{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Side by Side","title":"Pt. 1: Professors Simona Zollet and Meng \"Mo\" Qu explain the relationship between Japan's rural and urban communities in a super (super) aging society","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1639,"description":"In the first part of their conversation, Ellen talks with Hiroshima University professors Simona Zollet and Meng \"Mo\" Qu about community revitalization in rural Japan amid rapid aging, depopulation, and urbanization, and the relational dynamics between Japan's rural and urban areas. Simona and Mo describe Japan’s rural depopulation, strict immigration policy, and demographic imbalance in which nearly 30% of the national population is 65+, while in some rural communities, older adults exceed 60% of the population. \n\nStay tuned for the second half of the conversation in next week's episode, where Simona and Mo describe Japan's Local Revitalization Cooperator Program, an initiative that funds urban residents to live and work in Japan's depopulating rural communities. \n\nEpisode Highlights:\n03:03 Meet Simona and Mo\n09:04 Tokyo’s Magnetic Draw\n11:34 Japanese Rural Communities at Risk\n17:05 Tourism as a Lifeline\n20:59 Revitalization vs Development\n\nMore Information:\nProfessor Simona Zollet is an Assistant Professor at Hiroshima University's Department of Integrated Global Studies and her work focuses on creating more sustainable farming landscapes through organic agriculture and agroecology, as well as developing new ways to connect producers (farmers) and consumers (eaters) and rural and urban areas within local food systems. She also researches the socioeconomic and environmental sustainability of rural communities and peripheral areas (such as islands) in Japan and Europe (mainly Italy). This includes examining rural in-migration (people moving from urban to rural areas), small business creation and social entrepreneurship, the use or creation of local food and farming heritage in innovative ways, and policies related to rural revitalization. https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en/igs/zollet\nhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Simona-Zollet-2 \n\nMeng Qu, Ph.D. (Integrated Arts and Sciences), is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Humanities and Social...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/tlqGC47eNrIE2gpnsGBGmlOp6kISW7ZNG8gy-TLNnz8/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzQ3OTMzLzE3MDMx/MDQxNzMtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}