{"id":144,"date":"2021-05-31T05:24:03","date_gmt":"2021-05-31T05:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kyotogaidai.org\/ukyoxkufs\/?page_id=144"},"modified":"2021-09-29T13:33:26","modified_gmt":"2021-09-29T13:33:26","slug":"details-of-this-project","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/kyotogaidai.org\/ukyoxkufs\/details-of-this-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Details"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UKYO VOICES Project<\/h1>\n<\/div><\/section>\n
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About the project<\/h2>\n

Concept: Good Neighbors<\/h3>\n
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The overall concept of this project was to forge a better understanding between the people of Ukyo-ku and the KUFS community. The key to being good neighbors is to first have good communication. This initiative allowed both sides to engage with each other and share thoughts and ideas for the mutual benefit of all. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the restrictions that were placed on extra-curricular activities, we had to follow some special precautions with regards to our interactions. This meant spending a good deal of time online rather than in face-to-face meetings, which required our team to be quite creative in preparing for, and conducting, the interviews for the project; in the end, some were in person and some were done on Zoom. Despite these obstacles, all 12 interviews were completed on deadline, several outings were made to gather photographic material, and a great website was created to bring all the pieces together.<\/p>\n

The student project team consisted of six pairs of interviewers, who conducted two interviews per pair, two website developers, and two photographers. The students were drawn from three different departments in the university as well as from Kyoto Gaidai Nishi High School and given the opportunity to work with someone that was new and unfamiliar to them. This could have been more than a little challenging, but each of the pairings made a tremendous effort to work through the process together and managed to overcome most hurdles to complete their tasks. The faculty and administration project team of around seven or eight members were positioned to provide logistical support and advice throughout the process, but tried to allow the students as much autonomy as possible in regard to interactions with interviewees and producing the results of their activities. The commitment and professionalism shown by this team surely went a long way to ensuring the success of the whole project. Likewise, without the wonderful level of cooperation shown by the people of Ukyo-Ku, who warmly welcomed our students, and the staff of the Ukyo Ward Office who provided excellent logistical and promotional support, this project would never have been made possible. Their willingness to engage with us at every turn was very much appreciated, and we would like to express our thanks to each and every one of them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Overall, this was a demanding but rewarding project to be part of, and a fine example of a good, student-centered, community engagement activity, bringing together elements from academia, business, local government and the local community.\u00a0 This kind of initiative will surely become more numerous going forward, and should be seen as an excellent platform for meaningful interaction between people from all walks of life, regardless of age, gender or position. I would like to share here now an outline of the three main parts of the project that make up the website content, as well as the work involved in two key components in the creation of that content.<\/p>\n

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Living Histories<\/h2>\n

For the Living Histories part of the project, it was agreed that we should try to interview as broad\u00a0a\u00a0generational\u00a0cross-section of Ukyo-ku\u00a0residents as possible, from different backgrounds and places of residence, to get a feeling for the way that the ordinary people of the Ward feel,\u00a0and think,\u00a0about the place they call home. Once again, the same six pairs of students went out to conduct the interviews and subsequently produced reports on these interactions for placement on the project website:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n