2023/03/14
The "Co-creation Hub for a 'Symbiotic Upcycling Society' Connected by Respect," a proposal submitted by Keio University as the lead institution in co-creation with the managing municipality of Kamakura City, participating companies (managing company: KAYAC Inc.), and participating universities Eikei University, Kwansei Gakuin University, Kochi University, International University of Japan, Shinshu University, Hosei University, Hokkaido University, Institute of Technologists, and Yokohama National University, has been selected as a Full-Scale Project in the Regional Co-creation Field of the "Program on Open Innovation Platform for Industry-Academia Co-creation (COI-NEXT)" by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). This represents an upgrade to a Full-Scale Project and a renaming of the "Co-creation Hub for a Digitally-Driven, Hyper-Resource-Circulating, Participatory Society," which had been progressing as a Development Project in the Regional Co-creation Field since fiscal year 2021.
Professor Hiroya Tanaka of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies will serve as the Project Leader, with Professor Kenji Miyamoto of the Faculty of Science and Technology and Professor Hitoshi Nakazawa of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies participating as Research and Development Leaders. They will create the new interdisciplinary field of "Circular Creative Studies" while promoting the social implementation of their research.
This project is scheduled to run for 10 years until 2032. With the Keio Kamakura Satellite Lab (1F/2F AK Omachi Bldg., 1-1-14 Omachi, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture), launched last year, serving as a central hub, we will build a base that integrally promotes mechanisms to connect basic research to social implementation in the region, next-generation human resource development, entrepreneurship support, and international collaboration.
Background of Regional Co-creation
In 2020, the Keio Research Institute at SFC (Director: Yoshinori Iimori) and Kamakura City (Mayor: Takashi Matsuo) signed a "Comprehensive Partnership Agreement for the Realization of a Creative Future City," and began collaborating on next-generation city development (Smart City, Fab City, SDGs, etc.) and resource-circulating design. Since fiscal year 2021, the project was selected as a Development Project in the Regional Co-creation Field of JST's "Program on Open Innovation Platform for Industry-Academia Co-creation (COI-NEXT)." Through regular dialogue with citizens, participating companies, and the city office, we have been preparing to realize a world-leading circular region, leveraging the diverse knowledge and technologies of university researchers as a core. These activities were highly evaluated, leading to its selection as a Full-Scale Project in the Regional Co-creation Field, and we will now begin a 10-year period of activity.
Overview of the COI-NEXT Project
In the Full-Scale Project, our regional hub vision is "A City of Circulators: Circulate in Society, Return to the Earth, Leave for the Future." By connecting a wide variety of actors, from microorganisms to AI (Artificial Intelligence), we will work on the practice and theorization of "symbiotic upcycling," which creates new added value from circulation. Furthermore, by linking with the local digital currency "Machi no Coin," developed by the managing company KAYAC Inc. (CEO: Daisuke Yanasawa, Deputy Project Leader), we will implement a social system where citizens can exchange respect and enhance each other's well-being through participation in resource circulation. Looking ahead to the future 10 years from now, we will also propose a curriculum for "Circulator Education" targeting elementary and junior high school students. The plan is to expand the system realized in Kamakura City to municipalities in Japan and abroad, and ultimately to extend the network of resource-circulating cities worldwide.
● Kamakura City Press Release
https://www.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/kisya/data/2023/20230314.html
[For inquiries regarding this matter]
URL: COI-NEXT Co-creation Hub for a "Symbiotic Upcycling Society" Connected by Respect
E-mail: dmec@sfc.keio.ac.jp