Regaining Nature and Society by Communications : Communication and Collaboration between University and Local Communities

The author has attempted to do so-called communicative lectures during last year in which university is concerned with local communities and university students communicate with people living in the communities. Through the lectures, the author and students had pleasant opportunities to meet with many people in the communities and learn from them. After conducting the communicative lectures, my impression is that the Saitama University, as a national university which may have a significant influence on local communities, will play an important role in revitalizing or forming communities.Realization of the communicative lectures is deeply related to my past teaching activities. The author was attracted by superior thought of organic agriculture, and conducted lectures and seminars in which students experienced organic agriculture and thought of what organic agriculture is.The communicative lectures were conducted as follows last fiscal year; In the first semester, students arranged a walking tour of Minuma rice field with their guide. In the second semester, students made and presented a picture-story show. In addition, they visited the area polluted and damaged by the Ashio copper mines.Students actively participated in the lectures, and discovered the pleasure of communicating with people in the communities. They were led to consider on their own will what community ought to be.This paper points out that university, through communicative lectures, might assume a significant role of regaining a society which is gentle and friendly to human and nature