News

2024.9.3

Final Debriefing Session held for JICA Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project (August 8, Venue: Niamey City)

The final debriefing session for the JICA Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project (Grassroots Cooperation Support Type) “Greening Activities with Organic Waste in Niamey Metropolitan Area of Republic of Niger,” was held. The project started in September 2021, and selected three areas, total of 10.8 hectares in the Niamey Metropolitan where the soil degradation was especiall...

Activities

2024.8.29

Cooperation with Kyoto City Zoo in “Museum Studies Practicum”

On August 1, Noda, Aoike, PL Oyama and Sub-PL Shioya assisted in the Kyoto City Zoo who offer “Museum Studies Practice” course to university students who seek job opportunities in fields of museum and zoos. The course has been led by our joint researcher Dr. Yumi Yamanashi (Kyoto City Zoo, Center for Creatures, Learning, and Research). 　Many of the students were art majors,...

Activities

2024.8.26

Inauguration of the Lusaka Compost Research Center, Zambia.

Since 2022, Oyama Project Leader (PL)has been building a research center in the West region of Lusaka, Zambia. In August 2024, researchers Utako Aoike and Kentaro Noda of RIHN joined at the center. The center will receive food scraps and vegetable scraps from markets and restaurants as pig feed. And the pig’s manure will be utilized through the dry composting process. Lusaka...

#Zambia

Activities

2024.8.20

Figs were served as sweets at the Westin Miyako Hotel

Since March 2024, project members (mainly Oyama PL, Shioya Sub-PL, and researcher Aoike) have been attending to the composting process at Westin Miyako Hotel every Tuesday and Thursday. On August 1, we had the chance to see how the fig plants which the compost had been applied. 　This summer has been very hot, and the figs ripened a little late due to this. The ripening seas...

Activities

2024.7.31

Oyama PL gives a lecture at Sonobe Junior High School

As a collaborative project with the Kyoto Prefectural Board of Education, Project Leader(PL) Oyama gave a lecture at Sonobe Junior High School. The lecture title was “Understanding Desertification”. PL explained about the problem of desertification and land degradation, which is becoming more and more serious around the world. He also talked about the way to solve the proble...

News

2024.7.27

“How to Start a Dry Compost” was posted on our website

We have named our composting method Chikyuken Compost (Dry composting type). The materials are soil, rice bran, and chicken manure that can be found anywhere. Soil can be from a garden or field, or soil from used flower pots, soil purchased at a home improvement store, etc. Rice bran can be obtained free of charge from coin-operated rice mills. Chicken manure can also be pur...

News

2024.7.25

The Westin Miyako Hotel Kyoto’s composting activity was featured on the Miyako Hotels & Resorts website.

Our composting activity at Westin Miyako Hotel Kyoto, was introduced in the Miyako Hotels & Resorts website, as part of the hotel’s SDGs initiative – the realization of a decarbonized, recycling-oriented society. Project members compost the leftover food scraps from the hotel every Tuesday and Thursday. Composting leftover food scraps (Miyako Hotels&Resor...

Report

2024.7.22

7th Workshop was held at the Lecture Room of the Institute for Global Environmental Studies

The 7th meeting was held on July 20-21, 2024, at the Lecture Room of RIHN. Joint researchers participating in the Project, presented their research activities of the previous year and plans for the current year. After each presentation of about 15 to 20 minutes and discussion were held. Every year around the time of the traditional Gion Festival, we hold a workshop where joi...

Report

2024.7.9

Project team’s 8th study session (July 8th)

Shioya, Akiyo, Presentation: Environmental education using composting as a subject in elementary schools in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan Oyama, S. Literature Review: Nakai, H., Ito, T., Omura, M. and Suguro, G. (eds.),(2015) Compost Science: The Forefront of Research in the Age of Environment, Tohoku University Press. Noda, K. Article Review 1) Hirayasu, H., Seyama, T., Wachi, N....

Report

2024.7.2

Project team’s 7th study session (July 1st)

Aoike, Utako Overview of agriculture in project target countries. Literature Review: Murdock G. P. (1960) Staple subsistence crops of Africa. Geographical Review. 50(4): 523-540. Oyama, Shuichi, Article Review: Naito, M. and Kusube, T. 2000. The current situation of bio-recycling in Japan and obstacles to reconstruction. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management 11(5):...

Report

2024.6.25

Project team’s 6th study session (24th June)

Noda Kentaro “Article review Azim et al. 2018 Composting parameters and compost quality: a literature review Org. Agri. 8:141-158” Seera Georgina “Composting in Uganda: A review of literature and media”

Awards & Media Coverage

2024.6.7

Composting class at elementary schools in Kyoto featured in the Rakutai Shimpo newspaper

As a collaborative project between the Kyoto Prefectural Board of Education and RIHN, Akiyo Shioya and Utako Aoike are giving lessons as a part of the Integrated Learning Program, titled “Let’s make compost from food waste” at elementary schools in Kyoto Prefecture. During class, 5th grade students mix food scraps disposed from school lunches into the soil to make comp...

#Composting lessons #Media

Report

2024.6.6

Introduction of “Compost Tester”

A new analysis tool has arrived! A compost ripeness determiner (FHK; Fujihira Industry Co., LTD). This will allow us to measure the maturity of the food waste compost as compost.

Activities

2024.6.6

Keynote speech at the Green Purchasing Symposium 2024 (4th June)

Shuichi Oyama, PI, gave a keynote speech at the Green Purchasing Symposium of the Shiga Green-activity Network (SGN). The title of his speech was “From Waste to Resources: Three Conditions for Waste Valorization to Create New Value.

#Invited lecture

Report

2024.6.4

Project team’s 5th study session (3rd June)

The fifth study session was held on Monday, 3rd June. Akiyo Shioya reviewed a paper by N. Horie and K. Hagiwara (2004), titled ‘A study on Urban Green Open Space for Organic Waste Recycling’, JSCE Magazine Environmental Systems Research 32:101-109. Utako Aoike reviewed papers examining the composition of waste composition in the research countries.

Activities

2024.6.3

Delivery of compost to a fig farmer in Joyo City

Compost made from food scraps from the Westin Miyako Hotel Kyoto was delivered to a fig farmer’s field in Joyo City. Our team explained its properties and usage and discussed its application with the farmer.

Activities

2024.6.3

Class on Composting at two elementary schools

Akiyo Shioya, Co-PI and Utako Aoike, started composting lessons at two elementary schools in Ide town, Kyoto. The first lesson at each school lasted 45 minutes, during which they gently explained the significance, purpose and procedure of the class to the elementary school children. They prepared the soil so that the children could start adding food scraps to the compost fro...

#Composting lessons

Report

2024.5.31

Online project study group held (28th & 30th May)

On Tuesday, 28th and Thursday, 30th May 2024, online research meetings were held separately. The project co-researchers, four project researchers and three new co-researchers participated. We discussed the progress of the research to date, comments from the external evaluator EREC, and future issues and research policies.

Activities

2024.5.23

Lecture at Agri Seika (Oyama PI, 21st May)

Shuichi Oyama, PI, gave a lecture at Agri Seika (Hana Kobo), Seika-cho, Kyoto on 21 May 2024. The title of his lecture was ‘Expectations and obstacles for a society with an environmentally sound material cycle: from initiatives in Africa and Kyoto’.

#Invited lecture

Report

2024.5.21

Project team’s 4th study session (20th May)

The fourth study session was held on Monday, 20th May. Shuichi Oyama PI introduced the ’Usage of a data logger instrument, and the acquisition of soil data on composting’. Teruya Maehata made a presentation about ‘Birds inhabiting tea gardens and surrounding areas in Ujitawara-cho’.

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