In the hilly and mountainous areas of Hiroshima Prefecture, where the outflow of local populations
is occurring mostly among the younger generations, the shrinking size of settlements and the aging of
communities are progressing much faster than for the country as a whole. In order to achieve sustainable
communities in such hilly and mountainous areas in Hiroshima Prefecture into the future, "Hiroshima
Satoyama Future Expo 2017", a project to promote exchange between human resources through
participation by residents of the prefecture, was held in these regions from March until the end of
November 2017.
For this research, the authors participated in this project by collaborating with high school and
cooking groups from the Geihoku Region to organize workshops on local cuisine, and to propose and
develop new menus that use local specialty products. The authors also participated in other events, and
implemented a questionnaire about local production for local consumption.
Through participation in this project, the authors learned about current conditions and concerns in
hilly and mountainous areas, and how to encourage exchange between human resources through
regional collaboration.
Keywords:
Local production for local consumption, Regional collaboration, Local cuisine, Hilly and mountainous
areas, Exchange between human resources