LABS FOR RAINWATER SOCIETY

Junior High School

The Hiik River flows through the school district of Yusen Junior High School, a public school operated by the city of Fukuoka, and in 2009 the area suffered flood damage. Interchange with junior high school students living near the Zenpukuji River in Tokyo in August 2016 led to a total of four workshops being held by June 2017. Bearing in mind the concept of rainwater society, students shared ideas of fun methods of collecting and using rainwater that would also be effective in suppressing rainfall outflow. The ideas were collected and organized to create clear, visual plane.

Simple outflow suppression effectiveness calculations carried out together with the students found that these plans, if implemented, could reduce outflow by 82% in the event of 100 mm of rain.

In November 2017, participating students gave a presentation of the plan to the entire student body. In order to implement the plan, in October, the students planted grass in the middle garden, which suffered from poor water drainage. This activity was proposed by the school. Furthermore, in March 2018, together with the students, we decided on the installation location and usage method of a rainwater tank, and then installed and began using a one rainwater tank.

In 2018, five workshops were held. Participants deliberated regarding the installation of a simple rain garden in the school's middle garden, and in October this work was carried out, using a DIY approach. Members of Mizbering Hiikawa, the parent organization for activities relating to the watershed, participated in this rain garden creation work, fostering interchange between students and the community at large.

At a student council meeting, school design based on the rainwater society concept was discussed, and we confirmed that progress was made in coordination with the school.

Furthermore, until this point activities were primarily carried out by members of the student council, but in February 2019, a new group, the Amamizu, was established. 43 students joined the group and began carrying out activities. The school is managing planting and holding study sessions on its own, and in March the Amamizu conducted a study session regarding rainfall runoff and a workshop on infiltration capability measurement.

Residents of the watershed that were members of Mizbering Hiikawa also participated, presenting the implementation work that they had performed and the contents of activities by Mizbering Hiikawa.

 In 2017, a questionnaire was administered to students participating in the project. Responses were submitted by 9 of the 15 students that had played central roles in the project. These results showed that participation in the project's activities increased the students awareness of and interest in rainwater and water circulation. Respondents also indicated that actually implementing the plans they had come up created a greater familiarity and stronger sense of connection to rainwater society. By creating plans in study sessions and then implementing those plans, participants improved their understanding of rainwater society and increased their awareness and interest in water circulation.