To achieve the national goal of realizing a "decarbonized society" by 2050, schools are expected to further introduce solar power generation. Nevertheless, decarbonization has not been discussed as a research topic in education. Therefore, this paper attempts to present a new direction for research.

The introduction of photovoltaic power generation in schools has various meanings. In the past, the use of it as a teaching material for environmental education and for disaster prevention were the focus of attention. However, with the acceleration of the decarbonization trend, a concrete path to the realization of Net Zero Energy Buildings (ZEB) has been added, and there is now a need to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in a more substantial way.

Currently, while a certain degree of diffusion has been observed in terms of the number of schools that have introduced such systems, the majority of these systems have small capacities. In addition, the percentage of systems equipped with storage batteries is low. Therefore, there are still many issues to be addressed in terms of contributing to decarbonization.

The introduction of larger-scale facilities such as advanced examples of Yokohama City is required and consequently will create new relationships with local communities. This will become a new research topic for academic societies for education.

In recent years, due to the declining birthrate and aging population, the movement to develop human resources who will lead the next generation in the entire region has been accelerating. Additional goals are to sustain local communities and to provide opportunities for the elderly to play active roles. From this trend, it can be said that school-regional cooperation is an important policy issue. In response to the COVID-19 epidemic, we predict a great impact on school-regional cooperation policies featuring many face-to-face activities in which elderly people play leading roles.

However, research on the impact of the covid-19 epidemic on school-regional cooperation policies has not been started because it is still soon after the virus epidemic. Based on interviews with Board of Education staffin “City A” in Shimane prefecture and with people involved in school-regional cooperation activities, this paper proves the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on school-regional cooperation policy.

As a result, the significance of issues such as the role expected of the administration, changes and reductions in the content of activities, declining motivation of local residents, and reduction of opportunities for interaction was clarified.