### 2. Building Environmental Partnerships

Environmental partnership refers to working as equals in activities through mutual cooperation and appropriate division of roles of each actor, under the common objective of solving environmental problems in a community or society. Each of these activities serves as the driving force for building an environmentally advanced nation.

In environmental partnerships, it is important for participating actors to form a relationship of “equals” based on appropriate division of roles, instead of providing one-way support or cooperation. To build environmental partnerships on equal terms, actors must share in advance the understanding of the objectives of working together and of its merits for each actor. Greater synergetic effects can be attained when actors recognize each other’s functions and resources, fields of expertise, and differences in know-how, and take advantage of strengths and make up for limitations of different actors. In addition, before cooperating in activities with mutual respect, each actor must confirm its own objectives and philosophy and carry out substantial activities. Without conducting its own activities, it would be difficult for any actor to provide others the results and know-how, and further deepen a relationship based on mutual trust.

## (1) Building the Foundation for Promoting Partnership Activities

For building better partnerships, provision and exchange of information, coordinators, and development of bases and venues are necessary to facilitate finding and matching partners and promoting communication for mutual understanding.

As a base facility for environmental partnerships, the Ministry of the Environment has been operating the Global Environment Information Centre since 1996 in cooperation with the United Nations University in Aoyama, Tokyo. In addition to this, regional Environmental Partnership Offices, regional bases for linking local bases with national ones, are being set up in Osaka, Hiroshima, Nagoya, and other major cities. Local base facilities do not necessarily have to be newly opened. It is possible to make use of existing educational facilities, such as schools, community centers, and environmental learning facilities already established in each community. In addition to these bases serving as venues, functional bases that link actors, adjusting the roles and methods of each actor, are also important. Transcending the positions and fields of participating actors and building trust, such bases are expected to play the role of “intermediary supporting organizations” for expanding opportunities of partnerships by exchanging and sharing information on actors’ activities and environmental information, including resources and needs, and for facilitating their activities.

## (2) Expanding Partnerships

Efforts to build partnerships have already begun throughout the country, taking advantage of tools shown above. Some organizations have successfully formed effective partnerships and are in process of further development.

In Ota Ward, Tokyo, “Eco-festa Wonderland” is held every year at a local elementary school as an event for raising environmental awareness. Held in cooperation with local schools, businesses, NPOs, and government agencies, this event is used as a venue for citizens to have fun learning about the environment through various environmental conservation activities introduced. They included presentations on environmental learning, eco cooking, and experiments on energy topics, undertaken by schools, companies, and citizens’ groups. Taking advantage of the relationship built through this event, one major company participating in the event has begun to plan and implement an environmental education event in cooperation with a local NPO and government agencies. An event centering on a school has grown into a larger undertaking built on a partnership

Presentation on environmental learning

Photo: courtesy of Ota Ward, Tokyo