In this project, restaurants and cafes ask their patrons to donate 100 yen (about U.S.$1.12) or more for the water or tea they are usually served for free. Those funds donated to the project since 2009 have gone toward water and sanitation programs in the island nation of southeast Africa the Republic of Madagascar, via the UNICEF head office.

The idea for the program was originally submitted to Takenaka's in-house competition in July 2011. In August 2011, Takenaka publicly presented the competition's winning proposal and won First Prize at the Disaster Region Support Proposal Competition sponsored by the Association for Children's Environment, which led to its implementation under contract with the Japan Committee for UNICEF.

Related JFS article:
[Newsletter] Architectural Design in Harmony with Nature Contributes to Sustainable Development of Society: Takenaka Corporation
JFS "Learn to Create in Tohoku" Projects

Copyright Dago Tshering

A certain village in Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan, has been covered in the Japanese media fairly often; the story is that the villagers choose to live without electricity because not installing an electricity grid with overhead wires helps conserve Black-necked Cranes that migrate to the valley. A book about Bhutan records an interview: To the question, "Would you really prefer to have electricity, or is conserving more cranes important to you?" Villagers answered, "It's good to have electricity, but we can do without it. But cranes are different from electricity. We feel happy when they visit this valley. We've seen them every year since childhood."

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Copyright Tshering Choki

Phobjikha Valley, in the district of Wangduephodrang in the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a beautiful valley situated at an altitude of over 2,900 meters above sea level. The valley is divided into two administrative blocks, Gangtey and Phobji.

Both Bhutanese and foreign visitors are aware of its status as a winter habitat for the globally endangered Black-necked Cranes (Grus nigricollis), listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Red List and also as destination of cultural and religious significance. The valley also lies on the periphery of Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park.

Since its inception in 1987, the Bhutanese Royal Society for Protection of Nature (RSPN), a non-profit, non-government organization dedicated to supporting environmental conservation in Bhutan, has been a key player in conserving the Black-necked Cranes in Phobjikha Valley.

The RSPN has about 30 staff with its headquarters based in Thimphu and field offices in Phobjikha, Shemgang and Wamrong, Trashigang. Its mission is to inspire the personal responsibility and active involvement of the people of Bhutan in the conservation of the Kingdom's environment through education, research and sustainable livelihood opportunities.

The RSPN's strategic plan for 2010-2015 calls for: 1) Contributing to environmental conservation through sustainable livelihood approaches; 2) Increasing the level of environmental awareness through education, advocacy and public participation in conservation; 3) Developing a research strategy for the RSPN that will support environmental conservation, sustainable development, countermeasures to deal with emerging issues and education; and 4) Strengthening the institutional and organizational capacity of the RSPN to support conservation, sustainable development, research and education.

The RSPN's initial step towards putting conservation initiatives into practice in Phobjikha was a project to count and monitor Black-necked Cranes. In 1999 the RSPN initiated a conservation/sustainability program with a view to encouraging the local community's participation and support for conservation. The program's ideal goal is for Phobjikha to become an area where the human population is prospering economically while living in harmony with nature. It hopes to achieve this through strategies that enhance economic benefits without compromising conservation.

One of the projects introduced in 2003-2004 by the RSPN as part of this program focused on alternative energy. The goal was to encourage local communities to understand the importance and utility of different alternative energy sources and technology for mitigating negative environmental impacts.

The government had no plans at that time to provide electricity to the area, and so the project focused on distributing and installing solar panels in the valley. Many local people held the opinion that electricity had not been introduced in the valley in order to safeguard conservation priorities, but the truth mainly involved the economic non-feasibility of providing electricity to the area.

The project lent support to 198 households and 22 institutions (including government and community institutions as well as temples and monasteries) in Phobjikha.

The RSPN alternative energy project offered to distribute solar lighting equipment to the community based on a four-year installment payment plan charging 7 percent interest. They decided not to offer the solar lighting equipment for free because they wanted the community to grasp the meaning of owning the benefits by incurring the costs, as opposed to depending on free benefits.

The interest earned goes to a Phobjikha conservation fund that will support small community projects in the future. The fund is managed by a local environment management committee comprised of representatives from the local government, the local community and women, as well as national government bodies and monastic institutions. This committee plays an important role in coordinating and representing local interests.

However, in 2006, the Department of Energy initiated a proposal for Phobjikha electrification and submitted it to the Austrian Government, which showed an interest in supporting conservation initiatives in Phobjikha by funding a project to put electric wires underground.

Part of this electrification project was implemented by the Bhutan Power Corporation Ltd. (BPC) with the involvement of the RSPN in site identification and environmental impact assessment to identify important crane habitats where wires needed to be underground.

A memorandum of understanding was also signed between the BPC and the RSPN to make sure that the project is implemented in a safe, reliable and aesthetically conscious manner, in order to safeguard the existence of the Black-necked Cranes and to enhance the socio-economic development at Phobjikha. In 2009 the BPC took on the responsibility of executing this work in the area to completion, while the RSPN was responsible for monitoring the project and confirming that it was executed in the most environmentally friendly way, in order to safeguard the habitat of the endangered species.

Also, to encourage environmentally viable tourism while helping people benefit from conservation, the RSPN has been promoting community-based sustainable tourism (CBST) in Phobjikha.

For the past few years, the RSPN has been helping set up basic ecotourism facilities, such as a visitor information centre (the Black-necked Crane Information Centre) and nature trails, etc. The RSPN has also been working with the communities to develop local tourism products and services, such as local guides, cultural programs, campsites, local souvenir products, etc. The Black-necked Crane festival, started in 1998, forms an important part of the CBST program.

Currently the RSPN, in partnership with the Japan Environmental Education Forum (JEEF) and with financial support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is implementing a CBST project. Part of the project will involve training of local guides, supporting souvenir prodution and developing homestay facilities so that visitors can stay at homes of local people in order to enjoy experience the local food and learn about local customs.

Left: A local guide interpretating information to a visitor
Right: Guest preparing for a meal in homestay
Copyright RSPN

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While listening to locals describe these conservation efforts, I was able to observe cranes relaxing in Phobjikha Valley through a telescope at the information center. Afterwards, I had a great time staying with a farmer's family and enjoying local food and drink under a stadium of stars. Having enjoyed this first-hand CBST experience, I hope the RSPN's efforts will continue to bear fruit. JFS will be keeping an eye on RSPN's efforts to attach importance to dialogue with local villagers while supporting sustainable coexistence between villagers and endangered cranes.

Copyright Tshering Choki

Written by Junko Edahiro and Tshering Choki, RSPN

Copyright PAX Coworking

We are now living in an era when we can work anywhere, just by using our personal computers. Freed from "the office," people's working styles are varied -- they sometimes work at home, sometimes at a cafe or elsewhere. Individual working styles vary, but some people who continue to free-lance for a long time gradually come to desire more association with other people. This is how "coworking" was born. This term refers to a working style in which people with different jobs share a workplace and communicate with one another.

Let's Work in Party Mode!

Satani is the president and CEO of PAX Coworking located in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward. About three minutes' walk from Kyodo Station, it has a large room with several tables large and small; users choose their favorite place to sit down and start working.

PAX Coworking

Coworkers can choose their own style: some people spend most of their working time at the space (full-time co-worker); some visit there once or twice a week (part-time co-worker); and some just drop in and use the room for the experience (drop-in). Occupations also vary, ranging from IT-related workers, designers, editors, writers, and college lecturers, to farm-related workers, restaurant owners, etc.

While working on their computers, people can enjoy conversations with other users, and sometimes they share their small problems. Many types of collaboration can develop at coworking spaces. People may exchange ideas about a possible project in casual conversation, and in some cases such projects actually come together.

Satani expresses what coworking is all about with the phrase, "Let's work in party mode!" The environment needed to work well is the same as the one needed for a good party. The qualities needed are good, comfortable friends who can communicate with each other in a relaxed atmosphere. Such an environment can stimulate new ideas as well.

Copyright PAX Coworking

History and Background of Coworking

In the early 20th Century, the practice of several people sharing a single work space was seen here and there, for instance, when artists gathered in Paris and writers gathered in New York. In 2006, an individual entrepreneur called for coworking opened shop in New York, but the very first coworking space that is still in existence is the Citizen Space in San Francisco. After its establishment, coworking spaces began to pop up in the big cities in the United States and soon migrated to Europe.

In Japan, styles of working anywhere prevailed as the Internet became widely used. As more people began to receive individual orders from clients and do their work at home or in private offices, some people started to establish joint offices. After 2000, the number of rental and share offices utilizing vacant office space drastically increased. However, collaboration rarely occurred in such offices.

In the past few years as the Internet spread even further, more and more people started to work at cafes equipped with free Wi-Fi access. The writer Toshinao Sasaki coined a new term for these people - "Nomado" (meaning nomad), which is now well-established. There are, however, disadvantages to using cafes, such as not being able to use these open-to-the-public facilities for an extended period of time.

The coworking style was born to solve this problem. In Japan, the first coworking space, Cahootz, was established in Kobe, followed by PAX coworking in Tokyo in 2010.

Advantages of Coworking

Kyo Satani traveled around the world and met many people. The thing he found extraordinary during his travel experiences was that everyone was equal regardless of generation, nationality or social position. He used what he learned later in his career as a restaurant manager, and this led him further to launch a coworking space.

"Japan is very affluent, but we still see dark expressions on people's faces. I created a restaurant where people find it easy to talk to each other. I've been told that people often find themselves bursting into hearty laughter there. I began to think about whether it might be possible to create an office space where people can also have a good laugh."

This idea made him especially want to change the working style of long daily hours for not much pay. Around that time, he happened to see a photograph of the coworking space in London. It was exactly like the image he had. He immediately decided to launch a coworking space himself.

Several advantages of coworking distinguish it from share office and Nomado working styles. Besides the availability of Wi-Fi and electricity, coworking spaces have low service charges, fewer security issues, comfortable places to rest, opportunities for networking with peers and associates and a better environment for concentrating on one's work. These advantages add new meaning to working within a kind of community which provides opportunities for sharing knowledge and technology and finding business partners.

Further Possibilities through Collaboration

Currently, the number of coworking spaces has been increasing worldwide. About 40 percent of such spaces are located in the US, particularly in New York and San Francisco. Coworking has gained popularity in Europe as well, and the first European coworking conference was held in Belgium in 2010. In Asia, it has been spreading little by little, for example in China and Singapore.

In Japan, more and more coworking spaces have been established across the country, in both urban and rural areas. In fact, a number of new projects have been launched: for example, nana-music inc. provides a free social music platform for enjoying musical collaboration with people in other parts of the world; people record their singing and by sharing it through the Internet, they can sing in harmony with people in other places. This company has set up headquarters in the US, and operates its business through Cahootz first, later through Pax Coworking while collaborating with various coworking spaces both in Japan and overseas.

Other examples include an agricultural website magazine, Zackzack, which provides information both for producers and consumers with the support of many coworking members. Eggshell is a general incorporated association that provides assistance to family caregivers and working mothers so they can return to the working world. It is an example of people taking the initiative to establish new a coworking space on the basis of close collaboration with other members and experience of having worked in coworking spaces.

Many other coworking experiments are also taking place all over the country, including study groups, collaborations with major companies, and reconstruction assistance efforts for areas struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

"In coworking spaces, each member has his or her specialty, so talking with other members helps solve problems because what one takes for granted can be seen from a different perspective. I wish our entire society could be the same way -- a society where we can talk to others casually when we need help. And I believe if more and more offices have such an atmosphere, the society as a whole will change," Satani says.

Coworking looks promising as a new working style and a new way of collaboration. We hope it will open further possibilities for changes and a better society.

Written by Taeko Ohno