ABSTRACT
In Nishinomiya city since the late 1980s, initiatives for multi-stakeholder partnerships and community activities for sustainable community development have been developed through multi-stakeholder community education based on environmental learning programmes. This chapter provides a case study of Nishinomiya's efforts, exploring how the city's environmental learning programmes, which were facilitated by a non-profit organisation and later expanded as education for sustainable development (ESD) programmes, promote multi-stakeholder partnerships and community activities that work toward creating a more sustainable community. Based on the results of the nature surveys, the Earth Watching Club for local children was developed in 1992 by Nishinomiya city government to promote environmental learning programmes. To encourage collaboration between the public and private sectors, learning and ecological activities foundation for children (LEAF) provides opportunities for corporations to become engaged in developing environmental learning programmes for students and residents. In Nishinomiya, LEAF plays an important role as a facilitator for sustainable community activities and a coordinator between communities and governments.
