Do You Kyoto?

Status

ongoing

City

Kyoto

Main actors

City Government, Private Sector, Community / Citizen Group, Public Utility

Project area

Metropolitan Area

Duration

Ongoing since 2008

Are you doing something good for the environment?

The Do You Kyoto? project aims to promote the transition to an environmentally-friendly lifestyle and create a sustainable, low-carbon society by implementing environmental awareness initiatives and activities for citizens and businesses.

For further information about the case study, click here.

Sustainable Development Goals

City information

City

Kyoto, Japan

Size and population development

According to the 2015 census the city of Kyoto has a population of 1,475,109. The city covers an area of 827km2 with a population density of 1,800 people per km2.

Population composition

The population of Kyoto City includes a sizeable foreign community comprising mainly Koreans, Chinese and Americans.

Main functions

Kyoto (officially Kyoto City) is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture located in the Kansai region of Japan. Kyoto contains roughly 2,000 temples and shrines. The UNESCO World Heritage Site “Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto” was designated in 1994 and has 17 locations. Kyoto is the centre for traditional Japanese culture and religion (Buddhism) and historically sake brewing.

Main industries / business

A Key industry of Kyoto is electronics and information technology, the city is headquarters to tech games giant Nintendo amongst others. Kyoto is one of the academic centres of Japan with 40 institutions of higher education. Tourism and associated medium and small retails industries are a large employer.

Sources for city budget

The City of Kyoto draws its budget for public expenditure largely from property tax, fees, operating revenues, other taxes and subsides from the Government of Japan.

Political structure

Kyoto prefecture is under the administration of an elected governor and prefectural headquarters are located in Kyoto City.

Administrative structure

Kyoto City is administered by a directly elected mayor and city council. Kyoto has eleven wards and the legislative city assembly has 69 elected members.

Website

https://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/

Background and objectives

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, introduced the phrase “Do You Kyoto?”, meaning “are you doing something good for the environment?” when she visited the city in August 2007 to deliver a lecture as part of the symposium commemorating the 10th anniversary of the enactment of the Kyoto Protocol.

The main objective of the project is to establish and promote a variety of environmental actions, measures and initiatives with the catchphrase “DO YOU KYOTO?”.

Implementation

Since 2008, by commemorating the date when the Kyoto Protocol came into force (16th February 2005), the City of Kyoto has designated the 16th of every month as DO YOU KYOTO? day.

On this day citizens and businesses are encouraged to participate in “No My-car Day” which provides incentives for citizens to refrain from using their own private car, and “Lights Down” designed to dim the street lights and other extraneous outdoor lighting across the city area and “Kyoto Dinner” including restaurants using candle lights at tables and fostering discussion about the environment.

In 2008, a mascot character “Echo-chan” (little eco) was adopted to spearhead the marketing campaign. Eco Chan appears at all the public events that children participate in.

In 2009, The City of Kyoto appointed Do You Kyoto? ambassadors to gain wide publicity for the initiatives, this included the Kyoto Sanga FC football club.

Wrap advertising on city buses and one of the privately-owned Keifuku Electric Railway cars operates as the Eco train with Do You Kyoto? branding. A website and facebook page are continually updated.

Other initiatives that have been established include:

Energy creation and support system
Civic co-operation for power initiatives
Eco-life of university students
Eco school districts

Financing and resources

The lead agency for the Do You Kyoto? project is the Global Environment Policy Office, Environment Policy Bureau at the City of Kyoto.

Results and impacts

Waste reduction – the volume of general waste in 2015 was recorded at 439,606 tons, a reduction of 46% since 2001. The volume of household waste generated per capita per day was 417g compared with 429 in 2014 which is the lowest volume of all major (20) cities in Japan.

Energy consumption – In 2015 energy consumption has decreased by 26% since its peak in 1997.

Car usage – From 2000 to 2015 one out of five car uers changed their mode of transport to trains or buses.

Barriers and challenges

Increasing the involvement of all age groups, especially young people, is a challenge that continually needs to be monitored and addressed.

Lessons learned and transferability

To encourage greater participation, the City of Kyoto will continue to provide awareness raising initiatives open to all citizens and businesses. The initiatives will continue to be promoted through traditional media advertising, the Do You Kyoto? website and facebook page as well as securing the endorsement of celebrities and private companies to further promote the message.

References

http://www.clair.or.jp/e/2016-1-1Kyoto%20City%20.pdf