The 13th OECD Rural Development Conference was held in Cavan, Ireland on 28-30 September 2022 under the theme "Building Sustainable, Resilient and Thriving Rural Places". These are the presentations from the Conference parallel session "Innovative Ways to Deliver Education and Skills Training in Rural Areas ". For more information visit https://www.oecd.org/rural/rural-development-conference/.

1. 13th OECD Rural Development Conference
28-30 September 2022, Ireland
Innovative Ways to Deliver Education and Skills Training in Rural Areas
Ways to promote high quality learning in rural areas
-Japan’s case-
Kazuhiro WATANABE
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)
Japan

2. 1. Japan’ ageing society and its initiatives to achieve Rural-Urban Digital
Integration and Transformation
2. Essential roles of existing education facilities for improving digital skills
in rural areas
- digital skills in agriculture for students and farmers
- recurrent education for existing and potential farmers
- e-learning for digitalized agriculture
Outline of the presentation
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3. Source; OECD
・Japan is experiencing the fastest ageing of its population among G20,
with 47 people older than 65 per 100 working-age adults in 2015.
・Along with rural de-population, digitalization becomes a key for revitalizing
rural society.
Elderly population in Japan
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4. 1 Building digital infrastructure
2 Developing and securing human resources with digital skills
3 Implementing digital services to solve rural issues
4 Initiatives to leave no one behind
・Japan launched “Vision for Digital Garden City Nation” in 2021, focusing on
4 initiatives to achieve Rural-Urban Digital Integration and Transformation.
Vision for Digital Garden City Nation
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5. For students For farmers
- Students learn ICT/digital agriculture
- On-farm education is included
- Local farmers can learn latest IT
technologies
- Some programs focus on new
entrants
Training on digital skills at agricultural education facilities
・Education facility is essential in promoting digital skills.
・For example, prefectural agricultural colleges play a key role, both for
prospecting and current farmers.
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6. （lectures）
・building business models,
financial management,
strategic marketing
・management strategy, human
resources management
（time period）
・twice or three times a month
Workshop
Practical training on agricultural
machinery
（lectures）
・operation of tractors and
other machines, handling of
pesticides and fertilizers.
・basic knowledge on
agriculture, cultivation
management for various farm
products
（time period）
・three months
・ Recurrent education is growing its importance in the agricultural sector.
・ Opening the existing agricultural educational institutions to members of society will
upgrade their farming skills and provide support for new entrants.
Recurrent Education on Agriculture
＜Examples of the curriculum＞
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7. ○The “e-learning on smart agriculture”
started to facilitate digital technology
at agricultural educational institutions.
○Available to a broad range of people
including farmers who are interested
in smart agriculture.
（Contents）
・smart agriculture
・data collection and utilization
・environmental control
・data utilization in horticulture facilities
＜e-learning on smart agriculture＞
・ Curriculum named “e-learning on smart agriculture” provides contents in
agricultural education including online lectures for facilitating digital
technology in education at agricultural colleges and high schools.
Introduction of e-learning
6

8. Aiming for a “nationwide society that is convenient and comfortable for anyone to live in
With those efforts, Japan is aiming to secure 2.3 million digital
professionals by the end of March 2027.
Developing digital talent and skills
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