| Degree Project Theme | Proposing and implementing a project to improve the attractiveness of Hiroshima City and promote more residents to settle there, as well as verifying their effectiveness |
| Degree Project Overview | This project aims to propose and implement a solution that improves the attractiveness of the city and promote more residence to settle in Hiroshima City by utilizing the waterfront space of city center and verify its effectiveness. In particular it plans an event of outdoor book café and verify its effectiveness through questionnaires for participants and interviews with experts of this problem. |
Aiming for a balance between the urban functions and nature of Hiroshima
Problem-solving skills cultivated through the town charm creation project
Hiroshima, where I moved to, I felt when I started my university life that it was an “attractive city” with a perfect balance of urban functions and natural beauty. However, as I heard about the problem of many people moving out of Hiroshima Prefecture, I realized that Hiroshima, despite its rich tourism resources as a city of peace, was not functioning as a city that its residents could find attractive.
Therefore, for my degree project, I researched ways to enhance the attractiveness of the city by making use of the waterfront space in the city center of Hiroshima. This is an initiative to raise the sense of settlement among city residents by focusing on the role of the natural environment in the city. Specifically, I held an “Outdoor Book Cafe” event and verified its effectiveness through participant questionnaires and interviews with experts of this problem.
Since the theme of “attractiveness” involves subjective elements, I used systems thinking and design thinking methods to devise a way to elicit convergent opinion through academic approach. Specifically, I set up eight evaluation axes, such as “getting close to nature” and “being able to achieve self-realization,” and conducted a questionnaire survey, placing importance on quantitative analysis. I also verified the effectiveness of the “Outdoor Book Cafe” event, where participants read their favorite books and interact with each other by actually going to the riverside, by conducting questionnaires and interviews with participants.
In the process of working on my degree project, I made use of my experience in the Project-Based Learning (PBL) courses. Through PBL, I acquired the skills to identify problems, discover their essential issues, and propose solutions, and I gained experience in actually dealing with issues that companies and local governments are facing and putting solutions into practice, so I naturally took appropriate approach to solving problems for my degree project theme as well. In addition, using systems thinking and design thinking helped me to think about things in a logical way and strengthen my approach to solving problems.
Feedback at the final reporting session
I had a presentation on my project at the “Degree Project Final Reporting Session” held on Monday, November 11, 2024.
At the presentation session, the University invited stakeholders from companies and government as external evaluators to give feedback on the projects from the perspectives of novelty and feasibility. I received feedback on my project from Mr. ISHIZAKI Kotaro, Senior Professional, Innovation Laboratory, NEC Solution Innovators, Ltd. and Mr. Yuhei Miyasako, Representative Director, SANKYO, Ltd.
・If you could present more clearly why the implementation of an Outdoor Book Cafe would help to curve outflow of young people from Hiroshima, it would make for an even better project.
・I think that if you also conducted a survey into the essential reasons why young people move away from Hiroshima, you would be able to find other solutions, so I hope you will continue with your verification.
Personal growth through degree project
The media coverage of the events at the “Outdoor Book Cafe” led to connections with local community development groups and people from a variety of different industries, and I also had more opportunities to participate in community development activities. I feel that the biggest benefit of the degree project was the contacts I made with those people and the understanding I gained from the culture to support young people in Hiroshima. Through this project, I also developed the ability to steadily deal with complex issues and the self-management skills to complete projects on time. I think those skills are indispensable not only for degree projects, but also for living life in general, and are skills to see a project through to completion.
I am currently aiming to run a start-up in Hiroshima, and I am also planning to realize my vision of coexistence between urban functions and the natural environment. The idea I had sensed intuitively in this project, that “incorporating beauty of nature into the city charm of Hiroshima is important”, was firmly supported by academic research, and I believe it will be an important perspective when deciding on the content of future projects. This landscape has become a step towards creating a new attractiveness for Hiroshima, and has become the foundation for my growth to contribute to the local community.