Questions/Answers

In Japan, population centralization into the Tokyo metropolitan area and the converse decline in population beyond the metropolitan area has long been recognized as an urgent issue for country's sustainable development. Revitalization of the local community and/or economy is still challenging for most of local governments. Our town, Yokoze, is no exception. Yokoze is a small country town that is located only 75 minutes away from Tokyo by train, and fully surrounded by a rich natural environment. The total population in our town has been continuously declining to its current level 8,200, which is predicted to further decrease to only 2,600 in 2060. Moreover, we have limited community resources: cement manufacturing is the main industry and there are some tourism attractions such as agritourism, e.g. fruit picking. Faced with such situation, we concluded that conventional approach such as attracting enterprises or depending only on local resources is not enough for the town's sustainable development. And, we have changed our mindset towards making full use of external resources, combined with our own resources. As a result, our public-private partnership platform,”Yokolabo", was developed. Yokolabo, which means “the Laboratory to collaborate with Yokoze Town”, is a mechanism to take advantage of human resources, goods, finance and information from outside Yokoze. The unique point of Yokolabo is that it encourages proposals from individuals and organizations such as companies, non-profits, and universities from both outside and inside Yokoze WITHOUT setting any specific focus. This synergy creates greater value than could be achieved with local resources only. Since its establishment in 2016, 66 projects has already been accepted from the 115 proposals, and implemented in a relatively short time span of three years. These projects covered a wide range of fields, including a demonstration test and research of technology, health, education, tourism, and transportation, etc.

A mechanism to maximize the collaboration with outside resources which are people, goods, finance, and information is necessary for sustainable development of the town as well as to expand the resources in Yokoze. Yokolabo is a unique platform for revitalizing the local town by cooperation across the boundaries between the town and the others. The various projects implemented through Yokolabo have been addressing many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that could not be achieved with only town’s resources. In the light of these facts, we are strongly confident that Yokolabo is the best practice for Category 2.

The initiative supports technical development and verification test by companies. For instance, we collaborate with companies to conduct tests on the new technologies of video shooting, drone handling and ICT, which aims at making a community more friendly to elderly people and parents of children. This is highly related to the Target 9.5 of Goal 5. Also, many projects are proposed by individuals/organizations in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Consequently, the number of visitors to Yokoze has significantly increased and Yokoze residents can find lots of opportunities to interact with those people, which has never been observed before the launch of Yokolabo. Furthermore, some of the visitors has been returning to Yokoze as tourists and even migrants. From this facts, Yokolabo also contributes to the Target 11.a of Goal 11. Besides, Yokolabo aims to realize the sustainable development of Yokoze by strengthening the partnership. Most projects need cooperation with the local people, companies, and schools. Such partnerships have strongly promoted the success of projects, which highly related to the Target 17.17. Of course, each project is addressing issues in various fields such as education, health, tourism, and transportation. Yokolabo is a mechanism that support the achievement of various Goals by strengthening the partnership.

By implementing projects with people and companies inside and outside the town through Yokolabo, the name recognition of Yokoze has improved dramatically. Success in collaboration through Yokolabo increases media exposure of Yokolabo itself and eventually Yokoze, leading to a virtuous cycle in which projects call on projects and people call on people. Consequently, Yokolabo allows for a successive flow of people, goods, finances, and information into Yokoze. Since the Yokolabo projects are software-type ones, there has not been an increase in new construction in Yokoze area.　Rather some of Yokolabo project implemented renovation/reuse of an unoccupied house and store.

The population of Yokoze continues to decline by about 100 people every year. The town may eventually disappear. For Yokoze to survive, it is essential to make the best use of resources outside the town. The biggest effect of Yokolabo is that people, goods, finance, and information that are not in the town can be brought into the town on an ongoing basis. Also, by keeping our door open toward various entities and people without setting any themes; projects that were never anticipated by the town have now come into existence. In its three years of operation, Yokolabo has been mentioned in the media more than 180 times. Now, Yokoze has started to be recognized as “the place where something new always happen” nationwide. Also, the municipal budget of Yokoze is insufficient for the funding of new projects. For that reason, apart from two projects, we have not accepted projects which require funding from the town. Fortunately, we have received a lot of projects which can be implemented without requiring finance from the town so far. It is because the proponents think that factors such as the credibility and administrative support of Yokoze are more important than financial support.

Gender equality is a basic policy of Yokolabo. Yokoze Town established the “2013 Yokoze Town Gender Equality Plan” and is promoting gender equality comprehensively and systematically to realize the goal of the plan, and Yokolabo takes account of this plan.

The target group: any individual and any organization (company, university, non-profit, etc) from inside/outside Yokoze. First, people in the town can learn and experience what cannot be provided by the town because of resource constraint through various Yokolabo projects implemented by people and companies outside the town. For example, in the “Yokoze Creativity Class”, one of Yokolabo projects, professional designers from Tokyo collaborated with junior high school students in the town to create short films about the issues faced by towns and students. The students became directors and performers, and it became a valuable opportunity to create a piece of art by themselves. This is the advanced case of the Project Based Learning and Schools that are Open to the Society. For people outside the town, the town can provide a place to realize the proponents’ ideas, while getting recognition from local government. Also, to perform efficiently their own project within Yokoze, we can provide 1) the shared workspace with high-speed Wi-Fi, 2) introduction of an appropriate contact person within Yokoze, 3) advertisement opportunity through the official PR magazine and social media, 4) to request support to other organizations and local people, 5) other administrative support such as legal advice.

The social environment in Japan contributed to the founding of Yokolabo. Firstly, there was a growing interest in regional empowerment supported by the private sector. Secondly, there was an interest in introducing new IT to public institutions. Thirdly, there was a new market trend like sharing economy. However, public companies hardly find an appropriate contact in local governments because they have no connection with them, even if they can provide excellent service and technology. We thought that the opportunity for collaboration between local governments and private sectors would increase by providing a platform to enable those entities to connect. So, we designated specific division for Yokolabo in the town office. Yokolabo accepts proposal every month, and the mayor of the town decides upon the adoption or rejection based on the advice from the evaluation committee which is held monthly. The committee chaired by the vice mayor of the town is composed of all managers of the town office, the town council member, the head of the tourism association, the head of the branch of the regional-based bank, the chamber of commerce, and the representatives of the residents of Yokoze. Besides, the current mayor and the vice mayor of the town are with the background in financial institutions and have sufficient experience in project evaluation and corporate valuation. Through these processes and structure, the town ensures administrative transparency and full accountability. Yokolabo invites a wide range of proposals and does not set particular themes related to the town’s grasped issues, which contributes to lower the barriers and collect a wide range of ideas. Furthermore, in our evaluation process, we attach special importance to the propose plan rather than the past achievement. Therefore, we call for a proposal for any kind of issue, fully opening for an individual to a big enterprise.

Since many of Yokolabo projects are often intangible, and the content and results are difficult for the benefits to be understood by the townspeople. To overcome the difficulty, we have been actively disseminating information through the town’s monthly magazine and social media. Fortunately, there are also many opportunities to get exposure in television and print media, and we expect that the number of visitors and events will continuously increase in the future, which will promote the visibility of the project and the understanding of the townspeople.

We designed Yokolabo as “open platform with speed” to initiate new and innovative projects. “Open” and “Speedy” are the keys why we are confident that Yokolabo is innovative. In general, ordinary public-private partnership projects in Japan are formed based on a specific theme designated by the public sector, and it takes long time to start. On the other hand, Yokolabo widely opens its door to invite various project proposals without setting any themes. Also, we make a very quick decision for adoption, so minimum one month is enough to start project.

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Since its beginning three years ago, Yokolabo, has attracted attention as a unique public-private partnership. It has been mentioned more than 180 times in the media and the town has hosted more than 50 lectures. Many visitors have come as a result to learn about our experience. Some of the local governments who have visited Yokoze Town have started their own public-private collaboration initiative based on the idea of Yokolabo.

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We do not require local government funding to implement the Yokolabo projects. So far, only two of 66 projects were financed with a public financed subsidy. Four staff of the Planning and Finance division of the town are in charge of Yokolabo and projects which are implemented under the initiative. The town can provide its municipal facilities, information and support for the requirements necessary to implement the projects.

Regarding time, we strive to fill the gap between what the private sector wants to do now and what the governments can do. Utilizing the characteristics of a small town, a Yokolabo project can be started in a minimum of one month from the initial proposal to the commencement of the project. This is the important factor in attracting private. Progressing everything quickly is necessary to make Yokolabo efficient in the use of time. Also, at the evaluation committee, each manager evaluates the impact of project implementation, so that the town can work continuously and sustainably, without budgetary provision.

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The survey report published by the Bugin Economic Research Institute, the think tank of Musashino Bank, evaluated the achievements of Yokolabo. Besides, every project/measure of the town including Yokolabo is put on the agenda of the town council and evaluated by the council members.

Bugin Economic Research Institute conducted field visit, analysis, and interview to evaluate Yokolabo. Also, the settlement of accounts of FY2018 including Yokolabo was evaluated and approved by the town council.

One of the key findings from the above-mentioned report is as follows; “Yokoze Town increase their speed to match what the privates want by accepting and evaluating proposals every month. This affect positively around the local governments to renew its awareness and speed their works up.” In a conventional public-private partnership, it commonly takes long time for a process of application-screening-decision-execution after budget securing, typically more than one year or more. This could be a substantially serious problem for the applicants particularly for a start-up company because they need quick outcomes under keen competition. On the other hand, since Yokolabo calls for a submission in a monthly cycle, we make a very quick decision for adoption within minimum 1 month. This is great advantage over the applicants’ potential competitor. Because of a small town, the evaluation committee is moderate size, leading to a quick decision. Generally it is hard to change traditional “public mindset” of local governments, such as “following a precedent” and/or “sectionalism”. However, we believe that we can overcome the usual attitude of public institutions by utilizing Yokolabo to promote partnership, with its speed and openness.

Yokolabo projects are being implemented in collaboration with individuals, companies, universities, etc., Thanks to this mechanism, the horizontal cooperative relationship has spread dramatically. The people and companies who conducted projects through Yokolabo have performed as a catalyst to develop our further relationship with external resources. Also, coordination and cooperation between other divisions of the town office are necessary. The planning and finance division in charge of Yokolabo implements projects in cooperation with other sections depending on the field. One example is the “pediatric online project” of which the health division is in charge of. Since there is no pediatrics in the town, we have developed a system that allows townspeople to easily consult pediatrics putside the town with smartphone apps. Besides, Yokolabo was established with a subsidy from the government under the Regional Revitalization Initiative of the Cabinet Office. For this reason, Yokolabo has a strong affinity for initiatives related to regional revitalization throughout Japan.

Yokolabo is closely involved in all of “collaboration, engagement, partnerships, and inclusion”. First, Yokolabo is the mechanism to collaborate with various people, company and institution inside and outside of Yokoze. “Collaboration” is the essential for Yokolabo. Also, Yokolabo projects have been implemented with the cooperation of the townspeople. Based on the concept “leaving no one behind “, we are encouraging the proponents to include various stakeholders. For many elderly people living in Yokoze Town, we conducted a demonstration test of next-generation mobility (electronic kickboard) that can be used safely by elderly people. Also, the arts created by persons with disabilities were exhibited at old school through Yokolabo project “Art session in Yokoze”. Beside, several projects provide unique opportunity of education, such as job experience class for kids and data analysis course for elementary school students.

Until now, we have implemented the projects with full respect for what the proposer wants to do. For this reason, many projects are not directly related to the “recognized town issues”, but the town’s value “realize new idea in Yokoze” or “supporting the challenge of people and company” is becoming clearer and more probable. Furthermore, a wide range of proposals made it possible for the town to grasp new issues that were not noticed by the town. In the future, we believe that we can further promote the revitalization of the town by increasing the number of projects that directly assist with the issues of the town while keeping our door open.