RCE Chubu - 2024

Election awareness-raising to increase young people's awareness of political participation
Basic Information
Title of project : 
Election awareness-raising to increase young people's awareness of political participation
Submitting RCE: 
RCE Chubu
Contributing organization(s) : 
CHUBU SASUTENA SEISAKUJUKU
Focal point(s) and affiliation(s)
Name: 
Takuma Yuguchi
Organizational Affiliation: 
Chukyo University
E-mail: 
yuguchi.taku@gmail.com
Format of project: 
Unfinished
Language of project: 
Japanese
Date of submission:
Monday, March 18, 2024
Does this project link to any education and/or sustainable development policy or policies?: 
No
Geographical & Education Information
Region: 
Asia-Pacific
Country: 
Japan
Location(s): 
Aichi Prefecture
Address of focal point institution for project: 
None
Ecosystem(s):
Urban/Peri-urban
Target Audience:
Youth (Informal)
Socioeconomic and environmental characteristics of the area : 
Aichi Prefecture is located in the Ise-Mikawa Bay watershed area, and a wide variety of activity themes exist upstream and downstream of each river, including forestry, agriculture, manufacturing, urban environment, and child rearing. These themes are intricately linked vertically and horizontally.
Description of sustainable development challenge(s) in the area the project addresses: 
The number of councilors in their 20s in Aichi Prefecture and the voting rate of those in their 10~30s indicate that young people's interest in political participation and sense of political efficacy is declining. This is detrimental to the long-term revitalization of local communities and sustainable urban development.
Contents
Status: 
Ongoing
Period: 
April, 2021 to December, 2023
Rationale: 
In Japan, there are limited opportunities to learn about the history and importance of democracy and specific methods of political participation, and it is not easy for students to understand the importance of politics and voting. However, it is difficult for students to understand the underlying sense of political efficacy and the importance of democracy. Therefore, we considered it important to understand the values of other countries and the various ways of political participation based on primary information, such as visits to countries with high voter turnout. In addition, for the younger generation, who have been engaged in various forms of communication in recent years, the online availability of election bulletins can shorten the psychological and physical distance between them and the election
Objectives: 
We will enhance the political participation of young people and youth policies by improving their interest in politics and their sense of political efficacy in their teens to 30s in the Tokai region, centering on Aichi Prefecture. In addition, we will make recommendations on youth policies to the Nagoya City Comprehensive Plan, aiming to include necessary measures.
Activities and/or practices employed: 
Collect the manifestos of each candidate in the national election through interviews and disseminate them on SNS (Instagram and TikTok), and promote their use as an online version of the Election Gazette to the youth of Taebaeki. By including the relevant SDG goals in each manifesto, we increased the interest of the youth and improved the relevance of the manifestos to their real lives. As other activities, we held an event to share Nordic values on politics and deepen understanding of how to relate to society in Japan, based on the experience of visiting "Sweden," a country with high voter turnout among teens and 30-somethings. The event was conducted with a lecture from the Embassy of Sweden in Japan.
Size of academic audience: 
SNS dissemination of the former's online election gazette (House of Councillors election 2022): 90,000 views in total. Number of participants in the latter event: 50
Results: 
A questionnaire survey of SNS viewers and event participants showed that more than 70% of the respondents showed an increased interest in politics and a heightened sense of participation. In addition, nine media outlets, including TV and newspapers, covered the event, which increased awareness of the project among many people and made it more socially significant. Since there have been few examples in Aichi Prefecture in the past of events to educate young people about elections or to use examples from other countries, we believe that the event served as a model case and had a certain amount of influence on the activities of various organizations.
Lessons learned: 
While the aforementioned efforts to create contacts between youth and politics have served as a model case for youth-oriented initiatives in the prefecture and created a diverse range of stakeholders, the current youth's political awareness and values are built largely on school, family, and societal external factors, so society as a whole needs to improve its awareness of political participation and sense of political efficacy. The entire society needs to improve its awareness of political participation and sense of political efficacy. In addition, from the perspective of sustainability of the activities, we felt that it is also important to implement them in educational settings.
Key messages: 
Importance of breaking away from stereotypes of Japanese politics and democracy.
Funding: 
Corporate sponsorship was implemented on a project-by-project basis. (Financial reports are available only to the sponsors)

Pictures:

File Name Caption for picture Photo Credit
Image icon IMG_7597.jpeg (378.85 KB) Event to consider political participation in Japan based on Swedish election culture Takuma Yuguchi
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs) and other themes of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
SDG 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 
Indirect
SDG 11 - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 
Direct
Theme
Curriculum Development 
Indirect
ESD for 2030-Priority Action Areas
Priority Action Area 2 - Transforming learning and training environments 
state: 
Indirect
Priority Action Area 4 - Mobilizing youth 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 5 - Accelerating sustainable solutions at local level 
state: 
Indirect
Update: 
No
I acknowledge the above: 
Yes