- *English translation is based on AI Translation Service ”Zinrai”.
In May 2021, 13 Fujitsu employees who adore soccer and Kawasaki Frontale got together to form "Fronterre Transformation Project (FROTRA PJ:)". FROTRA PJ is a collaborative effort between Fujitsu and Kawasaki Frontale to solve community problems through Civic Tech (*1) models.
About one and a half years have passed since the activities started, and the members have expanded to nearly three times, and they are planning various activities by exchanging ideas for front first. This article introduces "SDGs Sugoroku," a hands-on learning game application that even children can enjoy freely, which is one of the activities of FROTRA PJ.
- *1Civic Tech: An initiative in which citizens themselves use technology to improve local issues
- Table of Contents
How can we contribute to local SDGs? Efforts at Kawasaki Frontale
Kawasaki Frontale is a professional soccer club based in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The Fujitsu Football Club, founded in 1955, is a step forward and has a close relationship with Fujitsu.
Kawasaki Frontale has been involved in more than 40 projects to solve local problems and revitalize the local community. Since 1997, when the club became a professional club, we have been directly communicating with citizens with the goal of gaining recognition and being loved by the community. In recent years, we have been actively working on the SDGs, and these activities are not limited to Kawasaki City. These SDGs activities have been highly evaluated by the local community, and we received an award in the organization category at the HEROs AWARD 2022, Japan's largest ceremony to commend an athlete team for its social contribution activities. For 10 consecutive years, Kawasaki has been ranked No. 1 in terms of contribution to the local community, and its continuous activities that have changed the image of Kawasaki are regarded as role models for professional sports teams.
Fujitsu created a game app called "SDGs Sugoroku" to actively support such SDGs efforts.
What is the "SDGs Sugoroku"? Elementary school students participate in development?
"SDGs Sugoroku" is a hands-on learning game application designed to create opportunities for children to think about SDGs and use ICT. Kawasaki Frontale, fifth-grade students from Shimosakunobe Elementary School in Kawasaki City, and FROTRA PJ members are involved in the development. As with the usual sugoroku, students roll dice to reach the goal, but each square introduces and quiz the activities of Kawasaki Frontale's SDGs made by fifth-grade students at Shimosakunobe Elementary School.
SDGs Sugoroku ScreenWhen you get to the designated area, you can learn about the SDGs from Kawasaki Frontale while enjoying Sugoroku.
SDGs Sugoroku Development History
At Shimosakunobe Elementary School, fifth-grade students studied Kawasaki Frontale's approach to the SDGs and presented the results to each other so that each student would be familiar with the SDGs. FROTRA PJ members, who learned about this initiative, wanted to provide more children with an opportunity to learn SDGs, so they started developing the app in cooperation with Kawasaki Frontale. As a programming language, we adopted a language for children called "scratch" because we wanted children to feel the contribution to SDGs through the experience of program development.
SDGs Sugoroku Experience Event Field Report
On October 8, 2022, in the 2022 J1 League's matchday 32 between Kawasaki Frontale and Shimizu S-Pulse, the students of Shimosakunobe Elementary School took part in the SDGs Sugoroku event at the Freon Park SDGs booth at Todoroki Stadium, where they also tried out a hands-on learning game app.
Four players will participate in one game, and the game will be played while having fun conversations through quizzes on Kawasaki Frontale's activities. All of the presenter's activities, including game explanations and quiz explanations, will be conducted by students who have prepared in advance. At first, the students looked tense, but over time, they seemed to behave in a familiar and dignified manner. I believe that the experience of learning about SDGs activities while playing, and presenting in public, while being a comprehensive study in elementary schools, has led to the improvement of presentation and facilitation abilities, and has become a good opportunity for students to grow.
SDGs Sugoroku experience at the booth at the CFC Park SDGs at Todoroki Stadium
Comments from Shimosakunobe Elementary School Children
Child A: I was happy to share Kawasaki Frontale's SDGs with many people. I would like many people to know about Sugoroku SDGs.
Child B: I have always been bad at speaking in public. However, when I tried to present Sugoroku SDGs at Todoroki Athletics Stadium, it became fun. From now on, I want to be a person who can make people smile like Frontale.
Teacher's comment: "Frontale is a soccer team, but why are they working on something other than soccer?" The class started at the entrance. As they studied the activities of Frontale, I think they realized that they went there for people's smiles. The encounter with the SDGs Sugoroku, which was held as a summary of this study, brought about a major change in children's learning, and by making it into a content that anyone can enjoy, in which they can make the results they have learned, their motivation to communicate to as many people as possible must have grown among children. I could feel a lot of learning when I looked back on the students who had finished their work.
Comments from Kawasaki Frontale Co., Ltd.
I didn't think that using GIGA terminals would bring such infinite possibilities for learning. I feel that the depth of children's learning has been broadened not only by digitizing their learning styles but also by turning them into games. It was exactly the moment when I felt "Education DX". Also, I was really impressed by how the children were doing their best to show Sugoroku in front of fans and supporters. I am pleased to have an industry-academia partnership with Fujitsu, a technology company. Thank you very much for joining forces to create good products across divisions such as the design division and the corporate division.
FROTRA PJ members involved in the SDGs Sugoroku development
Tsunasawa Shinya, Group Director, GCS ITS Division, Japan Global Gateway, Global Solutions Business Group, Fujitsu Limited
I love football and baseball games. I have been wondering if I could contribute something to the world through the fusion of "sports" and "making things". At that time, he discovered the existence of FROTRA PJ and "This is it!" I thought so and joined it. I heard from Kawasaki Frontale that they wanted to create the SDGs Sugoroku, and intuitively thought it would be an interesting initiative. So I started off by building a prototype in a day while looking at Scratch's sample program, which I had never touched before. Scratch had a hard time at first with various restrictions due to its educational language, but it was built agile by trial and error with other members. All of us developed the game in a limited time during our main job, but I think we were able to play a very good game while having fun.
Takaochi kaname, MC System Software Division, Software Products Business Unit, Global Solutions Business Group, Fujitsu Limited
I had an interest in relation with local communities and education such as “Music" and "Sports". I knew that Kawasaki Frontale was actively involved in the local community, but I thought that I would be inspired and learn something different from my main job because I was involved in it from the Fujitsu side, so I participated in FROTRA PJ. Scratch was my first tool and I was confused, but I enjoyed working together with other members. On the day of the event, the students of Shimosakunobe Elementary School were cheerfully working hard to make a facilitation to adults, which was very funny and impressive. When the handwritten contents of the students' laborious research were displayed on the screen, it was indescribable. We would like to continue this kind of activity in the future and build a connection between Kawasaki Frontale, Fujitsu and the local community.
Higashi Keiju, Security Operations Lab, Global Incident Handling & Response Center, Global Information Security Unit, Fujitsu Limited
I am very happy that I was able to help children learn through the fun learning SDGs Sugoroku using materials such as Kawasaki Frontale players and mascots. I was surprised to see the students of Shimosakunobe Elementary School doing everything from inviting customers to explaining the rules and proceeding. When I asked the teacher, he told me that he had not only researched and compiled the contents of his study in advance, but had also prepared himself by practicing at the school, including giving explanations. I realized that the creation of Sugoroku SDGs has led to more diverse growth for students than I had imagined. I hope to continue to create better content for various people.
In the future, we will not only use it for the comprehensive study of 5th grade students of Shimosakunobe Elementary School, but also we are working on the improvement of the application so that it can be developed as an application that anyone can play. By 2024, all elementary schools in Kawasaki City will be equipped with educational materials, including Sugoroku on the SDGs. Going forward, FROTRA PJ will continue to take on the challenge of contributing to society through activities such as the SDGs Sugoroku.
