Risks and Opportunities in Japan: Local Communities Confronting Demographic Change and Climate Change

The sustainability of Japanese society depends on how we deal with the risks and opportunities in the age of a declining birth rate and an aging population. Securing the future of local communities through innovative ideas and business schemes is being considered as one important strategy. Recently many distinguished social entrepreneurs have tackled and solved the social problems in respective communities with local stakeholders and achieved social change. One related area is renewable energy through its contribution to regional value added. This workshop will focus on exploring the following questions; how do social entrepreneurs start and manage their business, how do they create and diffuse social innovation, how do they build collaboration with stakeholders in communities, and how do they make an impact in the local society? How do Japanese and German communities try to exploit the potential of renewable energy for regional economic development?