Takayuki Uchihira

Abstract In this study, a web‐based questionnaire was sent to residents of the Kinki region in the westside of Japan (N = 1053), and a multinomial logit analysis was conducted according to their isolation and loneliness status to examine social prescriptions that would presumably contribute to the prevention of isolation and loneliness. By comparing the marginal effects of social prescriptions on those with four types of isolation and loneliness status through the discrete choice model, we discovered that social prescriptions that contribute to the prevention of isolation and loneliness differ according to individuals by isolation and loneliness status. For example, for those who are not isolated but lonely, an effective strategy would be to encourage involvement in social contribution activities in the community and form high‐quality human relationships expecting to alleviate loneliness. The results also showed that residents in isolated situations tend to be indifferent to social contribution activities and social prescriptions to encourage involvement in such activities have limitations.

In this study, we conducted a Web-based questionnaire survey targeting residents of the Kinki region (N=1053). By comparing the marginal effects by leveraging a multinomial logistical regression based on states of isolated and/or loneliness, we searched for a spatial prescription that contributes to the prevention of feelings of isolated and loneliness. Especially, by comparing the marginal effect as a numerical value according to the circumstances of the loneliness and isolation situation, it was observed that a spatial prescription which contributes to the prevention of solitude and isolation existed.

<p> Introduction</p><p> This paper investigates whether the "paradox of choice" is applicable to town walking. We conducted an experiment by developing three types of experimental smartphone applications (apps) with different forms of intervention for town walking. We compared the results obtained to identify the types of walking behaviors that would increase the participants' levels of satisfaction, expand consumption in an area, and make people interested in revisiting a town.</p><p> </p><p> Material and Methods</p><p> The apps developed for this study involved three types of intervention, as follows: 1) Type A intervention, in which the app shows multiple designated destinations and does not finish running until all of these have been visited; 2) Type B intervention, in which the app designates a single destination and finishes running after this has been visited, after which the participant is free to walk wherever they wish for a set period of time; and 3) Type C intervention, in which the app finishes running after the person walks wherever they wish for a set period of time. In the experimental design, we ensured that none of the participants knew which form of intervention they were using. In all cases, the apps were set so that the experiment would last at least 30 minutes.</p><p> </p><p> Results</p><p> Comparison among the apps with the three types of intervention the following significant effects. First, the Type B intervention generated more new discoveries during town walking the than Type C intervention (p = . 007). That is, the app that allowed people to walk freely after visiting a single designated point was more likely to result in discoveries than the app that allowed people to walk entirely freely. Second, the results suggested that the Type A intervention was more likely to make people want to visit the town again than Type B (p = . 043). That is, that app that allowed people to walk freely after visiting a single point was more likely to make them want to revisit the town than the app in which they visited multiple designated points.</p><p> </p><p> Discussion</p><p> The results suggest that a "paradox of choice" may exist that is unique to town walking. Specifically, the likelihood of generating the desire to return to a town was lower with the Type A intervention (where multiple destinations are specified) and, furthermore, the likelihood of people making discoveries may be reduced as a result of unconstrained walking, as was the case for the Type C intervention. Based on these results, it is proposed that the most effective method of app assistance for visitors to towns is the Type B intervention in which a minimum number of destinations are visited, after which people are encouraged to walk freely for a set period of time.</p>

<p>This study examines the internal effects of and framework for the evaluation of coworking local actions with university students. Based on the analysis of annual reports from the past 10 years in Enactus Japan, coworking of local actions with university students has made economic, envi­ronmental, and social contributions. Among these contributions, such coworking actions have provi­ded opportunities for the capacity development of individuals, organizations, and local communities. There are five ways in which coworking local actions with university students can help create sustainable internal effects. First is the construction of a developmental system in which trainees grow into trainers. Second is coworking with companies. Third is coworking with non-profit organizations. Fourth is coworking with the university center. The fifth is the establishment of a company by univer­sity students. Based on the above findings, this study demonstrated the internal effects of and framework for the evaluation of coworking local actions with university students.</p>

&nbsp;The Yato is a landscape unit often seen in hilly zone of South Kanto area. This paper is to clarify topographic characteristics and land use features of Yato in Yokohama City, where numbers of Yato and certain preceding studies of Yato exists. Through the research by GIS and TPI method, statistical measurement and cluster analysis, we found below: 1. Average area of Yato is 4ha and the bottom is almost 1ha that means very compact size of daily walkable environment. 2. The slope angle distributes between 5&deg; - 8&deg; (av. 8.11&deg;) that means not to steep angle good to farming and housing. 3. There are 2 types of Yato ; one is Normal type and the other is Koyato type. Normal type consists of housing at bottom and slope as forest. Koyato type consists of small housing area at bottom and farming fields at gentle slope.

This study focuses on the difference in moving expenses by examining past instances, and considers effective community contributions and support problems of effective university. I classified the support into four models: (1) solving problem model, (2) interchange model, (3) knowledge management model and, (4) discovering value model. Even when the activities were intermittent, I was able to confirm and categorize the activities according to intent. Results showed that the tendency of local cooperation, without considering moving cost, is the same for any traffic distance. Those deciding on an appropriate strategy to facilitate local cooperation should be conscious of these four models to get a proper sense of the moving costs suggested in this study.

&ldquo;Yato&rdquo; is a landscape unit that is horseshoe-shaped flatland surrounded by the hill in three directions. In the hilly cities, such as Yokohama, many Yatos can be seen. Some previous researches mention about the importance of Yato from the perspective of ecological, hydrological, thermal environmental and social aspects. This study aims to developing the method for making Yato map by using GIS and DEM, and also classifying all Yatos based on the land use in Yokohama. By comparing previous researches, it becomes clear that this method is suite for making Yato map. Actually, Yato map is made in Yokohama and 4657 Yatos are extracted. It was also found that about 50% of all Yatos are already developed as low-rise residential areas, and about 30% are still undeveloped, by overlaying Yato map and land use map. Evaluating each Yatos from the perspective of natural and social environments will be needed as a future work.

We study regional student support communities in terms of challenges faced by students and propose how regional support may be made more effective. First, depending on the background of such communities and the circumstances they operate under, we classify student communities into four types: seminars, educational programs, circles, and clubs. We find that each classification type has its own unique problems. Second, we discuss 1) the establishment of a daily counseling center to help dispel any fears the students might harbor, 2) provision of recruitment support and mentoring for students, to help them plan for the future, 3) fostering student inclusiveness and partnerships with communities so as to create safe and caring environments, and 4) the provision of region-wide resources, including funding, counseling, and networking among various student associations, so as to improve student experiences and learning outcomes. A future challenge would be to escalate the development of student communities from organized support to strategic management.

This paper aims to clarify the standard shape character of Yato-topography by classifying the small valleys whose small administrative unit name includes &ldquo;Ya&rdquo; that means valley. In the case study area, there are most Yato-topography with following characteristics, the reclaimable fields area is about 1 ha, the forest area is about 3 ha, the entrance width of vale is about 60m, and the distance from the entrance to the end is about 200m. This study declares that basic Yato that is social units units have these characteristics. In other words, Yato is a unit that has fields for mainly agriculture, whose area is about 1 ha, have forest as the water source whose area is three times larger than the fields. In the conventional method for extracting ato that uses the stream order, the areas of Yato units varies widely because of the influence by the fractal form of vales. In the method using small administrative unit for extracting Yato, the areas of Yato units are certain. Therefore, it is considered that the method in this paper is more appropriate.

This study examines the possibilities of the community-development method by the brick replication workshop. In the workshop, the pink brick utilizing the characteristics of a charcoal brick are fabricated. The results showed various possibilities of the brick, such as 1) the ease of the fabrication to upgrade the street corners, 2) the simple method that utilizes the waste materials, and 3) the conversion to interiors by taking advantages of the characteristics of the material. Unlike the progressive method using the red brick which mainly aims for building preservation, pink brick can be used for a new way of community development by its various characteristics to enhance participation.

Rural areas are facing serious problems of aging and depopulation, and universities are expected to play an active role in supporting and activating these areas. This study explores the roles and achievements of four university satellites in rural areas. By conducting interviews on (1) the process of their foundations, (2) their activities, (3) their management systems, (4) their achievements and challenges, and (5) the roles of their resident officers, the reliability, interactivity, and ripple effects of the satellites are analyzed. To enable and maintain regional partnerships, support systems from local governments, network platforms, local organizations, and universities are needed. In rural areas, university satellites provide reliability through resident officers, interactivity through educational projects, and ripple effects through lifelong education, all of which are directly related to regional needs.

This study clarifies the characteristics and the production method of the 'ash bricks' in Ube and Onoda area through its reproduction. Firstly, the overview of the ash bricks is given through literature and fieldwork. Secondly, interviews with the owners of the brick-buildings and craft-workers are provided by oral history. Thirdly, the production method is verified through the reproduction. The result serves as the basic data for community renovation with the use of the bricks. It also contributes to the conservation and utilization of the unique characteristics and the production method, and to the regional history of the modern non-burnt bricks.

The intent of this research was to point out the nature of bases of activity intended for the creation of a sustainable region. 1)There is utility in creating bases of activity with a social entrepreneurial perspective that factors in the use of existing stock in urban areas. 2)Bases of activity should be conducive to regular, daily use by neighborhood residents and avoid becoming a space for only select individuals.3)Bases of activity should be used to examine strategic business' means of attracting visitors that contribute to the solving of regional issues in a manner that conforms to the purpose of the affiliated activities group.

We classified villages in Amagasaki City in four types due to the situation of each accumulated farm, and described each spacial feature. From analysis of farmer&rsquo;s intention, it was cleared that there were correlation between village typology and farmer&rsquo;s intention. It is important understanding the tendency of farmer&rsquo;s intention about usage of their farm and Planning the way of use and conservation depend on their spacial and social feature.

This study presents the domain for the educational program of cooperative education on food and agriculture, which should be independently established, by clarifying the following three points.<br> 1. The orientation and significance of applying principles and methods of cooperative education to the disciplines of food and agriculture; <br>2. The role, significance, and challenges of cooperative education from the prevailing practices in the United States and Japan; <br>3. The definition of cooperative education in the domain of food and agriculture as an educational program that nurtures conceptual power and planning ability by taking advantage of agronomics and fosters different viewpoints toward agriculture and rural areas through field studies. <br>

The role of the community leader gains importance under the severe socio-economic environment prevalent in rural areas. How does the leadership shown while the variety of the community increased? In this paper, we explored the behavior of these leaders and the manner in which they were nurtured over the stages of community development through interviews and surveys.<br> Our study showed that in addition to acquiring the trust of their community, it has become important for today&rsquo;s rural leaders to acquire knowledge and establish a network by carrying out work outside the community. The emerging problems that they have to face are with regard to the formation of agreements and promotion of community participation, the variety of and the differences between community inhabitants, etc. Furthermore, there is greater emphasis on M-oriented behavior than P-oriented behavior today.<br> These results clarified that knowledge management and the reformation of the age-grade system (construction of social OJT) are the challenges in the path of the nurturing of new leaders.<br>

The objective of this paper is to inquire into the evaluation framework and methods of regional partnership activities in order to establish the PDCA cycle of regional partnership activities in the field of agricultural science.<br> First, we examined the evaluation framework of regional partnership activities by reviewing the articles related to the evaluation of CSR and NPO.<br>Second, we interviewed and analyzed the opinions of major stakeholders in regional partnership activities, taking the regional partnership activities of Kobe University&rsquo;s Graduate School of Agricultural Science as an example.<br>With respect to the gaps in the expectations of stakeholders, the regional partners want faculty members to contribute new solutions to regional causes while the faculty members want to contribute by utilize their expertise.<br>On the basis of the understanding of these gaps, we should strategically select regional partnership activities that are committed to innumerable social causes.<br>

近年、農学分野をはじめ様々な研究分野で地域連携活動が積極的に推進されている。その理由の一つは、「産学官民連携」という言葉に象徴される社会の大学に対する直接的な知的貢献の要請である。大学の知識を価値源泉に、大学のシーズと地域のニーズをマッチングさせ、新たな産業育成や地域の知財管理を行い、知の実用的な問題解決や価値創造をはかり、社会還元をすすめることが、大学の使命として期待されている。これは、農学分野に限ったことではなく、すべての研究分野に対して要請されるものである。「研究」、「教育」につぎ、「社会貢献」を大学の第3の使命として強調する流れに位置づけられるものである。もう一つは、農学分野においては、特に「フィールドサイエンスの推進」のための地域連携への期待である。農学研究と現実・現場との乖離に対する反省から、研究・教育フィールドの発掘と活用を通じて、実学としての農学への回帰をはかる流れに位置づけられる。現場を知の源泉とするフィールド科学の推進は不可欠であり、大学の農学分野独自の仕組みづくりのあり方が問われている。本研究では、まず、農学分野における地域連携活動は、現在どのように行われているか、その枠組みと課題を整理する。そのために、既往研究の整理と全国の農学分野における主要な地域連携活動の分析をおこなう。次に、神戸大学と篠山市の地域連携活動の事例分析をとおして、今後の農学分野における地域連携システムの展望について一考することを目的とする。

In recent years, technologies related with mobile GIS and GPS have been progressed. On the other hand, field survey of the community environment and mapping the results with public participations seem to be effective for the community planning. But, it takes a long time and participant's great effort. Therefore, authors applied mobile GIS equipped with GPS to the field survey with public participation, to make it easer. As a result, although authors found the effectiveness of this method, there seem to be some future challenges.

Through analysis of citizen questionnaire at Sonoda district in Amagasaki-city carried out in February, 2006, We considered a role of urban farmland and possibility of the maintenance, practical use from the living environment formation, a viewpoint of community improvement. On this paper, we considered particularly civic agriculture male participation in planning awareness and possibility of civic support for farmland maintenance.

This study examines a method for producing a &Prime;Community Environmental Map&Prime; through public participation by using a Community Environmental Mapping Support System (CEMSS; user&ndash;friendly GIS). The authors developed a CEMSS and, as a case study, hosted a Community Environmental Mapping (CEM) Project employing the CEMSS. They describe the CEMSS and CEM project within the context of the following points: (1) Effectiveness of the CEM. (2) Effectiveness of the CEMSS in CEM. (3) Future challenges for improving the CEMSS. The findings revealed that participants were able to produce accurate maps using the CEMSS and that they were able to increase their knowledge of environmental design through CEM. For these reasons, the CEM Project was considered effective for community&ndash;scale spatial planning. Results from a questionnaire survey showed that CEMSS appears to be relatively easy for non&ndash;expert users of GIS to adopt, but that sufficient scope exists for improving the CEMSS. The potential for using CEMSS on a PDA with GPS in the field was considered particularly important as several participants found that they were unable to find their location on paper maps in areas with no obvious landmarks.