Abstract

Partnerships are of great importance in mitigating environmental problems, especially global warming. In Japan, the importance of collaboration among stakeholders in addressing environmental problems has long been emphasized. However, there has been little research into the role of leading stakeholders in the dissemination of information through partnerships. Therefore, as the first step toward an analysis of partnerships in improving environmental conditions, this study analyzed the division of roles and the forms that cooperation takes when prefectures, regional centers, and action officers use partnerships to carry out global warming mitigation public awareness activities in Japan. This study makes it clear that the background to establishing a center is closely related to how roles are divided between the center and the prefecture. The roles of regional centers and the forms of support for action officers differ according to this background, but regional centers are characterized by continually improving specialization in raising public awareness about climate change mitigation while taking on the following roles: (i) starting and carrying out innovative projects with specific enterprises (organizing intermediate support) and (ii) establishing action teams for public awareness activities for climate change mitigation. The results of this study, which analyzed the division of roles when prefectures, regional centers, and action officers form partnerships to conduct global warming prevention awareness activities, are expected to provide meaningful insights into the division of roles among stakeholders when working together to achieve the SDGs, as well as to improve environmental issues.