The Goi Peace Foundation teamed up with three ASPnet high schools in the Tokyo area―Koka Gakuen, Tokyo Rissho, and Reitaku―to organize a collaborative project called GOALs to empower and mobilize students for SDGs.
The GOALs team, including sixteen students ages 14-17, chose ‘sustainable development of post-earthquake Fukushima’ as their study theme, and invited a young entrepreneur Yuta Sakai from Fukushima to give a talk about the organic cotton business he started to regenerate the environment and economy of the region. Cotton has low transfer factor of radioactive material and organic cultivation is ideal for reviving fallow soil.
Learning more about the current situation in Fukushima and inspired by Mr. Sakai’s dedication to build a resilient local community, the students discussed what they can do to support his initiative. After more research and several meetings, they decided to put up an exhibition booth at their respective school festivals to educate their peers about Fukushima and the merits of organic cotton, so as to change the negative image and misperception about Fukushima created by the nuclear accident.
At the booths, they also displayed and sold Mr. Sakai’s organic cotton products as a fundraiser. Students of one of the schools even designed and made their original washcloth using Fukushima cotton. They learned from this experience that people are willing to pay more, if they understand the value and story behind the product.
At the same time, the students felt they need more knowledge and firsthand experience in order to communicate in their own words. Therefore, they decided to make a field trip to Mr. Sakai’s cotton farm and actually helped pick cotton and learned about the laborious process of indigenous organic cotton production. They interviewed the farmers and also walked around the coastal area to get a ‘feel’ of Fukushima today. The students then created short videos of what they learned from the field trip.
As the next step, the GOALs team signed up to run an exhibition booth at a cultural festival held at a community center in Kashiwa City, hometown of one of the schools.This time, their audience was the general public of all ages. The students created flyers and posters, made attractive display, and showed their original PR video at the booth and through social media. The students improved on their previous presentations, and were able to tell a compelling story about Fukushima and its organic cotton in creative ways.
Encouraged by the good response received at the community center, the students entered their initiative in the Challenge Award 2022 sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, which invites young people to submit ideas or projects to help create a bright future for Fukushima. To the team’s delight, the GOALs organic cotton project won a prize from the Governor of Fukushima, and the students were invited back to Fukushima for the award ceremony.
Following the ceremony, the students were offered a special tour around Fukushima, including a visit to the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum as well as the Interim Storage Facility for contaminated soil and waste. The students observed that there is yet a long way to go before the area is fully restored, and they renewed their commitment to continue their activities to help build a sustainable future for Fukushima.
What started as a joint ESD activity planned by the Goi Peace Foundation and three school teachers took wings through the initiative of the students themselves. Expanding their activities outside of the classroom, the students gained experience and confidence to unleash their youthful creativity. In the process, they learned how arts, culture and communication can be effectively used to enhance their capacity as young ESD leaders.
Students exchange ideas to support sustainable development of Fukushima
Students design and make original cotton washcloth for exhibition
Picking organic cotton at Mr. Sakai’s farm in Fukushima
Telling the story of Fukushima at a cultural festival
(@Kashiwa City community center)