Case study: Creating new industry through glass recycling

Itabashi, one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, is currently engaged in a glass recycling programme in partnership with a wide range of private enterprises which aims to open up new markets using useful products made from discarded glass. The programme involves the local authority providing glass bottles to a manufacturer, who then processes them into fine cullet (step 1), then after a process of further polishing (step 2) another manufacturer uses the cullet to make products such as pavement or building blocks. The local authority then uses these products in public works, thereby achieving a cyclical flow of resources.

Click here for the full case study (PDF).

East Meets West End

There’s been no end of media coverage for yesterday’s unveiling of Oxford Circus’ new diagonal pedestrian crossing, which was modelled on Tokyo’s iconic Shibuya crossing. The Embassy of Japan and Japan Local Government Centre were both in attendance at the ceremony, which was opened by London mayor Boris Johnson:

This project is a triumph for British engineering, Japanese innovation and good old fashioned common sense. The head scratching frustration caused by the previous design is over and we’ve brought one of the world’s greatest crossroads into the twenty first century. Being able to cross in an oblique rather than a perpendicular fashion will make Oxford Circus incredibly more efficient for the millions of pedestrians and road users that use the crossing every year.

A representative of Tokyo Metropolitan Government also conveyed a greeting to the occasion:

On behalf of Governor Ishihara and the citizens of Tokyo, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you and the citizens of the City of Westminster on the opening of the Oxford Circus Diagonal Crossing. We are very happy and honored to hear that this crossing was inspired by the renowned diagonal crossing in Shibuya, Tokyo.

As you may be aware, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Greater London Authority have developed closer relations to address common challenges facing major cities through initiatives such as the establishment of partnership relations and collaboration through the C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group.

I sincerely hope our two cities will continue to inspire each other and build upon our friendly relations in the times ahead.

Regeneration & Renewal has more.

Hello London

That eternal symbol of Japanese kawaii, Hello Kitty, was 35 yesterday. But did you know that she is actually a Londoner?

Local election results

All 25 October 2009

Kawasaki City Mayor
Takao Abe (Independent) 145,688 Elected
Norihiko Fukuda (DPJ) 117,456
Shuichi Hara (Independent) 66,462
Hajime Okamoto (Japan Communist Party) 60,698

Kobe City Mayor
Tatsuo Yada (DPJ) 164,030 Elected
Takahito Kashino (Independent) 156,178
Takahiko Matsuda (Japan Communist Party) 61,765

Miyagi Prefecture Governor
Yoshihiro Murai (Independent) 647,734 Elected
Yasuo Endo (DPJ, SDP, PNP) 174,702
Miyuki Amashi (Japan Communist Party) 51,848

Nagano City Mayor
Shoichi Washizawa (Independent) 58,379 Elected
Noboru Takano (Independent) 57,728
Keisei Kobayashi (Independent) 31,184

Sustainability in Sutton

Last month a visiting party of academics from the Local Public Policy and Human Resource Research Centre (LORC), Ryukoku University, Japan, met with council officers at the London Borough of Sutton to discuss the work of the Sutton Partnership in challenging climate change and promoting local sustainability.

The meeting which took place at Bioregional’s offices in Hackbridge, Sutton, provided an opportunity for a lively discussion about Sutton’s approach, its successes and the challenges it faces. John Craig-Sharples (Head of Policy) and Chris Reid (Head of Environmental Sustainability) outlined how the Sutton Partnership brings together all the key people and organisations in the borough and focuses activities on shared priorities.

John explained how the borough is using Government funding to carry out a range of partnership projects which are linked to Local Area Agreement targets and the borough’s One Planet Living commitments. In this way the Sutton Partnership is actively involved with promoting healthy eating, participation in sport, tackling childhood obesity and mitigating the effects of climate change.

The research team, led by Professor Katsutaka Shiraishi of Ryukoku University, also visited Camden and Islington while in London. The LORC has recognised the UK experience on local governance reform in recent years as ideal “learning material” for Japan, where similar challenges have been tackled. While the team was impressed by the innovative structures and processes associated with Local Strategic Partnerships and Local Area Agreements, it also found that some aspects of the arrangements are time-consuming and complex and identified a need for some streamlining.

At Sutton, John Craig-Sharples suggested that the new Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) process may have re-inforced a focus on delivery but it had also encouraged compliance rather than innovation and a focus on short-term targets rather than long-term priorities. Sutton places great importance on working with its residents to encourage more sustainable lifestyle choices but this is work that takes time to bear fruit.

The LORC research team noted that the Audit Commission is the key player in the CAA and posed the question whether peer review by practitioners might not be more beneficial.

The team felt that the work being done on sustainability was impressive but that the extent to which the structures and processes associated with the CAA and the Local Area Agreement facilitate or hinder local progress on sustainability remains an open question.

Japan Day Seminar 2009

The Recession One Year On: Strategies and Solutions for Local Communities

The Japan Day Seminar is an annual event hosted by the Japan Local Government Centre to raise awareness of Japan and Japanese local government and provide a real-time opportunity to exchange information and ideas on local government policy and best practice concerning both the UK and Japan. Marking the 20th anniversary of the Japan Local Government Centre in London, 2009’s Japan Day Seminar will be held in partnership with the Local Government Association at Local Government House, Westminster, London, on Monday the 23rd of November and will examine the different strategies that local authorities in Japan and the UK have adopted to deal with issues brought on by the recession.

The seminar will begin with three keynote speeches from experts on local government in Japan and the UK and will be followed by a panel discussion.

The seminar will run from 1:30pm to 5:00pm on the 23rd of November, 2009, at Local Government House, Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HZ, and will be followed by a reception. It will be free to attend but registration is necessary. To register email mailbox@jlgc.org.uk indicating your name, address, organisation, affiliation, and whether you will attend the seminar, reception, or both events.

Mayors in Action United Against Poverty

At the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October 2009, Japan Local Government Centre has joined hands with millions of people around the world in the initiative ‘Mayors in Action United Against Poverty’ an initiative of UN Millennium Campaign and UCLG acting together for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This action is a call from Mayors and Local Authorities worldwide to national governments to end extreme poverty by 2015.

Like hundreds of other towns and cities throughout the world, JLGC, a member of the world organisation United Cities and Local Governments, has embraced this initiative and has taken action to remind world leaders of their responsibility in keeping the promises made to the world’s poor.

With these actions, JLGC has contributed to enlarge the number of people around the world that are marking the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 of October by taking action and raising their voices against poverty and for the achievement of the MDGs.

There has been some progress in the achievement of the MDGs in many parts of the world but this has been slow and patchy. Global mobilisation and media awareness is still crucial and Local Governments must be particularly involved, since it is at the local level that the problems addressed by the Millennium Development Goals have to be faced.

In 2010 at the United Nations in New York, progress against the promises to deliver on the MDGs will be assessed by the UN General Assembly. Now in 2009 it is crucial that Local Authorities take action and reassert their role as key actors and advocates in the fight against poverty, in order to be truly listened during the 2010 MDG Review.

JLGC is determined to contribute to these efforts and together with local authorities across the world demonstrate our collective commitment and the crucial importance of local action in confronting global problems by responding to the day-to-day realities of affected communities.

Announcement

Japan Local Government Centre would like to thank all the British organisations who assisted the Tokyo 2016 bid during the campaign and extends its congratulations to Rio de Janeiro in winning its bid to host the games.

In praise of lean

The recently relaunched Local Government Chronicle website carries an interview with ubiquitous management guru John Seddon. Interestingly, it mentions that much of Seddon’s lean management mantra is borrowed from Taiichi Ohno, the much vaunted founder of the Toyota Production System or ‘Just In Time’ process:

What Ohno was doing was to say ‘don’t codify methods, don’t use tools, it’s how you think’.

LGA/IDeA international symposium

2 October 2009, 10:00-15:30
Local Government House, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HZ

Japan Local Government Centre and the Embassy of Japan will be participating in this LGA/IDeA event, aimed at offering international and local perspectives through keynote sessions, panel debate and interactive discussion groups on five key policy areas:

* Climate change
* Tackling and reducing child poverty
* Transforming local services
* Emergency planning
* Maintaining efficiency and innovation with reduced public spend