R&D ProjectsRestructuring Local Livelihoods and Fostering Diverse Lifescape through Cooperative Ateliers in Rural Communities

General Description of the Research Project

Rural areas that had enjoyed flourishing modern and/or traditional industries are deteriorating with population outflow. We can see many such cases in the Tohoku Region which aims to recover from the Great East Japan Earthquake, where demand for local products has been reduced substantially and locality is disappearing from the scene of daily life (diminishing lifescape).

This project will restructure local industries to make their regions sustainable by reviewing local resources from the modern perspective. Specifically, we will promote the operation and development of “Cooperative Ateliers” as a place to give birth to industrial and creative activities by gathering people with locally-rooted ideas and techniques, in the field of agriculture, mining, manufacturing, architecture and art etc. In addition, we build a network to link various cases in different areas, which will lead to new combinations of resources and transfer of technologies. These approaches will bring about a variety of lifescapes interweaved by co-creative activities and local resources.