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Japan Institute of Eventology which explores the significance, methods, and effectiveness of events, has promoting three TEAM EXPO 2025 Co-Creation Challenges based on the participation and collaboration of "Global Citizens" with GISPRI (Global Industrial and Social Progress Research Institute), a general incorporated foundation that is the successor to Expo 2005 Aichi, Japan.
All of the Co-Creation Challenges we have promoted contribute to achieving the SDGs, which are the goals of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, and inherit the important concept of "citizen participation" realized at Expo 2005 Aichi, Japan.
The Program will hold "The EXPO 2025 Global Citizen Forum on Water and Watersheds for All Lives" (organized by: the Promotion Committee for the Global Citizen Forum on Water and Watershed; co-organized by: the Japan Institute of Eventology, GISPRI (Global Industrial and Social Progress Research Institute), RCE Chubu, and the Chubu University International ESD/SDGs Center) to showcase the results of three years of dialogue forums that have been promoted in Aichi, Osaka, and Tokyo. At the forum, experts from international organizations and other sectors will be invited to discuss approaches to building a sustainable society with a focus on water and watersheds.

【Reflection】
This project has, over a three-year period beginning in fiscal year 2022, convened a series of forums in Japan’s three major metropolitan areas—Aichi-Nagoya (Chubu region), Osaka (Kansai region), and Tokyo (Kanto region). These forums have brought together a wide range of stakeholders for ongoing dialogue. Each of these cities is located on a large bay and is surrounded by an expansive watershed area.
Through dialogue conducted during the three-year series of forums, we have identified key issues and discussed collaborative solutions under three principal themes: (1) Water and the Environment, (2) Water and Primary Industries, and (3) Water and Culture. These discussions reaffirmed the fundamental importance of water in sustaining life and the understanding that human beings, supported by nature, are inherently part of ecosystems centered on watersheds—or water-regions.
Particularly emphasized was the necessity of adopting an integrated approach to sustainability challenges—centered on water—by using the watersheds, especially those river basins flowing into enclosed coastal seas, as a basic unit of analysis and action. The project also explored a multidimensional conception of water-regions, not only as an aggregation of multiple river basins but also as three-dimensional spaces including groundwater systems. This perspective incorporates both the "River Water Cultural Sphere" and the "Well Water Cultural Sphere," and proposes a new direction for future society: the creation of sustainable regional models that respect ecological and cultural diversity.
The theme of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan is “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” Its sub-themes are: “Saving Lives,” “Empowering Lives,” and “Connecting Lives.” The key achievement of this forum lies in its ability to make an international proposal that both aspires to the creation of a “Water-Region Civilization” and contributes to “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” This was accomplished by initiating efforts to address priority issues aligned with the three sub-themes of the Expo, with a particular focus on water as the source of life and the water-region as the foundation of human habitation. These efforts are grounded in the spirit of “Nature’s Wisdom,” the guiding theme of Expo 2005 Aichi, Japan. The project proposes initiatives that align with the three sub-themes of the Expo and offer specific pathways toward a sustainable future:

Connecting Lives: Designing settlement patterns and land use in water-regions
Saving Lives: Strengthening inter-regional collaboration within watersheds to enhance resilience and adapt to the climate crisis.
Empowering Lives: Promoting human resource development and the transmission of water-related cultural heritage to realize a sustainable future society.

【Post EXPO Initiatives】
The “Water-Region Civilization” advocated by this project represents a new civilizational perspective aimed at building a sustainable society in which humans and nature coexist harmoniously, grounded in the Japanese spirit of Jinen—which sees humans and nature as inseparable. Moving forward, it is essential to translate this vision into reality by implementing the outcomes of prior dialogues in practical contexts and progressively advancing social design tailored to the unique characteristics of each water-region.
In particular, the watersheds of multiple rivers flowing into enclosed water bodies (water-regions) are to be recognized as spatial and social units, and their interconnections—from upstream to downstream, from urban areas to agricultural, mountainous, and fishing communities, and from surface water to groundwater— should be addressed and managed in a comprehensive and systematic manner.
In order to "connect all lives," this initiative promotes the exchange of natural, human, and material resources distributed across urban and rural areas, while fundamentally reexamining settlement patterns and land use. Through these efforts, adaptation to the climate crisis and resilience against disaster risks will be strengthened, enabling the establishment of regional cooperation frameworks that “save lives.”
Moreover, by respecting the diverse water cultures within water-regions—namely, both the river-based cultural sphere and the well-based cultural sphere—and by promoting the transmission of locally rooted knowledge and techniques, as well as the development of human resources, we aim to foster future generations who are capable of understanding all forms of diversity and contributing to a society grounded in coexistence and dedicated to peacebuilding. In doing so, this approach ensures cultural sustainability that “empowers life.”
In light of this vision, we seek to carry forward the spirit of “Nature’s Wisdom,” the theme of Expo 2005 Aichi, Japan, and dynamically develop our proposal as a living legacy that embodies the theme of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan: "Designing Future Society for Our Lives." Through this endeavor, we aim to advance international policy dialogue and the sharing of knowledge, while disseminating a new vision of civilization based on river basin regions on a global scale. Domestically, by rotating forums across various water-regions and publishing related materials, this initiative aims to develop into a nationwide movement. Through this comprehensive set of activities, the project aspires to establish a sustainable and inclusive social model that looks beyond the post-SDGs era toward a future 100 years hence.

Global Industrial and Social Progress Research Institute (GISPRI)

RCE Chubu　(Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development)

International ESD/SDGs Center, Chubu University