Summary report of the Center for Climate Change Adaptation project at the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) Summer Open to the public in 2021

The National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) held its "Summer open to the public - Online! The Environment" on Saturday, July 17.

However, due to the effects of the corona disaster in 2020, we had to cancel this event, and in 2021 we decided to try a new approach and hold the event entirely online.

The Center for Climate Change Adaptation exhibited two online programs, the "Climate Change Adaptation Quiz" and the "Mystery of Climate Change Adaptation" Online Experience Workshop, which were enjoyed by participants from various regions. The following is a summary of the day's events.

Climate Change Adaptation Quiz

We exhibited online quizzes for upper elementary school students, junior high school students, and high school students at different levels to deepen their understanding of "climate change" and "adaptation. The quizzes are designed to be easy for anyone to take, with answers displayed on a circle and X scale. Those who experienced the quiz until the end were able to download a nice certificate of completion.

Top Page of Climate Change Adaptation Quiz

A scene from the Climate Change Adaptation Quiz page for middle school students

The content of the quiz was so dense that even the staff of the Adaptation Center could get it wrong if they were not careful.

This quiz content will be made freely available on A-PLAT in the future. We hope that you will be able to use it as an introductory content for learning about climate change and adaptation in school education and local environmental education courses and seminars.

"The Mystery of Climate Change Adaptation" Online Experience Workshop

Mystery is a learning method originally developed in the field of geography education in the U.K. Based on a mysterious question, the group discusses the relationship between about 20 cards that seem to be related to a certain theme and logically arranges them. At the end of the program, the results of the group work are presented to the whole group and questions are asked. This program has been evaluated to be effective in fostering the independent learning of the participants and their ability for systems thinking.

Last year, the Center for Climate Change Adaptation, together with Ms. Keiko Takahashi of the ESD Design Institute for the Future, jointly developed "The Mystery of Climate Change Adaptation" to learn about the impacts of and adaptation to climate change, and offered it on A-PLAT. This time, we arranged a workshop to experience the "Mystery of Climate Change Adaptation" online for a limited number of participants.

This program is open to high school students and above, and participants are invited to apply in advance. On the day of the workshop, the first session will be held from 13:00 to 14:30, and the second session will be held from 15:30 to 17:00. The workshop was held in the following flow.

Due to the short publicity period, the number of participants was small, but we were able to attract a wide variety of people from all over Japan, from Hokkaido in the north to Aichi Prefecture in the south, including high school and university students interested in climate change, local climate change prevention activity promotion centers, and climate change prevention activity promoters. The number of participants was as follows. The number of participants was as follows.

• First workshop: 13:00-14:45 (actual) Number of participants: 14
• 2nd workshop: 15:30-17:15 approx. (actual) Number of participants: 12

Presentation of the results of the group work.

Of the total of 26 participants in the first and second sessions, 25 people answered the questionnaire, excluding one person who left during the session for some reason.

When asked to rate their satisfaction with the workshop on a 5-point scale, 100% of the respondents answered "5: Very satisfied" and "4: Somewhat satisfied," giving the workshop a very high rating.

We received the following comments, requests, and suggestions for improvement regarding what was good about participating in the workshop, our impressions, and suggestions for improvement.

• Evaluation of the fact that the event was held online, which allowed people from far away to participate, and its advantages.
• Evaluation and benefits of having participants from various regions and of various ages in the group, which stimulated discussion and dialogue, broadened the range of topics, and deepened learning.
• Evaluation of the staff's carefulness and skill in facilitating the group, etc.
• Evaluation of the active learning elements incorporated into the program, such as deepening learning by having participants independently consider the relationship between each event, etc.
• Possibility of using them as educational materials for disseminating and raising awareness of global warming prevention activities in each region and as lecture materials at universities, and points to note when using them.
• The need to learn how to use Google Spreadsheets, suggestions for improvements and innovations such as the number and size of screens, cards, arrows, and other materials, introduction of useful applications for other online workshops, etc.
• Requests for extended time for group work, etc.
• How to strike a balance between the mystery element and the prospect of the workshop's conclusion, and requests for detailed summaries and explanations.
• Local anti-global warming activities, seminars for citizens and businesses, requests for collaboration with school education, etc.
• Enhancement of the appeal of this workshop to the general public, on-site implementation, and requests to hold the workshop again, etc.

In the questionnaire, many participants gave a favorable evaluation of the workshop content, but we also received a variety of requests and suggestions for improvements and innovations in the way the program was conducted and its content, as well as for more opportunities to utilize the workshop. We will make use of these suggestions to improve the program in the future. Thank you very much for your cooperation.

We hope that this workshop will be the first step for the participants to promote awareness of climate change adaptation in their communities and schools.