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The story of Mother Earth will present to you accounts of experiences associated with the soil, both in Japan and abroad. The first installment in a four-part series is the story of Kosuzu Ishizaka, who journeyed through northern Italy.<\/p>\n
Part 1 <\/strong>: Learning sustainability by doing Part 2 :\u00a0<\/strong>Rivetto\u2019s vineyard-garden in the heart of the Italian Barolo region (Piedmont) Part 3 :\u00a0<\/strong>Eta Beta, the social cooperative rebuilding people\u2019s lives through work (Bologna)<\/p>\n Part 4 :\u00a0<\/strong>Self-sufficient Venetian communities created edible gardens all over the island(Venice)<\/p>\n Kosuzu Ishizaka was raised surrounded by the nature of Kunuginomori<\/a> forest and Santome Konjaku Mura<\/a> and with environmental values embedded in her upbringing. Her mother, Noriko Ishizaka, is Ishizaka Sangyo\u2019s second-generation president and as the leader of the state-of-the art recycling and organic farming company, she\u2019s profoundly committed to sustainability \u2013 both in her work, and at home. Now a young woman in her 20s and a recent university graduate, Kosuzu Ishizaka is ready to nurture the seeds that have been planted in her to cultivate a new path for herself.<\/p>\n A key step in this journey is to \u201csee the world \u2026 to bring new perspectives to our company,\u201d she says. In her quest to continue educating herself, Kosuzu Ishizaka decided to travel across Northern Italy in September 2022, but not as a tourist. She embarked on an educational journey organized by JINOWA<\/a>, an international consortium of businesses and entities committed to soil regeneration and health. During the trip, Kosuzu was able to explore what it means to put sustainable ideas into practice by visiting projects rooted in a sense of place and community led by visionaries such as biodynamic winemaker Enrico Rivetto in Serralunga d\u2019Alba, recycled glass artist Joan Crous in Bologna and community farmer Michele Savorgnano in Venice. Learning<\/p>\n Photo by Masato Sezawa<\/p><\/div>\n When she visited Rivetto\u2019s biodynamic<\/a> winery in one of Italy\u2019s most famous wine regions, the Langhe of Piedmont, Kosuzu saw children happily running in and around rows of vividly-coloured grape vines surrounded by a myriad other plants. The Rivetto winery<\/a>, in fact, isn\u2019t only home to highly biodiverse vineyards and fields of many different crops, but also to an elementary school where children learn immersed in nature. Kosuzu reflects on how visiting the school impressed in her the importance of experiential education. \u201cAs children, we don\u2019t learn from listening to lectures, we use our five senses to understand things.\u201d<\/p>\n The importance of learning by doing is also underscored by one of Kosuzu\u2019s travel companions, Masatoshi Funabashi, a senior researcher of Sony Computer Science Laboratories, inc.<\/a> He promotes augmented ecosystems such as Synecoculture, a farming method that produces useful plants while making multifaceted use of the self-organizing ability of the Earth\u2019s ecosystem. Inspired by the Italy trip, Funabashi hypothesises a \u201cnew educational philosophy in collusion with practice\u201d called \u201cReCreation\u201d which is based on enjoyment and children \u201clearning and understanding the mechanisms of food, clothing, shelter and even information and communication with their own hands (to) rebuild, develop or refrain from using them as necessary so that they don\u2019t just use the tools that have been handed down to them, but rebuild them in a sustainable way.\u201d Through this approach, education can give children not only the knowledge but also the freedom to recreate a better world.<\/p>\n Dr. Funabashi (Right) Photo by Masato Sezawa<\/p><\/div>\n Kosuzu may not be a child, but she too is learning by immersing herself in diverse realities. \u201cJoining the trip made me realise there are many people trying to solve issues related to sustainability on a local scale.\u201d In the past, Kosuzu felt somewhat powerless in tackling vast social and environmental issues because local initiatives seemed, at first glance, not to have broad effects. \u201c(However), through the trip, I understood how important it is to start small and captures people\u2019s attention,\u201d thus creating domino effects that can have big ramifications.<\/p>\n Kosuzu was also amazed by the new knowledge she gained in Italy. For example, she met Savorgnano, who created FUD Fattoria Urbana Diffusa<\/a>, a collective urban farm on Giudecca Island in Venice based on permaculture and Masanobu Fukuoka\u2019s natural farming philosophy. From both Rivetto and Savorgnano, Kosuzu learned about the importance of biodiversity in agriculture \u2013 contrary to what she had been taught in school. \u201cIt was surprising to know that having lots of plants in the same place allows crops to help each other and also nourishes the soil,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n Photo by Masato Sezawa<\/p><\/div>\n At Eta Beta<\/a>, a Bologna-based social cooperative that helps people suffering from addiction, psychiatric disorders and disabilities integrate into society through work, Kosuzu became aware of the importance of art as a form of therapy and expression. As Eta Beta co-founder Joan Crous says, \u201chumans have two brains, one of them being their hands,\u201d and the cooperative offers highly professional training and employment in crafts using recycled materials like glass, wood and ceramics.<\/p>\n The fact that Eta Beta\u2019s glasswork and tableware are used in a three-Michelin-star restaurant also impressed Kosuzu, who says that beautiful things can help move society in a new direction, even if they come from waste. By admiring the cooperative\u2019s unique, entirely handmade crafts, she understood the value of art as a non-verbal form of communication that can reach many people. \u201cEven if people aren\u2019t interested in environmental issues, when they see art, they feel something. Therefore, artists can send a message,\u201d including about sustainable living.<\/p>\n Photo by Masato Sezawa<\/p><\/div>\n One of Kosuzu\u2019s biggest challenges at the moment is finding a way to incorporate sustainability into her daily life and keep practicing it, while also sharing this experience with others. \u201cEven if I explain to my friends why it is important to be sustainable and that choosing good food nurtures the body and protects the planet, they don\u2019t always understand how to adopt these changes in their daily lives,\u201d she reflects. For experiential education to take root, it\u2019s important that people don\u2019t simply follow, but understand why sustainable actions, such as not using plastic bags, are necessary. \u201cOtherwise, even if rules and habits change, people don\u2019t really understand why they\u2019re doing it, which doesn\u2019t lead to effective, long-term solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n Real change starts from places like Rivetto\u2019s winery, Savorgnano\u2019s farm, Eta Beta\u2019s workshop and Ishizaka\u2019s forest and organic fields \u2013 and all those local realities that allow people to experience a more wholesome and sustainable society. Take organic farms. The common denominator uniting them is that they\u2019re places where people can see, touch, taste, hear and even smell a healthier approach to agriculture, therefore, to nourishing people and the planet.<\/strong> Furthermore, as places deeply rooted in the local community,<\/strong> Santome Konjaku Mura\u2019s satoyama and Ishizaka Organic Farm belong to everyone. In other words, people don\u2019t only want to learn about sustainability, but also feel nature\u2019s goodness and enjoy healthy and tasty food. \u201cThe most important tool for educating people about sustainability isn\u2019t knowledge, but pure enjoyment first and foremost,\u201d says Kosuzu, capturing the essence of experiential education.<\/p>\n Funabashi agrees, adding that \u201ctoo often, the mainstream educational system is wasting opportunities for young people to experience the fundamental mechanisms of civilisation in a fun way and create things with their own hands. Living surrounded by things that you\u2019ve made and processed yourself, rather than relying on objects that have been mass-produced and bought, is the first step towards recreating a truly sustainable civilisation.\u201d<\/p>\n Touching the soil, using one\u2019s hands to create a meaningful life. Such small efforts, once accumulated, will lead us to forge a deep connection with people around the world who are tackling the great challenge of improving the Earth and its soil starting from the local dimension. On the back of her encounters with people embracing this shift in Italy, Kosuzu Ishizaka is ready to create her own bright path and help others do the same.<\/p>\n Photo by Masato Sezawa<\/p><\/div>\n Ishizaka Organic Farm is promoting various hands-on soil education activities in cooperation with researchers and activists from around the world who are practising activities to improve the soil. We invite you to join ReDAICHI<\/a>, a members-only circular farm, to learn tips on how to live a soil-friendly life.<\/strong><\/p>\n The four-part series “Journey through soil full of life” is presented in collaboration Author: Mara Budgen<\/strong> Learning sustainability by doing: A young woman\u2019s journey to Italy The story of Mother Earth will present to y […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ishizaka-farm.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ishizaka-farm.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ishizaka-farm.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ishizaka-farm.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ishizaka-farm.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ishizaka-farm.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50,"href":"https:\/\/www.ishizaka-farm.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions\/50"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ishizaka-farm.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ishizaka-farm.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ishizaka-farm.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ishizaka-farm.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– A young woman\u2019s journey to Italy –<\/p>\n
\n– The challenge to increase biodiversity through winemaking –<\/p>\n\u201cWe should strive to explain things less and just let people feel\u201d (Kosuzu Ishizaka)<\/h5>\n
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Learning by doing<\/h4>\n
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The seeds of the future<\/h4>\n
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\nwith media partner IDEAS FOR GOOD<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ishizaka-farm.co.jp\/en\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Mara-Badgen-1024x1024.jpg\")
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\nMara Budgen is a Tokyo-based freelance journalist specialised in sustainability, development and human rights. Former Editor-in-Chief of sustainability news website LifeGate.com, she is currently dedicated to bringing social, cultural and environmental stories from Asia Pacific to global audiences in written, audio and video form. She has written for The Japan Times, The Guardian, BBC Travel and Gastro Obscura. You can see her latest work at marabudgen.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"