In this research and development area, we aim to carefully examine what happens when parents, children, and third parties are intentionally connected to form communities and teams, and to develop an operational manual for CCC.
There are two primary research fields. One is the living lab operated by Sakakura PI in Setagaya. The other is the WELL Community© established at Tohoku University in Sendai.
In addition, we are conducting initiatives that extend across different regions in order to clarify how parents, children, and third parties can be connected effectively, as well as what kinds of effects emerge through the creation of such connections.

Task 41: Designing Experiences Through a Living Lab Approach

In Setagaya, we have been forming “team KAZOKU” consisting of parents, children, and approximately two to three third-party adults, and experimentally operating them over periods exceeding one year. Through this process, we continuously document how relationships change over time, what kinds of issues emerge, and what types of interventions are effective in addressing them.
Furthermore, we developed workshops designed to help participants vividly imagine and emotionally experience the new family-like relationships created through CCC. In these workshops, participants form small groups, assign roles such as a parent figure, and discuss what kinds of actions they themselves would like to take within those relationships. They also use AI to generate images depicting events that might occur within a team KAZOKU and introduce them as if they were shared memories (see upper-right figure).
As part of our efforts to ensure that anyone can participate in CCC with a sense of safety and security, we collaborated with Watanabe PI to examine CCC procedures based on the framework of the international standard ISO 25554 (see figure below). Using this framework, we are constructing and evaluating new “team KAZOKU” composed of parents, children, and third-party adults. In addition, discussions have begun at international conferences regarding methodologies for expanding and encouraging mutual care based on individuals’ relationships and intentions.

Task 42: A Framework for Social Value Creation through Small-Scale Social Experiments

In Sendai, we established a community-based gathering space called Well Community© at Tohoku University, where parents, children, and third-party adults could come together. Through this, we found that
as the activities continued, social networks that were initially fragmented gradually became more organized around central individuals serving as hubs, resulting in increased group cohesion (see figure below). Access to information is one important aspect of social capital, and these findings suggest that participation in the activities improved the efficiency of information sharing within the community. Furthermore, as trusted relationships formed within the community, gradual improvements were observed in the well-being and quality of life of community members.
Based on these findings, we discussed how communities should best be managed, evaluated, and continuously improved. In addition, we conducted activities aimed at connecting children with extremely limited social ties to companies, enabling them to collaboratively develop and sell products. Through these initiatives, we examined how creating points of contact with society influenced their psychological well-being.