JpGU-AGU Joint Meeting 2020

Presentation information

[E] Oral

H (Human Geosciences ) » H-CG Complex & General

[H-CG24] Enhancing Integrated Research for Sustainable Future - a human geoscience perspective

convener:Yukio Himiyama(Emeritus Professor, Hokkaido University of Education), Takeshi Sakurai(Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo), Akihiko Kondoh(Center for Environmental Remote Sensing, Chiba University)

[HCG24-03] KLaSiCa Workshop to connect rural landscape in Asia through theater

*Ken-ichi Abe1 (1.Research Institute for Humanity and Nature)

KLaSiCa, Knowledge, Learning, and Societal Change Alliance, is an international environmental education program to identify the conditions and factors that foster or impede societal transformations towards a sustainable way of life. The program will also study the capacity of social learning - a process that facilitates mutual learning between researchers and actors - to motivate and guide collective action. Engaged with the issue through the lenses of the social and natural sciences, arts, and humanities, the focus of this program lies in developing strategies for societal transformations that are underpinned by evidence-based research and theory.

Under this concept and aim of KLaSiCa, the workshop entitled “Reclaiming the Joys of Agriculture through Theatre: Connecting Rural Landscapes in Asia” was carried out in three countries, Japan, East Timor and the Philippines. This workshop aims to understand the joys of agriculture through theatrical expression, and discuss the possibility of agriculture in the future. The current agricultural practices in both developed and developing countries are based on too much on cost-benefit thinking and then should be changed into more sustainable ways.

Our final goal is to share our findings and ideas with wider communities in Asia. Agriculture has been misunderstood as outdated and 3D (Dirty, Dangerous and Demeaning) labor. It is also necessary to reconsider that we have been placed too much emphasis on economic efficiency in modern agriculture.

The target of this workshop is for high school students. They are the key to the future. The project is intended to give them an opportunity to think how the future agriculture can be with wider communities, learning from both senior and young farmers.

Agriculture is a way of living. People will not survive a day without farmers. This project aims also to raise awareness the importance of farmers for farmers themselves who support their own community since long time ago in the industry and the society. The challenge of the project is for the multigenerational community people in different regions to learn together and share innovative ideas, perspectives, and views.

Above-mentioned findings and thoughts are expressed by a theater presentation. In theatre presentation, stories are emphasized. The participants will undergo a process where they can clarify current situations in terms of agriculture and at the same time, imagine what their future would be if they were the farmers in their own community. Our theatre facilitators will guide the participants to create a theater presentation, expressing their messages.

It is not enough to tell the joy of agriculture only in words. Theatrical expression is more suitable to express it fully with movements, action, songs, dance and so on. Video recordings also help to share those images and thoughts with wider population. This is why we chose to use theatre. It is the nature of theatre to achieve sharing of ideas without being restricted by words.

The main output will be a theatre production from the high school students. Video recordings and images from the theatres will be archived in addition to a possible book and report publication. The process the participants will undergo is utmost important. A documentary will be prepared for interested people who would like to do the same in the future. This will in turn be scheduled and available via i-Tunes.