Kobe	  University	  Global-­‐Link	  Forum	  in	  Bangkok	  International	  Academic	  Symposium-­‐Towards	  Sustainable	  Development	  of	  Our	  Societies-­‐	  Sunday	  23rd	  January,	  2011	  	  	  	  Lecture	  I	  	  Framework	  and	  Task	  of	  the	  ESD	  Study	  Tour	  Promotion	  Project	  -­‐Aiming	  at	  Constructing	  Platform	  Learning	  Theory	  	  	  Abstract	  Koji	  MATSUOKA	  	  Professor	  Graduate	  School	  of	  Human	  Development	  &	  Environment	  Kobe	  University	  This	   speech	   aims	   at	   showing	   the	   framework	   of	   ESD	   Platform	   program	   in	   Kobe	  University,	  focusing	  upon	  the	  past,	  present,	  future	  projects.	  It	  consists	  of	  the	  following	  two	  parts.	  
First,	   it	   will	   explain	   the	   past	   and	   present	   projects	   concerning	   ESD	   where	   we	   have	  made	   efforts	   for	   building	   the	   platform	   of	   ESD	   both	   in	   Kobe	   University	   and	   in	   the	   local	  community	  in	  Japan.	  In	  the	  second	  part,	  it	  will	  propose	  a	  new	  idea	  regarding	  an	  international	  platform-­‐building	  project,	  which	  facilitates	  learners	  to	  get	  the	  more	  global	  and	  broader	  ESD	  perspective.	  	  1.	  Past/Present	  ESD	  platform	  in	  Kobe	  University	  Since	   the	   beginning	   of	   UN	   Decade	   of	   ESD,	   we	   have	   adopted	   three	   approaches	   to	  developing	   ESD:	   the	   innovation	   of	   formal	   education	   in	   university,	   the	   creation	   of	   non	   formal	  education	   from	   university,	   the	   management	   of	   networking	   among	   citizen	   activities	  concerning	  ESD	  in	  Hyogo-­‐Kobe.	  	  As	   the	   innovation	   of	   formal	   education	   in	   our	   university,	   we	   have	   established	   ESD	  sub-­‐course	   for	   undergraduate	   students.	   This	   course	   will	   be	   expanded	   both	   vertically	   and	  horizontally	  not	  only	  to	  all	  the	  faculties	  in	  Kobe	  University	  but	  also	  to	  the	  level	  of	  graduate	  school.	  	  And	  secondly	  we	  have	  made	  much	  effort	  for	  producing	  non	  formal	  education	  on	  the	  basis	  of	  our	  resources.	  Referring	  to	  the	  new	  educational	  theories,	  we	  have	  been	  creating	  and	  developing	  such	  new	  educational	  undertakings	  as	  ESD	  volunteer	  promotion	  project,	  Science	  Shop	  project	  etc.	  
1	  	  Kobe	  University	  Global-­‐Link	  Forum	  in	  Bangkok	  International	  Academic	  Symposium-­‐Towards	  Sustainable	  Development	  of	  Our	  Societies-­‐	  Sunday	  23rd	  January,	  2011	  	  	  In	   the	   third	   domain	   of	   our	   projects,	   we	   have	   cooperated	   with	   many	   organizations	  both	  nationally	  and	  internationally	  to	  activate	  the	  community	  activities	  concerning	  SD	  or	  ESD.	  
For	  example,	  Action	  Research	  Center	  for	  Human	  and	  Community	  Development	  (HC	  Center)	  in	  Kobe	  University	  is	  being	  designated	  by	  UN	  University	  as	  the	  base	  of	  RCE-­‐ESD	  Hyogo-­‐Kobe	  (Regional	   Center	   for	   Expertise	   on	   ESD	   in	   Hyogo-­‐Kobe	   area).	   Our	   RCE	   consists	   of	   so	   various	  stakeholders	   as	   the	   local	   authority,	   NPOs,	   private	   companies,	   mass	   media,	   schools,	   and	   so	  on.	   Kobe	   University	   is	   being	   expected	   to	   have	   the	   initiative	   to	   promote	   the	   study	   and	   the	  practice	  concerning	  ESD	  in	  cooperation	  with	  them.	  	  Thus,	   we	   have	   advanced	   ESD	   in	   these	   domains,	   where	   many	   stakeholders,	   scholars,	  teachers,	   students	   and	   the	   citizen	   gather.	   It	   creates	   chances	   of	   encountering	   each	   other.	  
Some	  of	  our	  projects	  integrate	  those	  who	  don’t	  know	  each	  other	  even	  in	  the	  same	  university	  or	   the	   community	   and	   combine	   their	   separate	   activities	   as	   well.	   The	   function	   of	   platform	  may	   engender	   in	   the	   process	   of	   implementing	   these	   projects	   which	   are	   organically	  interrelated	   but	   once	   in	   a	   while	   independently	   done.	   In	   other	   words,	   the	   platform	   can	  function	  as	  it	  does	  by	  3	  domains	  engaging	  each	  other.	  
We	   have	   accumulated	   the	   experience	   which	   may	   be	   useful	   for	   developing	   the	  platform.	  Some	  important	  findings	  can	  be	  pointed	  out	  as	  follows,	  1) Project-­‐centered	  approach	  is	  necessary	  in	  any	  case,	  above	  all,	  joint	  fund-­‐raising	  may	  be	  much	  effective	  to	  networking	  teachers	  in	  university	  2) Benefit	  of	  each	  stakeholder	  has	  to	  be	  prioritized	  and	  centered	  in	  its	  process	  3) It	   is	   essential	   that	   every	   educational	   endeavor	   has	   to	   be	   implemented	   for	   the	  purpose	   of	   activating	   the	   informal	   education	   which	   foster	   the	   subjectivity	   and	  positiveness	  in	  learners	  4) Designing	   and	   managing	   the	   learning	   process	   including	   the	   formal	   curriculum	  together	  with	  all	  concerned	  can	  bring	  about	  the	  strong	  linkage	  among	  them.	  
5) Platform	  can	  be	  the	  most	  developed	  by	  the	  learner.	  Learners	  can	  be	  the	  subject	  of	  managing	  and	  promoting	  the	  platform.	  
6) Empowerment	  process	  of	  learners	  must	  be	  situated	  in	  all	  phases	  of	  platform-­‐building	  7) Firsthand	   experience	   of	   the	   transboundary	   actions	   by	   all	   the	   learners	   and	   staff	   is	  essential	  8) Staff	  with	  good	  facilitation	  skill	  is	  necessary	  to	  move	  learners	  into	  action	  	  2.	  Future	  project	  for	  building	  the	  International	  Platform	  for	  ESD	  Nevertheless,	   some	   weakness	   in	   our	   projects	   should	   be	   pointed	   out	   as	   well.	   First,	  the	   range	   of	   our	   platform	   is	   still	   narrow.	   The	   learners	   and	   supporters	   of	   the	   platform	   are	  2	  	  Kobe	  University	  Global-­‐Link	  Forum	  in	  Bangkok	  International	  Academic	  Symposium-­‐Towards	  Sustainable	  Development	  of	  Our	  Societies-­‐	  Sunday	  23rd	  January,	  2011	  	  	  limited	   to	   the	   persons	   in	   the	   university	   or	   no	   less	   than	   the	   local	   community	   around	   Kobe.	  
This	   may	   lead	   to	   learning	   in	   a	   limited	   content,	   confined	   in	   a	   specific	   community	   or	   nation	  which	  should	  be	  denied	  in	  the	  context	  of	  ESD.	  Second,	  the	  outcome	  of	  learning	  which	  the	  ESD	  Platform	  has	  produced	  looks	  vague	  or	  invisible	  even	  if	  in	  the	  short	  term.	  If	  we	  restrict	  the	  outcome	  to	  the	  personal	  and	  psychological	  change,	  it	  is	  natural	  that	  the	  outcome	  looks	  vague.	   But	   ESD	   partially	   demands	   the	   change	   on	   the	   level	   of	   collective	   behavior,	   community	  and	   society.	   Visible	   change	   such	   as	   designing	   a	   new	   SD	   projects	   by	   students	   is	   much	  expected	  as	  the	  outcome	  of	  learning	  about	  ESD.	  
Therefore	  I	  would	  like	  to	  propose	  the	  ESD	  Study	  Tour	  Promotion	  Project	  as	  one	  of	  the	  effective	  solutions,	  in	  which	  1) many	   study	   tour	   programs	   which	   are	   separately	   carried	   out	   by	   the	   different	  organizers	  in	  different	  areas	  are	  put	  on	  the	  same	  platform,	  	  2) information	   about	   each	   program	   is	   to	   be	   shared	   among	   the	   organizers	   and	  participants	  of	  tours,	  3) so	   that	   any	   learners	   can	   easily	   select	   the	   favorite	   program	   and	   voluntarily	   transfer	   to	  the	  other,	  moreover,	  they	  can	  choose	  plural	  programs	  as	  much	  as	  possible,	  4) mutually	   heterogeneous	   tourists	   as	   learners	   can	   encounter	   each	   other	   beyond	   the	  boundary	  of	  their	  nationality	  on	  the	  way	  to	  global	  ESD	  world,	  5) learners	  can	  design	  and	  manage	  valuable	  undertakings	  and	  enterprises	  such	  as	  social	  business,	  fair	  trade	  benefiting	  the	  poor	  producers,	  in	  cooperation	  with	  stakeholders	  of	  SD	  or	  ESD	  6) learners	   can	   be	   motivated	   and	   facilitated	   and	   supported	   to	   reflect	   themselves	   in	   a	  certain	   curriculum	   which	   have	   to	   be	   developed	   in	   cooperation	   of	   international	  academic	  society	  of	  ESD	  	  Not	   only	   Kobe	   University	   but	   also	   other	   university	   in	   the	   world	   should	   have	  planned	   and	   implemented	   a	   plenty	   of	   study	   tour	   programs	   for	   their	   own	   students.	   In	   my	  proposal,	  those	  disparate	  study	  programs	  are	  to	  be	  integrated	  or	  mutually	  related	  in	  a	  line	  of	  ESD.	   Study	   tour	   program	   definitely	   changes	   its	   participants	   to	   be	   more	   inspired	   or	   more	  critical	   to	   the	   problem.	   We	   will	   be	   able	   to	   construct	   the	   global	   network	   for	   ESD	   by	  connecting	   several	   kinds	   of	   study	   tour	   programs,	   where	   we	   will	   be	   able	   to	   foresee	   the	  International	   Platform-­‐Building	   project.	   The	   participants	   of	   this	   project	   will	   be	   expected	   to	  definitely	  play	  a	  crucial	  role	  to	  build	  the	  international	  platform	  of	  ESD,	  supported	  by	  many	  stakeholders	  and	  the	  cooperative.	  	  	  3	  	  Kobe	  University	  Global-­‐Link	  Forum	  in	  Bangkok	  International	  Academic	  Symposium-­‐Towards	  Sustainable	  Development	  of	  Our	  Societies-­‐	  Sunday	  23rd	  January,	  2011	  	  	  	  Short	  Biography	  Koji	   MATSUOKA	   has	   been	   a	   professor	   of	   Human	   Development	   Department	   at	   Kobe	  University	   since	   1996	   and	   a	   director	   of	   RCE	   HYOGO-­‐KOBE	   in	   Japan	   since	   2009.	  
He	   specializes	   in	   the	   theory	   of	   lifelong	   education,	   especially	   emancipatory	   education,	  influenced	  by	  Paulo	  Freire.	  Matsuoka	  is	  pursuing	  a	  new	  type	  of	  ESD	  by	  coordinating	  various	  volunteer	   activities,	   non	   formal	   education	   which	   the	   local	   NPOs	   manage	   to	   practice,	   and	  formal	   curriculum	   in	   the	   university,	   both	   as	   a	   leader	   of	   ESD	   Volunteer	   Program	   (name:	  Volaban)	  and	  as	  the	  main	  staff	  of	  ESD	  Sub-­‐Course	  of	  Kobe	  University.	  

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