Research
New Faculty Collaborative Publications on Site-Based Experiential Conservation Learning – Dr. Yoji Natori
Dr. Yoji Natori, associate professor in AIU’s Global Studies Program, has published two collaborative and linked works on site-based experience for conservation and university education.
Journal Article: “Conservation education for sustainable development through field internship at NGOs.”
Along with former colleagues, Dr. Natori published an article in Current Research in Environmental Sustainability.
This article reassessed the impact of the 2018-2019 SATO-YAMA-UMI Project that provided internship opportunities for Japanese youth to work with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on actual conservation projects in Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, New Caledonia and Samoa, from the perspective 5-6 years after the internship activities took place. It attempts to answer the questions: What are the benefits of on-site internship, as opposed to classroom learning? What effects have the on-site internships had in the career of the participants? What program elements would facilitate youth participation in conservation?
The article demonstrates that the field internship helped participants to gain perspectives that would be difficult to obtain once they enter the corporate system. NGOs organizing and presenting field internship programs can significantly lower the barriers that impede many youth members to take the critical first step, and they can play a significant role in inter-sectoral collaboration in human resource development. The article also emphasizes the potential of collaborations among NGOs, private sector and academia in enhancing such efforts.
Abstract and Link
Conservation is necessary to achieve sustainable development, and building capacity of youth and having them participate in conservation is an urgent imperative. The SATO-YAMA-UMI Project was a conservation project operated in six countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The project conducted an internship program for Japanese youth in fiscal year 2018–2019, whose impacts were assessed by members of implementing organizations and former interns in 2024 through online questionnaire and a focus group discussion. The assessment sought answers to: What are the benefits of on-site internship, as opposed to classroom learning? What effects have the on-site internship had in the career of the participants? What program elements would facilitate youth participation in conservation? We found that the field internship provides participants with opportunities to see the environmental issues in their totality without screening, and to gain perspectives that will be difficult to obtain once in the corporate system. Results supported the theory of change that direct experiences lead to enhanced engagement in conservation, such that the participants would play stronger roles as agents of change in the society. Non-governmental organizations organizing and presenting field internship program can significantly lower the barriers that impede many youth members to take the critical step, and they can play a significant role in inter-sectoral collaboration in human resource development. We discuss the role of conservation organizations in mobilizing youth as agents of change for sustainable futures, both through their own activities and in collaborations with private sector and academia.
Read the full open access text here.
Commentary: “Project-based learning as a mode of environmental education towards sustainable development”
Based on the lessons learned from the research above, Dr. Natori produced a commentary on the winter project-based learning (PBL) course that AIU offers in Malaysia in the latest issue of the Japanese Journal of Environmental Education, with his Malaysian counterpart, Dr. Tini Maizura Mohtar of Universiti Malaysia Sabah. PBL courses are a vital means to provide a direct exposure to conservation realities in a course-centered curriculum at AIU. The authors believe that the discussion of challenges in the commentary would be applicable to offering of many international, collaborative courses.
Abstract and Link
Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Universiti Technologi Malaysia and Akita International University have been offering a project-based learning (PBL) course, focusing on the green economy in Sabah, Malaysia. The course objectives include intercultural academic exchange, and multi-disciplinary understanding and problem-solving of the real-world green economy issues on the actual sites around Kinabalu Park and Crocker Range Park. Students work in groups with members from three universities. Students evaluate the course’s academic, intercultural and interpersonal experiences highly. We discuss challenges in offering this course in terms of the balance between duration and costs, amount of guidance and students’ discretion, academic and personal experiences, and issues related to risks. We end with a discussion on the value of the PBL for biodiversity conservation in Sabah and potential future improvements.