Reconstructing Strategies for Inclusive and Resilient Community Revitalization in a Post-COVID-19 Era

Research Centre for the Local Public Human Resources and Policy Development
Daisuke Abe, Centre Director

As a research institute, LORC has consistently bridged theory and practice since its establishment in 2003.

LORC has aimed for sustainable development since its inception and developed and presented a model of public policy theory and practice based on examining regional issues from a global perspective, collaborating with diverse actors including citizens, businesses, and local governments, and a process of mutually beneficial feedback between research and society.

During these 18 years spent building a sustainable model of public policy theory and practice based on mutually beneficial feedback between the research at LORC and the wider society, LORC has been developing human resources and demonstrated an approach that poses the university as vital infrastructure for community transformation. LORC has invented new keywords and established a secure position for itself with a notable track record of partnerships with domestic and international universities, joint research with international organizations, and a series of publications including English-language materials (28 publications in total).

In the sixth phase of LORC, this research project recognizes how the global spread of COVID-19 is transforming traditional local policies and governance among diverse actors and aims to formulate theory and develop practical projects for “sustainable cities and communities” (SDG Goal 11) in post-COVID-19 times by reconstructing inclusive and resilient community revitalization policies that, through collaboration between diverse actors, enhance human well-being, develop social and environmental sustainability, and increase empowerment.

The goal of this project is to construct an ecosystem that enables the advocacy of practical policy solutions and focuses on the key concepts of “inclusive development” and “recovery policy” (OECD, Cities Policy Responses, 2020.6), which are expected to become even more crucial in the post-COVID-19 era. This ecosystem will be created by leveraging human resources, systems, and national and international networks already cultivated by LORC with the goal of “making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.”

History of LORC