Author(s): Karen Sato
Email (s): k811113@kansai-u.ac.jp
Institution or organization of origin: International Volunteer Univercity Student Association
Country: Japan
Abstract
The global warming and other global issues have become a serious problem across the world. To tackle such issues, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations, which aim at ensuring that, by 2030, all people enjoy peace and prosperity. Lake Biwa located in Shiga prefecture also faces the adverse impact of warm temperature. Because of the decrease in snow accumulation on the mountains around Lake Biwa due to global warming, the degree of annual lake water turnover has decreased, adversely affecting its ecosystem. The people in Shiga through its government support has been able to develop a set of SDG targets for Lake Biwa called the Mother Lake Goals (hereafter, referred to as MLGs) for addressing the problems facing the lake. The MLGs are goals uniquely set for Lake Biwa to a bridge between the SDGs and the local activities . These goals provide a practical way to apply SDGs to specific actions related to Lake Biwa. We IVUSA(International Volunteer University Student Association) members held a series of workshops for deliberating on MLGs in collaboration with Shiga Government and many students living in the west central part of Japan participated. In the workshops, we have delved further into various social problems and measures related to the environment and the economy in Shiga prefecture, and proposed a set of voluntary actions initiatives at the creativity of the university. My poster introduces the results of raising awareness of environmental issues centered on Lake Biwa.