- TOP
- About the Project
Message
In today's Japan, we are seeking a new type of wealth that goes beyond economic growth. Until now, "regional wealth" has mostly been measured using indices like economic conditions, labor conditions and population dynamics. However, recently, psychological variables, such as longevity and life satisfaction, have also gained attention.
On the other hand, there is no comprehensive indicator that can measure what conditions create a sustainable sense of happiness among people within a region.
To create a sustainable regional community that is based on a mutual climate of protecting and growing the region, and also involves citizens cooperating with people outside the community, we must create a society that can sustainably foster regional happiness.
Therefore, this project, with the assistance of various members of the community, aims to develop indicators that can contribute to a new way of creating places that can be passed down to the next generation, one that also retains the culture and values that have historically fostered the region.
Our objective is not to compare the average values of indicators between regions, but rather to analyze the strengths and weaknesses within each region and to invigorate intra-regional ties and connect them to forces that promote change.
Principal Investigator
Yukiko Uchida
Associate Professor, Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University
Specialty: Cultural Psychology and Social Psychology
Our Activities
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Multidimensional indicators of regional happiness
Development and results of testingWe will develop a tool that can provide a multidimensional and multi-faceted evaluation of the mutually constitutive cycle between individuals and the environment, and then verify the effects of that tool.
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Verification of the effects that various aspects related to
happiness have on the sustainability of societyWe will verify the effects of happiness (its average levels, degree of variance, and how levels covary/correlate between residents) on regional and social sustainability.
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Investigating the effects of local characteristics
We will verify the effects that cultural values and the ecolo
gical environment have on local residents’ happiness and social ties.
Publications and Presentations
Information about journal publications, books, conference presentations, media appearances and lectures by project team members can be found here.
Project Members
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Principal InvestigatorYukiko Uchida
Professor, Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University -
Head of Psychological Measurement TeamKosuke Takemura
Professor, Department of Economics, Shiga University -
Head of Fact-Finding Survey TeamMasahi Komori
Professor, Osaka Electro-Communication University -
Head of Environmental Survey TeamTakeshi Ise
Associate Professor, Field Science Education and Research Center, Kyoto University
Since 2015, this research has been promoted as part of the research and development project, "Designing a Sustainable Society through Intergenerational Co-creation", which is run by the Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society (RISTEX) of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).
