Volume 12

The title of this presentation is “Branding small communities using international certifications”. Japanese small communities are struggling with declining and aging population. In rural areas, the average age of farmers are over 65 years old and many of them do not have successors. Thus, uncultivated farmland and vacant houses are increasing that result in destruction of the landscape. In metropolitan areas, the declining and aging population also occurs. Therefore, revitalization of small communities is an important issue in Japan. Branding communities is one of the ways to revitalize communities and many communities in Japan try to improve their brand images using international certifications. In this presentation, we look at Japanese communities that try to improve their brand images using UNESCO’s World Heritage and FAO’s Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems.This event has an English/Japanese interpretation.