Social innovation
Community development, Public policy, Participation

Development of data-base for sustainable community
Graduate School of Economics
Professor Michinori Uwasu
https://researchmap.jp/m_uwasu?lang=en

Abstract
The purpose of this research project is to build a database at theneighborhood association and village level, use it as a support toolfor deliberation by local stakeholders, and improve local self-governance capabilities. In addition, by analyzing information in regional databases, we extract objective information and knowledge
about regional issues and characteristics and propose policies
and measures to local governments and related parties. We will
suggest this flow of knowledge accumulation by local stakeholders
as a “regionalism model” and contribute to regional revitalization inJapan.

Social innovation▍ Background & Results▍ Significance of the research and Future perspective
There are few opportunities for residents and stakeholders tounderstand and discuss local issues and potential local values
objectively. Additionally, there are only a few databases available
at the spatial level, where human relationships in areas such asneighborhood associations and villages have a significant impact
on people’s lives. By building a practical model that uses regional
databases as a support tool to stimulate self-governance capabilities, we can lead to solutions to the issues faced by Japan andlocal communities.

Cooperation stage

RegionDiscussion on regional
Japanese society is experiencing a population decline, declining
Administration
Expertsresource evaluation items
birthrate and aging population at a rate never before experienced
School/Residents
Building a databaseby humankind, and an unprecedented concentration of people inthe metropolitan area among developed countries. The flip side is
Co-deliberation stage
the decline of local and regional economies and the loss of comRegion
Regional evaluation andmunities. The government has implemented various regional reviExperts
Administration
analysisthroughworkshops
talization policies and invested a considerable amount of money,
School/Residents
Extracting regional issues
but the situation is still unchanged.
This project aims to propose a practical interdisciplinary methodCo-creation process
ology to promote “regionalism” (= regional autonomy, self-governthrough workshops, etc.
Regionance) advocated by economist Yoshio Tamanoi in the 1970s based
Experts
Measures and policy
Administrationon the working hypothesis that regional revitalization is structurally
proposals
School/Residents
impossible with the method that has been led by Tokyo up until
Verifying the effects ofnow.
deliberation
Specifically, we will build a community-scale regional information
Figure1:
Co-creation
processof sustainable communities throughdatabase in Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture, and Totsukawa
Vil-Co-creation process of sustainable communities
Figure1：
through construction of local resource datab
construction of local resource databaselage, Yoshino District, Nara Prefecture (Figure 1), and will enablelocal residents and outsiders to understand the current state of theregion based on objective information. We will put into practice aComponents of the community databaseframework for the process of deliberating on issues and verify its
Indicators
effectiveness (Figure 2).
Objective
SubjectiveTo date, we have evaluated local resources and created a dataNatural capital Wellbeing
Charm ofbase for 204 local governments in Takashima City, Shiga PrefecSocial capital Community
communityture. First, analysis of regional data can reveal regional characterisDemography
Challenges ofTraditional
tics and issues. For example, from data from Takashima City, Shiga
Livelihood
Community
eventsPrefecture, we could measure the type and severity of issues faced
Work/jobs
Future vision
Networkby the local government (for example, forests are in disrepair).
Furthermore, statistical analysis has shown that the greater the social capital (connections and trust between residents) in a region,
Methods for measuring regional resources (capital)
the less severe some issues become. This result holds even after
removing the effects of regional convenience and demographic
Biomass measurement
Questionnaire/hearing
Biodiversity index
Collaborative work, tocomposition.
estimationcollect data related toWe are building a regional database in Totsukawa Village, Naratrust and network
Prefecture, which has a different socio-economic situation. In thefuture, in addition to enriching and analyzing the database, we will
Using economics methods Using statistics toalso hold a series of workshops using local data as a support tool
to estimate environmental estimate social capital
to deepen local understanding and discuss prospects. We plan tocapital
examine how this will affect autonomy and regional behavior.

Figure 2: Regional database components and evaluation
Figure 2: Regional database components and evaluation

P a t e n t
Uwasu, Michinori; Kimura, Michinori et al. Assessment methodology for sustainable community in Japanese rural regions: a case study of Takashima,
Shiga. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on EcoDesign2021, 2021
Uwasu, Michinori; Kishita,Yusuke et al. Citizen-participatory scenario design methodology with future design approach: a case study of visioning of a lowTr e a t i s ecarbon society in Suita city, Japan. Sustainability 2020, 12, 4746. doi: 10.3390/su12114746
Uwasu, Michinori; Fuchigami, Yukari et al. On the valuation of community resource: the case of a rural area in Japan. Environmental Development 2018,26, 3-11. doi: 10.1016/j.envdev.2018.04.002
URL https://sites.google.com/view/michinori-uwasu-eng/english
K e y w o r d community resource valuation, sustainability, co-creation