At a recovery from the unprecedented huge earthquake, Association for Children’s Environment proposes how to build a “child-friendly- city” where people feel safer for future generation.
Unlike traditional institutes, Association for Children’s Environment is an interdisciplinary organization covering various special fields where researchers and practitioners work together. Our basic policy to support the Great East Japan Earthquake victims consists of interdisciplinary comprehensiveness and continuity, collaboration among government, academic institutions and citizen’s organizations such as NPOs (Nonprofit Organizations), and a nationwide support system in coordination with the disaster-stricken area. Making use of our property, we will support children’s mental health care, daily life recovery, families with babies and/or infants, and child- friendly-city development, in accordance with the situation of the victims and stricken area, in the medium and long term as well as in an emergency. We will promote residents’, especially children’s participation in the stricken area, to put emphasis on resident’s vision, feelings, bond and children’s idea, and then aim for reconstruction of better city or child-friendly-city than before the disaster.
We will appreciate your approval and cooperation

■ Fundamental Principles■
Aim for “Child-Friendly-City” reconstruction through children’s participation

1. Reconstruction support from the viewpoints of child rearing environment
2. Support to make child’s own resilience evolve into a vitalization for the stricken area
3. Support for building child-friendly-city in the reconstruction plan

■ Fundamental Policy■
1. Support to ensure secure rearing environment for children
2. Recovery of community strength to inherit its history, culture and bond.
3. Comprehensive support from hard to soft
4. Continuing support in short, medium and long term
5. Cooperation with the national government and municipalities
6. Cooperation with various domestic and overseas organizations
7. Specific support with bases in the stricken area

■ Support System Construction along with Action Plan ■

◆  Grasp children’s current condition

・ Grasp children’s actual condition who can not ask for help by themselves in the stricken area or at refuges
・ Grasp children’s daily life condition including during and after school hours
・ Grasp condition of kindergartens, nursery schools, and families with babies and/or infants.
・ Grasp daily life condition in schools, kindergartens, and nursery schools at refuges
・ Grasp children’s stress condition in disaster affected families
・ Grasp condition with insufficient play areas considering that children need to play to eliminate their stress
・ Grasp adult’s attention on children’s play at refuges and other similar spaces

◆ Establish a network for organizations, people, and information
・ Form an activity system within our institute to support recovery from aftermath of the earthquake
・ Create a framework to cooperate with domestic and overseas experts and practitioners.
・ Cooperate with organizations in the stricken area for support activity
・ Record support activities and create and open databases for academic researches
・ Set up the portal site to share correct data

◆ Establish an organization for comprehensive support and policy proposals
・ Comprehensive support by experts of healthcare, childcare and education, welfare, and community development.
・ Effective support activities and policy proposals through collaboration between scholars and practitioners
・ Make proposals and support working out measures to the nation government and municipalities through collaboration between experts from different fields
・ International support by experts making use of overseas network such as UNICEF and CFC
・ Open databases based on academic investigation and practical research

■ Action Plan■
Emergency Support (for the first 2-3 months)

◆Child Mental Health Care (including PTSD prevention)
・ Necessity of listening to children’s voicescarefully
・ Consideration for potential emotional damage or stress in children who appear to be fine
・ Advise for adults who are often in contact with children
⇒ Sending Experts (child psychiatrist, pediatricians, clinical psychologist, child welfare officer)

◆ Support for recovery of children’s everyday life
・ Smooth recovery of child everyday life provides early recovery of the stricken area
・ Support for parents who are too tired to cheer up their children
・ The importance of communicating with children (playing and studying together)
⇒ Sending Child Environment Advisers and play leaders
    Securing play areas in evacuation sites, setting up “adventure playgrounds”, “playbus” cruising

◆ Support for families with babies and/or infants
・ Support for families with babies and/or infants who are vulnerable to disaster and have difficulties to secure their spaces in refuges
・ Support to reduce stress of mothers and children, and to build up relationship among mothers
⇒ Sending nursery teachers, baby-sitters, public health nurses
       Running child raising groups, parenting circles, play-groups

◆ Seek ideas for child-friendly-city development (living space, city function) and offer support program
・ Planning recovery program with child point of view
・ Implementation of an international proposal for child-friendly-city development
・ Boosting major industries such as agriculture, fishery, and tourism with consideration to the actual condition of the stricken area
・ Promoting community development with participation of residents and children
・ Importance of child’s point of view for nation’s government and municipalities drawing up reconstruction plan
・ Promoting arrangement of child friendly environment including refuges and provisional houses
 ⇒ Sending experts in architecture and city planning, community development, child participation

Midterm Support (1-2years)
◆ Mental health care for children ⇒ continue
・ Support to set up bases for child care in preparation for evacuation sites termination
・ Continuous support by the linkage with schools, kindergartens, and nursery schools
・ Support for mental health care by on-site staff through long term activity
⇒ Sending experts (school counselor and school social worker, besides child psychiatrist, pediatricians, clinical psychologist, child welfare officers )

◆ Support for children’s everyday life recovery ⇒ continue
・ Training for youths and adults who keep an eye on children’s play in their communities (corporate with experts)
・ Enlightment for parents about importance of play for children
・ Support for on-site staff through long term activity  
⇒ Sending Child Environment Advisors, play leaders, education for youths and adults in communities, securing play areas in communities, setting up adventure playground, continuing play-bus cruise

◆ Support for families with babies and/or infants ⇒ continue
・ Eliminating stresses both in mothers and children and creating relationship among mothers
・ Support for running child raising groups, parenting circles, play-groups
・ Mental health care for on-site staff through long term support activities
 ⇒ Sending nursery teachers, baby sitters, and public health nurses, when required

◆ Support for working out guidelines for child-friendly-city development (living space, city function)
・ residents’ and children’s participation in community development through workshops
・ Flexible support to each victim’s case such as returning to one’s old house or beginning new life in new location
・ Professional support for municipalities to work out measures
・ Support by the linkage with experts relating to CFC or other overseas organizations
・ Proposals for collective housing as a child rearing environment
・ Proposals for reviewing children’s growing and learning environment
・ Proposals for urbanization with view point of children’s environment
・ Bring up coordinators and organizations that promote children’s participation and child-friendly-city development
 ⇒ Sending experts in architecture and city planning, community development, child participation

Long Term Support ( ～10years )
◆ Support for drawing up plans and implementation of child-friendly-city development ( living space and city function)
・ Residents’ and children’s participation in community development through workshops
・ Support for community reorganization through intergenerational communication in new environment
・ Promoting collective housing as a child rearing environment
・ Promoting reviewing children’s growing and learning environment
・ Promoting urbanization with view point of children’s environment
・ Professional support for municipalities to work out measures
・ Support by the linkage with experts relating to CFC or other overseas organizations
・ communities within walking distance ( education, sports, recreation, commercial facilities, assembly rooms and public transportation)
・ Collaboration with communities to bring up coordinators and organizations that promote children’s participation and child-friendly-city development
・ Eco-friendly community development (environmental symbiosis, food and energy, local production for local consumption)
⇒ Sending experts in architecture and city planning, community development, child participation

 

We greatly appreciate your kind offer of donation. Send your donation to : 2.Japan Post Bank 　Branch No.008 　Account No.: 3557989  (Ordinary Account) 　Account Holder : General incorporated association 　　　　　　Association for Children’s Environment ( No remittance fee will be charged at Japan Post Bank ATM) 1.Mizuho Bank, LTD 　Name of Branch: Jiyugaoka Branch  Branch No.533 　Account No.: 2546084 (Ordinary Account) 　Account Holder : General incorporated association 　　　　　　　Association for Children’s Environment 　　　　　　　The Earthquake Relief Fund 　( No remittance fee will be charged at Mizuho Bank )

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General incorporated association
Association for Children’s Environment
2-11 Wakaba, Mihama District, Chiba City
Chiba Prefecture 261- 8586 Japan
The Open University of Japan
Mitsuru Senda’s Laboratory
Tel/Fax　043-298-4118
Mail  info@children-env.org
Website  http://www.children-env.org/
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