It is time to review organization and management at environmental education facilities due to a call to diversify services at these facilities, including reshuffling administrative areas and reducing certain services. In this paper, we consider some of the important points regarding management of the facilities based on knowledge gained through our various projects relating to museum management. First, we explain how educators′ ideas and know-how are indispensable to developing museum content and mechanisms that effectively bring out curiosity in our visitors. This allows for self-learning to happen and encourages people to visit the facility over and over. Secondly, we explain the necessity of developing human resources capable of carrying out environmental education and management of facilities in a local community by networking with other facilities and strengthening overall cooperation within that locality. Finally, we mention how important it is for attitudes to constantly keep evolving into a well-managed organization that responds to social conditions so that the facility always remains up to date and appealing to its audience.

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The 3R behaviors of citizens have proven to be an important part of Japan′s waste management process, and this public behavior has been influenced through environmental education programs working in conjunction with waste management facilities. For nearly 40 years throughout the country these facilities have been instrumental in arranging for visits by primary schoolchildren, however budget deficits at the local government level are now threatening the sustainability of such important environmental education programs.
The author conducted surveys to understand the influence of introducing the“designated manager system” and how similar social education facilities like libraries, museums, and public halls can have an impact. The survey results revealed four main points toward the sustainable administration of these environmental education facilities: the first is reconfirmation of the mission; the second is mutual cooperation by all involved facilities; the third is development of the evaluation index; and the fourth is carrier support by working persons.

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This paper focuses on a strategy called “Making it Visible,” taking an example from a factory project being implemented in Higashinari-ku, Osaka. Higashinari-ku is an area where many manufacturing companies have entered. Recently, as the development of condominiums in the area increases, we set up a roundtable panel with the aim of creating a town where housing and industry can coexist through the promotion of collaborative activities between industry, government, and academia. As a result, 13 factory tours have been held so far, with more than 300 participants in attendance. In this paper, the direct and indirect effects of this project are summarized and discussed respectively. Finally, we have summarized the issues surrounding these initiatives.

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Cooperation by the general public is indispensable to efficient municipal recycling. An effective way to promote proper separation of recyclable materials is to have citizens visit recycling/processing plants, where they can observe how the recycling process actually works and learn about the types of problems that are involved. To facilitate this, it is beneficial to allow the public to take part in field trips at municipal and private waste disposal sites and resource circulation plants.
Such field trips, of course, are no magic bullet for convincing people to follow the rules for proper separation of recyclable materials, and it is even possible that viewing the recycling facilities may give rise to new doubts in their minds. These visits, however, do provide a valuable opportunity for people to communicate on site regarding both the benefits and challenges that arise in this field. It also encourages beneficial ways of thinking regarding the recycling process and ultimately works to build support for a recycling-oriented society.

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