Extraction and verbalization of new values of activities to create hometowns for children in big cities, as seen in Minamata "Inaka School "

Re-finding Machizukuri as a resource for sustainable world-part 4

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to find new values in Machizukuri that respond to the changing values of society(Fourth article in the series).　In this study, we interviewed practitioners of the "Inaka School," a program to create a hometown for children in Minamata, and attempted to extract and verbalize new values, identifying six new values of Machizukuri. In the "Inaka School " program, the experiences and connections of individual practitioners were socialized, and children created a home through experiences rooted in the nature and society of rural areas, bringing pride to the rural community and contributing to the recovery of a community divided by pollution. Inheriting hometown values through three-generation connections, including grandparents' generation, while living in the city as a nuclear family household, shows the potential for children to learn to be rooted in the land and contribute to sustainable Machizukuri.