Rural Municipalities Working with Students from Urban Areas

Tokyo, Jan. 2 (Jiji Press)--In a model project by Japan's internal affairs ministry, municipalities in the countryside are collaborating with university students from urban areas, in order to leverage young people's ideas for regional revitalization.

The project is aimed at securing human resources for community development and creating "related populations," or people who are continuously involved in regional communities.

The model project, launched this fiscal year, is available to local governments that accept students to work with local residents on regional development. It covers costs such as students' travel expenses.

The city of Minamiuonuma, Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, is working to develop a base for exchanges between students and local residents. Students learn from local residents about regional challenges, such as measures against snow damage, and provide proposals.

Among areas that are expected to be hit hard by a potential massive earthquake in the Nankai Trough off the country's central to southwestern Pacific coast, the city of Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture, is working with students on "predisaster reconstruction" efforts to promote town development under the assumption of a major quake.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]