got a lot ofvisibility.
How did the In order to advance the JCI Mission, we provided
program advance many opportunities for young citizens to realize that
the JCI Mission? their small actions could make the community better.

1. We chose run-down riverbanks with trash andweeds as the site of our program because we
could easily see their better changes.
2. We decided to change the rough riverbanks
into a field of flowers.
3. We talked about how to do it with local
governments, citizens and companies.
4. We cleaned up the riverbank, picked up trashand stones, planted seeds of flowers, andweeded grasses.
We promoted our program to encourage many
citizens’ positive changes as below:
1. We distributed a total of 14,000 leaflets.
2. We visited local companies and organizations
with our promotional video.
As a result, our program came to be recognized bymany people, which enhanced our visibility.
How did the project We took the following actions to advance the JCI
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advance the JCI Vision:
Vision? We ran a total of 7 programs at the same site inorder to provide many opportunities for citizens toparticipate in our program.
The riverbank was changing gradually into a beautiful
place through citizens’activities. They visited theplace and saw its positive change, which motivatedthem to pick up trash and water plants actively.
They called for their acquaintances to be engaged inthis program.
As a result, we received a sponsorship of 1.2 million
yen from "Green Funds." Local citizens and we
improved the soil with the use of sponsorship tomake the banks more beautiful.
In addition, NHK, the most popular TV channel inJapan, looked at our movement, agreed with it, sothey then broadcasted it on TV.
Through this news, more and more people becameaware of our program, and 10 other communities ran
the same program as ours.
This enhanced people’s trust to JCI Osaka.

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Award Category criteria

5Long-term Impact of the Program

What is the Our program is expected to activate a bigger
expected long-term community.
impact of this This is because the number of active citizens will
project? increase through the following process:1. Citizens can get involved in our program
through their small actions.
2. Citizens of all generations can take part in the
program.
3. They can hold this program at any places in
the community.
4. They can easily see positive change of theriverbank through their activities.
5. They can realize the effect their activities
brought.
6. As a result, they can make positive change.
7. The number of people who make positivechange will increase by this program being heldin various communities.
8. At the same time, examples of success inthese communities will spread.
9. In the end, a bigger community will be
activated.
What changes In order to increase the number of active citizens
would you make to who make positive change:
improve the resultsof this project?
1. We will promote our program to people in othercommunities next time.
2. We will motivate participants to run thisprogram by themselves.
3. We will provide opportunities for participants
to share their opinions with each other before
and after the program.
4. We will recruit many volunteers in order toencourage citizens in other communities toparticipate in our program.
In order to increase the number of participants:
1. We will get participants to share their cases ofsuccess with citizens in other communities.
2. We will get cooperative companies to share
their cases of success to other companies.
3. We will provide opportunities for young
generations such as students to participate in
the program.
4. We will produce many people who have pridein their activity and want to share it withothers.

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