Wednesday 23 May – Wednesday 20 April 2011
People Power: The role of citizens’ groups in the UK and Japan
Daiwa Foundation Japan House
Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation in association with the Japan Society
In exploring the dynamics of government and politics in the UK and Japan, the role of citizens’ groups is becoming more important in both countries. In the aftermath of the 1995 Kobe earthquake, Japan has seen the emergence of a wealth of voluntary organisations engaged in community action and acting as pressure groups to facilitate societal change. The activities of and links between NPOs in both countries are of particular interest with respect to the environmental movement. This seminar will look at the history and role of citizens’ groups in the UK and Japan and will focus on environmental NPOs, their relationship with local and national government and their different approaches in pursuit of a common goal.
About the contributors
Phillida Purvis
Phillida Purvis is Founder and Director of Links Japan, an organisation active in the promotion of non-profit and non-governmental sector exchanges between the UK and Japan. She is a Director of Global Links Initiative, a Trustee of the NGO, International Refugee Trust, a council member of Gap Activity Projects (GAP), an Executive Director of Japan Arena and a founding member, and Honorary Secretary of the Burma Campaign Society. Mrs Purvis graduated from Durham University in theology and joined HM Diplomatic Service and then studied at the University of Tokyo on Japan’s Foreign Policy. She has previously been Deputy Director of The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation (1994-98) and Executive Director of the UK-Japan 21st Century Group (1998-99).
Yasuyoshi Sakurai
Yasuyoshi Sakurai has been a Visiting Fellow at Chatham House since 2006. He graduated from Kyoto University and obtained a MA in Political Science in 1980 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr Sakurai joined the Ministry of Construction in 1975 and worked in a variety of roles including Director of Sewage and Planning. He went on to join the Ministry of Environment in 1999 where he served as Director of Air Quality Planning Division (1999) Councillor, Environmental Management Bureau, Minister’s Secretariat (2003), and Deputy Director General of Policy Bureau (2004).
Dr Robin Henshaw
Robin Henshaw is Executive Director of Groundwork Oldham & Rochdale, one of the first of the 50 Groundwork Trusts (local regeneration charities) operating in the UK. In 1992, Dr Henshaw was part of a Groundwork delegation to Japan which resulted in the establishment of a Groundwork Trust in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture. Regular visits and exchanges have taken place between the two Trusts, which in 2003 signed a Partnership Agreement. Back at home in Greater Manchester, Robin is a Magistrate, Chairman of the local Voluntary Community & Faith Partnership, and a member of the Oldham Local Strategic Partnership.
Professor David Cope
David Cope (chair) is Director of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, which has taken a leading role on public dialogue on environmental and other issues in the UK. Before that, he was Professor of Energy and Resource Economics at Doshisha University in Kyoto, moving there from Cambridge where he was Director of the UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development. An earlier period as Environmental Team Leader with the International Energy Agency gave him world wide experience of pollution control initiatives, including in Japan.