rural economics

PROJECT UPDATE Exploring an Innovative Model for Rural Revitalization Summer is almost over and we are sowing the seeds for "Embrace Rural: Why it Matters" on October 22 at Japan Society. We are excited to bring together two key leaders in rural reinvention to Japan Society: Tsuyoshi Sekihara (founder & former Executive Director, Kamiechigo Yamazato Fan Club, Niigata, Japan), whose original approach to community organizing addresses the complexities of scale, resilience, and interdependence, and Janet Topolsky (Executive Director, Community Strategies Group, Aspen Institute, Washington D.C.), who has helped communities in rural America rediscover the wealth they possess to reposition themselves for the future. They will be joined by Slow Food International's Richard McCarthy, who is collaborating with Mr. Sekihara on a writing project on ideas and actions that can revive rural Japan, and potentially America. The event will be moderated by Kate Cox (Editor, New Food Economy). The event is co-organized by the Japan NPO Center, New Food Economy, Design and Urban Ecologies, Parsons, The New School for Social Research, and Slow Food New York City. Tickets are available through our website and box office: (212) 715-1258. To learn more about the project, please look at our website "Exploring an Innovative Model for Rural Revitalization."

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What's New with Innovators?

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The Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC) organized a webinar titled "Resilient Rural Communities in the United States and Japan" last week, featuring Taylor Stuckert, co-founder of Energize Clinton County. The webinar included Maki Hijikata from Toyama City Mayor’s Office, David Leckey from the Orton Family Foundation, and moderator Sheila Smith, Vice Chair of JUSFC. It’s exciting to know that another bilateral organization is focusing on issues facing rural communities. The recording of the webinar will be available on the JUSFC website shortly. It’s been eleven years since we gathered a group of experts in historic preservation from Kyoto and New York to discuss machiya (traditional townhouses) preservation. The gathering resulted in a partnership between Kyoto preservationists and the World Monuments Fund. Through this partnership, three machiya were restored in Kyoto and the latest one, Shijo-cho Ofune-hoko Machiya, last year’s Award of Excellence winner at UNESCO’s annual Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Preservation, will be honored as a 2019 “Project of Influence” by the Best in Heritage in Dubrovnik, Croatia later this month.

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The Innovators Network is made possible, in part, by SUMO STEW, Hiroko Onoyama, and Japan Society's endowment for policy projects. Transportation assistance is provided by United Airlines, the exclusive U.S. airline sponsor of Innovators Network programs, and All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. Embrace Rural: Why It Matters, presented as part of Exploring an Innovative Model for Rural Revitalization is supported by The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership. Transportation assistance is provided by United Airlines, the exclusive U.S. airline sponsor of Innovators Network programs. Photo credits: Main photo © Japan Society/Fumiko Miyamoto; headshots clockwise from top right--Janet Topolsky, Kate Cox, Richard McCarthy, Tsuyoshi Sekihara; Taylor Stuckert © Japan Society/Fumiko Miyamoto; Machiya Symposium in 2008 © Satoru Ishikawa. Unless otherwise noted all programs are held at Japan Society. 333 East 47th Street (at First Avenue) New York, NY 10017

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