On 7th February, three graduate students and an associate professor from Nara Women’s University visited Tamba City. All of the students major in life environmental studies. They first enjoyed lunch and a talk with a group who started their activities of vitalizing the community through food since the occurrence of the torrential rain disaster in August 2014. A lecture followed which was provided by a City official who has been the former Local Disaster Response Headquarters’ acting manager at the time of the 2014 disaster, former Director of Disaster Recovery Promotion Department, and current City Advisor for City Promotion. Lastly, they visited a community leader who promotes forest management as an initiative participated by the entire members of a self-governing organization.
Comments presenting critical points of view of the participants were heard, such as: “Their disaster recovery is not merely a recovery process, but rather something to overcome the core challenges that the City has been to encounter,” and “How will Tamba City energize the aged society?”, which are strongly relevant to the City’s Disaster Recovery Plan and City Promotion initiatives. A member of the “Tamba City Wood Station Project” was present at the discussion with the community leader and emphasized to the participants: “Deforestation is a huge problem worldwide, but in Japan, if we are not to properly implement tree thinning, that could lead to sediment-related disasters. May I suggest to you, as students who are engaged in life environmental studies, to proactively promote the use of Japan-made woods?”
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