2025 RCE Youth Meeting

2月10日、11日に北九州市にてRCEユース会合が開催されました。RCEとはRegional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Developmentの略で、国連大学が認定している持続発展教育の地域の拠点です。北九州もその一つで、年に一度国内のRCEが集まって実務者会議とユース会合を行っています。今回のユース会合では、北九州市の地域レベルの課題に触れ、それらをグローバルな課題へ繋げること、ESD推進活動の情報共有・発信のプラットフォームを整えることの2つを目標に全国から集まったRCEユースの皆さんと一緒に活動に取り組みました。1日目には八幡東区の環境ミュージアムを訪問し、北九州市の公害克服の歴史を中心に学び、グループごとに学んだ内容を踏まえショート動画を作成しました。作成した動画はRCEのSNSへ投稿し、ESD推進活動の情報発信を行いました。2日目には、フィールドワークを行いました。洞海湾クルーズ、社会福祉法人もやい聖友会、曽根干潟の3種類のコースに分かれ、体験型で環境問題について学びました。それぞれの訪問先で学んだことを模造紙や動画にまとめ、他のグループの人やSNSアカウントにも共有しました。これらの2日間の活動から、北九州市ではどのような環境問題が起きているのか、RCEユースの各自の地域で同じような課題はないか、さらに世界に目を向け、同じような課題はないかという3段階の視点で環境問題と向き合いました。今回のユース会合には、県外からの参加者も多くいらっしゃいましたが、皆さん北九州市の環境問題について積極的な姿勢で学んでくださいました。国連大学のサイトにも記事が掲載されていますので、ご覧ください。(Ayumi, 英語学科３年生)

The RCE Youth Meeting was held in Kitakyushu City on February 10th and 11th. RCE stands for Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development, and is a regional base for education for sustainable development recognized by the United Nations University. Kitakyushu is one of these RCEs, and once a year, RCEs from around the country gather for a working-level conference and a youth meeting. At this year’s Youth Meeting, we worked together with RCE Youth members from all over Japan with the aim of

• 1) learning about local-level issues in Kitakyushu City and connecting them to global issues, and
• 2) preparing a platform for sharing and disseminating information on ESD promotion activities.

On the first day, we visited the Yahatahigashi Ward Environmental Museum and learned about Kitakyushu City’s history of overcoming pollution, and then created short videos based on what we had learned in groups. The videos they made were posted on the RCE social networking site, and information about ESD promotion activities was disseminated. On the second day, we carried out fieldwork. We were divided into three groups and went on a cruise around the Dokai Bay, visited the social welfare corporation Moyai Seiyukai, and visited the Sone Tidal Flat, where we learned about environmental issues through hands-on experience. We summarized what we had learned at each of the destinations on large sheets of paper and in videos, and shared them with the other groups and on their social networking accounts. Through these two days of activities, the participants looked at environmental issues from three perspectives: what kind of environmental problems are occurring in Kitakyushu City, whether there are similar issues in each of the RCE Youth members’ own regions, and whether there are similar issues around the world. There were many participants from outside the prefecture at this Youth Meeting, but everyone was very proactive in learning about the environmental issues in Kitakyushu City. There is also an article on the United Nations University website, so please take a look. (Ayumi, 3rd-year Dept. of English student)

• 英語版: https://unu.edu/ias/news/japan-rce-youth-explore-local-initiatives-global-sustainability
• 日本語版: https://ias.unu.edu/jp/news/news/japan-rce-youth-explore-local-initiatives-for-global-sustainability.html