More than 14 years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, but we continue to work on reconstruction, such as establishing JASFA (Japan Sustainable Free Powered Energy System Exploit & Promotion Association). As the impact of population decline in rural areas becomes apparent, many stakeholders are working toward regional revitalization and the creation of a carbon-free society, aiming to the sustainable future of Japan. Regional revitalization activities have also attracted attention, and the term "social innovation" is becoming more common. Here, we summarize the authors' activities and knowledge to date, as well as examples of activities. They are shown as ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) power generation systems, regional revitalization in the northern Kinki region, and the human resource development project GEAR/COMPASS by National Institute of Technology. Based on these experiences, the following perspectives should be taken into account in the framework and overall activities for solving regional issues. (1) Regional potential (problem-solving ability): Understand what the region can do with its own capabilities and resources. (2) Stakeholders collaboration: Collaborate with people and organizations, who live or work in the region and face problems, and take on the actual work of solving them. (3) The story of the project to solve the problem: Weave a story that shows the path and steps for solving the problem, considering the potential of the region and the collaboration network. (4) Start-ups for sustainable activities: In order to make problem-solving sustainable, it is essential to procure and commercialize economic, material, and human resources. After reexamining local issues from this perspective, concrete methods for solving the issues and the people who are working to address them would be clarified.
Utsumi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.