Case Study Reports 6
	Eco-life Setagaya Plan: a Joint Project by Local Residents and Administrators 　 Keiko Izumi, Comprehensive Environmental Measures Unit, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo

1. General Condition of Setagaya

　 Setagaya Ward is one of the 23 specially-designated metropolitan wards in Tokyo (municipalities with an equal status to cities, towns and villages). It is one of the south-western Wards, with a total area of 58.98km² (making it the second biggest Ward), a population of 800,000 (the highest of all the Wards), and 400,000 households.

　 The River Tama forms the southern boundary, and in the terraces along the river, much green can be seen. The proportion of green areas in Setagaya is 20.5%. It is a convenient area for commuters who work in downtown Tokyo (within 30 minutes by train). Thus most of the Ward is used for residential purposes.

　The proportion of senior residents (over 65 years old) to the total population has reached 16.6%. On the other hand, the Ward has 64 primary schools (290,000 pupils) and 31 junior-high schools (10,000 students), and there are also some areas popular among young people, such as Shimokitazawa and Sangenjaya. A number of universities have campuses in Setagaya (11 universities and 8 junior colleges). Large numbers of young people continuously move in and out of Setagaya. The Ward is thus home to several different generations.


2. How Eco-Life Activities Started and Developed

　 Taking initiatives to prevent global warming and to promote sustainable development is a challenge facing the whole world. Japan is the 4th biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and 20% of its total emissions come from households (including domestic car use). In order to achieve a 6% emission reduction of CO₂ from the 1990 level, following the Kyoto Protocol, many efforts to reduce emissions should be made in all kinds of areas. In Setagaya Ward, through the ‘Eco-life’ project, each individual has been trying to change their lifestyle to an environment-friendly and conservation-minded style.

　 In 1997, with the cooperation of Daisawa Naka urban district, the Environment Agency (now Ministry of Environment) and Setagaya Ward conducted a project called 'Eco-life Implementation in Daisawa Naka Urban District in 1997'. For 37 days, 1,098 participating households followed 9 environment-concerned actions such as 'to unplug household electrical appliances when not in use' and 'not to keep the shower running while soaping your body', and recorded how often they managed these. Later, the amount of electricity and gas used during this period was compared with those at the same time during the previous year. 659 households returned their results. The analysis revealed that the most enthusiastic families had achieved a 5% reduction in CO₂ emissions, and the average reduction had been 2%. This project was the very first initiative in Japan to evaluate CO₂ reduction by community activities, and it got considerable attention.

　 In 2001, 7 urban districts in Daisawa, including Daisawa Naka urban distric, founded 'Eco-life Implementation Action Promotion Committee', and from July to September 2002, 'Eco-life Implementation in Daisawa in 2002' was conducted with 7,900 households' participation. After the implementation, questionnaires were sent to 2,100 houses, 1,077 of which were returned. Estimated CO₂ reduction from these was 0.3%. The questionnaires also showed that more than 60% of participants 'always did' at least 10 out of 19 suggested eco-life actions, and that 90% believed that it was necessary to promote such a project throughout the country.

　 In response to this, Setagaya Ward extended the Eco-life Project to the entire Ward for 2 years between 2003 and 2004.


3. Implementation of 'Eco-life Setagaya Project'

　'Eco-life Setagaya' Project consists of 'verification experimentation' and 'promotion of awareness'.

(i) 2003FY

Verification experimentation:
Questionnaires were sent out to 100,618 households so that they could carry out 9 environment-friendly activities and check electricity and gas use in September and October. 5,402 households returned the results. It was estimated that electricity use was reduced by 4.6% and gas use by 2.1%. CO₂ emissions were reduced by 42t.

Promotion of awareness:
In May and June, 'Family Eco-life Seminars' were held in 5 urban districts. A variety of themes were chosen for lectures and panel discussions including energy use, housing, and greening. A total of 860 people participated.
From December to February 2004, a 'Workshop to Promote Setagaya Eco-life' was held in order to discuss with local residents how to develop and spread the 'Eco-life'. 110 people participated.
For 6 months from October, various promotion activities were carried out, supported by grant from the Ministry of Environment for the sponsorship of CO₂ reduction measures. These activities included the publication of a newsletter, the circulation of leaflets, the displaying of advertisements on trains and buses, the creation of a homepage, etc.
By October 2003, 39% of the Ward Administration Monitors (150 people) came to know the 'Setagaya Eco-life Project'. According to a survey (2,000 returns), when given an ‘Eco-life action list’ in June 2004, 84% either will definitely follow, or intend to follow the suggestions.


(ii) 2004FY

Verification experimentation:
The project participants were extended to include families with school children, citizens' organizations, high schools, etc. and it is expected to send out questionnaires to 40,000 households. 55 people will participate in a one-year experiment.
This year, the joint implementation system was further promoted. To help explain how to fill in the questionnaires, 35 'Setagaya Eco-life Promoters' were created, recruited mostly from among the participants in the previous 'Workshop to Promote Setagaya Eco-life'; they were sent out in response to requests from organizations. In the 6 months from April, a total of 77 Promoters were dispatched on 57 occasions.

Promotion of awareness:
It is planned to hold 10 seminars for implementation and experience during the year. The organization and arrangement for the seminars were entrusted to an NPO in Setagaya, 'Eco Plaza'. The target participants include the following: school children and their parents; parents with young children; car owners.



4. Achievements

　 The project has made steady progress. The keys to this success were thought to be,

(i) establishment of cooperation and a joint implementation framework with local residents

　 'Eco-life Setagaya Project' has been supported by several local community-based organizations, so that it has been able to establish a solid foundation. The local residents have been also supportive and enthusiastic about environmental protection. Setagaya Ward has a long experience of forming partnerships with residents for community-building. There are a number of well-established community organizations for this purpose. The 35 'Eco-life Promoters' have all had experience in organizing local environmental activities. These human resources represent a true treasure for Setagaya.


(ii) a step-by-step approach

　The original initiative taken in Daisawa in 1997 was just a onetime project. 7 years later, it was extended to the entire Ward, because of the unfailing enthusiasm of local people, and in response to this enthusiasm, the Environmental Section included the ‘Eco-life Project’ among its officially-planned projects. A numerical target was set, of obtaining the participation of 8,000 local households in 2003, and 40,000 households in 2004; the Environmental Section took a variety of measures to reach this target.


5. Future Plans

　 After 2005, the focus will be shifted from experimental activities to promotion activities. The framework will be improved so that there is more scope for initiatives from the residents (both individual and institutional), reducing dependency on administrators’ leadership. 'Eco-life' activities will include promotion of a broader environment-concerned lifestyle which seeks conservation of resources (reduced use and reuse of resources) as well as energy conservation. Discussions on introducing 'Setagaya Energy Conservation Vision' have been held, in order to set numerical targets and an action plan based on a clear vision.