Hello Everyone!

The past week has been BUSY.

I try to post at least once a week, but I have been all over the place: Zushi, Gotemba, Yokohama, Tokyo, etc...

I will try to find some time to post a little more about each of the following experiences (and add photos), but here is a brief run-down of the last week:

1. I participated in an interview at the Hayama Town Hall on the subject of engaging young people in sustainable practices at home, such as recycling, using reusable water bottles, and composting. The ban on single-use plastics, EU bottle caps, and the British approach to keep-cups seemed to be of particular interest to the Hayama people, whilst I was heavily impressed by their subsidised composting initiative and how they are able to keep the streets clean even without the prevalence of public bins. 

2. I partnered with Wake Up Japan, and the Zushi Fair Trade Initiative to run a weekend-long workshop on the subject of social action through sustainability, with a particular focus on Fair Trade. Zushi is a small town about half an hour walk from Hayama, where I am staying, and one of few Fair Trade Towns in Japan. The workshop, which was split into two days, educated an estimate of 15 young people (from junior high-school to university freshers) on the history and principles of the Fair Trade organisation, as well as other sustainable practices. I, in particular, ran a session on how young people engage in social action in the UK and how similar initiatives exist in Japan, encouraging the students to use their voice to bring about positive changes in the local community. One of my favourite parts was the practical session, which involved visiting the town's oldest Fair Trade shop, which was started by a couple in 1977 with the purpose of looking after their health - it has since evolved to address global issues through providing sustainably sourced products (selected through a painstakingly diligent process) and educating its customers.

3. Then, I moved to Gotemba, a town at the foot of Mount Fuji, and attended the Take Action Youth Camp, organised by Free The Children Japan (FTCJ), where I acted as a facilitator/teacher throughout, and ran a workshop on broader engagement in social action, using my experiences as a Member of Youth Parliament and working with other organisations to demonstrate the principles and practice of social action. The young people (from elementary school, to senior high-school) were all incredibly inquisitive about how we do thing in the UK, and more than willing to share their experiences in Japan. Throughout my time at Gotemba, I learned a lot about the Japanese education system, and met a number of incredibly inspiring young people.

4. From Gotemba, I took another train to Yokohama to attend the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-9), the largest Africa-centered event in Japan. I worked alongside a number of NGOs to set up a side event, focused on Japanese investment and NGO work in education in Africa. We were incredibly pleasantly surprised to find that the Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Toshiko Abe, decided to attend the event, alongside a number of other key decision-makers from to Japanese Congress and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The event went incredibly well, with a number of incredible speakers from a number of NGOs and UNESCO, and ending with high-school students (supported by the NGOs) presenting a young-people-approved policy request to the MoFA on their continued involvement in supporting African education.

5. Form there, I had a little rest back in Hayama, visiting the local island town of Enoshima and other local areas, before moving to Tokyo for my next event. I will share more about that in my next post.

I hope to go a little more in-depth on some of these events, and post photos, after the scheduled events in Tokyo.

In the meantime, I welcome any questions, and look forward to reading LiA updates from other scholars.

- Michał