Thinking about the future of food and agriculture with children

Sustainability ─ Growing together with children [Agricultural Learning Facility]

KUBOTA AGRI FRONT

Kitahiroshima City, Hokkaido

This unique agricultural learning facility allows children to learn about current issues in food and agriculture and think of multiple solutions together. Despite the theme, which can easily become serious, the children who participated all seemed to enjoy themselves. Even children who don't know each other quickly become friendly and engrossed in the program. How did this facility come about? We followed the facility from concept creation to operation.

Why not start a farm in a new town?

Why not create a farm in the newly created "co-creation space"?

The offer came to Kubota at the end of 2020. The offer came from the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, who were currently building Hokkaido Ballpark F Village, a town that would create a new culture centered around a new baseball stadium, Escon Field Hokkaido. The following January, 2021, Kubota decided to participate as a company, but according to Kubota's Fumie Hirose, who served as project manager, the project initially started with a completely blank slate.

"Initially, the Fighters only imagined it as a farm. But Kubota was creating a co-creation space in such a wonderful location, and many Fighters fans would be visiting. It would attract attention from all over Japan, so we wanted to create a facility that was open to the general public. Kubota is promoting smart agriculture, but smart agriculture cannot progress without the understanding of many people. So we thought we should use this as a starting point to spread the word. So, incorporating a smart agriculture farm was a given from the start." (Hirose)

However, discussions did not progress smoothly regarding how to construct the overall concept for the facility, and several months passed without any decision being made.

"For Kubota, this project presented two major challenges. The first was that it was Kubota's first corporate PR facility aimed at the general public. The other was that the opening date of F Village was set for March 30, 2023, which was an extremely tight schedule. However, Kubota did not have the know-how to handle these two challenges. So, when our branding department took over the project, we decided to take the opportunity to make it an agricultural learning facility that would raise awareness among many people about the various challenges facing agriculture today, which are essential to human life, and we decided to bring in the experienced NOMURA Co.,Ltd. to help." (Hirose)

NOMURA Co.,Ltd. was contacted in September 2021. The opening of F Village was already one year and six months away, and the grand opening of KUBOTA AGRI FRONT was just one year and nine months away.

A facility that grows through the ages

Within a week of being contacted, a new team from both companies was formed and discussions began to create a concept for the agricultural learning facility. Tomoko Yanagihara, the planner in charge from NOMURA Co.,Ltd., said that the first step was to input a wide variety of information.

"Usually when it comes to corporate facilities, we are first given the given conditions, and then we make proposals, provide feedback, and make revisions in an iterative process. But this time, there were no given conditions, and we started from scratch and worked together with Kubota to think things through. That's why we heard all sorts of things from Mr. Hirose and his team, from issues related to food and agriculture, the way the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries thinks, the reactions of children at the AgriKids camps that Kubota has run, and even some recent moving stories.

We use this input as fertilizer for our ideas. We then continue our discussions together. We also went together to see some challenging facilities that were attracting attention. In short, we learned as much as we could." (Yanagihara)

Hirose says that through repeated brainstorming and facility tours, he began to see what he needed to prioritize.

"First of all, we wanted to be close to the visitors, especially the children, and create a facility that was as close to their perspective as possible. And then we wanted to let them experience it. That's what we wanted to focus on," says Hirose.

After much discussion, NOMURA Co.,Ltd. team proposed a concept: a place to build relationships with people who are interested in the future of food and agriculture.

"When I saw the proposed concept, I thought, 'This is it.' These keywords determined the roots, or rather the core, of KUBOTA AGRI FRONT. In other words, the project doesn't end when the facility is completed; it starts with the completion of the facility and continues to grow. It continues to evolve, even as times change, with the common themes of food and agriculture for all humanity. This could also be a facility that is typical of Kubota, which is involved in timeless businesses such as agricultural machinery and water infrastructure. I felt that this concept encapsulated all of that significance," says Hirose.

One card game turned the tide

The concept was decided. So, what should the contents of the facility be? The smart agriculture farm that had been in the original plan was decided upon first as an indoor greenhouse farm. However, what kind of experience should visitors have? We couldn't come up with a good idea for an experiential displays.

"We received various proposals, such as displays that would allow visitors to experience the operation of an unmanned tractor for smart agriculture, and an experiential displays that would introduce general agriculture. However, something just didn't quite feel right," says Hirose.

At that time, a NOMURA Co.,Ltd. team member came across an agricultural management card game that completely changed the flow of ideas.

"Kubota had always told me that when people think of agriculture, they have a strong image of actually going out into the fields and working on the farm. However, agriculture today has a large element of management. And yet, in reality, farmers spend so much time on farm work that they have very little time to devote to management. Smart agriculture is the solution to this problem. I had begun to feel that the perspective of agricultural management would be key when I came across this card game. I decided to put the perspective of an agricultural manager at the core, and changed my concept to a game that would allow people to experience agricultural management. It was truly a turning point," says Yanagihara.

Hirose continues.

"For children, it's surprising and interesting in a way that's different from just learning. It also helps them understand what smart agriculture is. We expanded on the idea of creating a cutting-edge farm management simulation game, and finally created the core of the hands-on displays," says Hirose.

Agriculture is a homework assignment from the Earth

The completed KUBOTA AGRI FRONT is made up of five areas. The program begins with an [Introduction], where models are used to capture the children's interest in food and agriculture. Next comes the [Theater], where children are immersed in a video and learn about the importance of food and agriculture. Next comes the [Field], where children are divided into teams and compete in a farm management simulation game. The [Tech Lab] is an indoor farm and plant factory where crops are actually grown. The final area is the [Table], where children can share what they have learned and felt. The overall theme is, "Agriculture is homework from the Earth." Each area has a communicator who acts as a guide and talks with visitors, helping them to think about food and agriculture issues and solutions to the multiple challenges they face.

One of KUBOTA AGRI FRONT's greatest features is its lively program, which is a far cry from the image of existing learning facilities. In fact, it is managed by NOMURA Co.,Ltd. Ltd., which not only plans, designs, and produces facilities and displays, but also undertakes the operation of the completed facility. Partway through the project, NOMURA Co.,Ltd. 's management team joined the project, and together they considered displays content, including organizing a program that would keep visitors entertained. At the same time, they also proceeded with the recruitment and training of local communicators. NOMURA Co.,Ltd., Ltd.'s Tsunoda Hiromi, who serves as the general manager of KUBOTA AGRI FRONT and trains communicators, says that the recruitment of good human resources is what powers the facility.

"The applicants had a variety of previous jobs, including bakeries, cram schools, roadside stations, airports, and restaurants. What they all had in common was that they had no experience in attendant work, and they all sympathized with the concept of this facility. Despite their lack of experience, they had a strong emotional attachment to the facility, so they had great potential. Although there was a scenario that served as the basis for what they would say, the training was not just about memorizing and speaking; it involved understanding the concept of each area, and learning how to think about what they wanted to communicate." (Kadota)

The facility's high potential was revealed in an unexpected way even before it opened.

"At the end of the program, the children are given rice balls to eat, but we discussed various options, such as using rice balls with furikake seasoning or cooked rice, as plain rice balls would not be popular. However, after hearing this, the communicators decided that salted rice balls would be the best way to truly appreciate what they had learned and experienced through the program. We agreed with this and adopted their opinion. Everyone has inherited the facility's concept and is spontaneously proposing new events and other things. It seems that the communicators are growing along with the facility." (Kakuta)

I want to be a communicator

Hirose feels that KUBOTA AGRI FRONT is expanding and growing as a place to make friends.

"We've created this space together with people involved in food and agriculture, such as gathering children together to hold a remote-controlled tractor event in collaboration with Hokkaido University, and having high school students from Hokkaido Mikasa High School and Hokkaido Iwamizawa Agricultural High School help plan the cafe and farm. At first, the visitors were strangers to each other, but by the end of the program they had become good friends. Sometimes even the parents became friends. When we held a communicator work experience event for children, many of the children expressed their desire to become communicators in the future. Children who were too shy to even say their own names now spoke out loud about the future of agriculture. Reading the children's impressions, I'm moved by the realization that our messages are getting across. I want KUBOTA AGRI FRONT to be a place where we can always return to our essence and continue to take action towards the future."

(Interviewed in December 2024. Titles in the article are those at the time of the interview.)
Interview and text by Tsuyoshi Nose (former editor-in-chief of Nikkei Trendy)
Photo = ©Kenta Yoshizawa