From a Conventional City Life to

a Sustainable Lifestyle Eco-Catering Hakkenzan

Birgit Bianca Fuerst (Hokkaidō) interviewed by Sangeetha Ratnayake (Hokkaidō) Birgit Bianca Fuerst’s passion for the sustainable lifestyle began in 2006. Being a mother with three small kids, and her fondness for nature along with her German background was the foundation of Hakkenzan EcoCatering. She wanted her kids to grow up with nature: simple night walks and converting anything and everything natural into fun crafts was the beginning of her 14-yearand-counting journey in her sustainable lifestyle. Hakkenzan EcoCatering was initially a small community where moms and kids could get together and do some crafts to learn about nature-given opportunities, and then it grew up into a social business when she introduced ecocatering to the program in 2012. “It is not the eco-catering everyone expects us to be. We are not a food delivery company. Instead, we are catering not the food, but the knowledge of sustainable lifestyle concepts and the happiness of living in the moment,” Bianca said. Bianca came

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to Sapporo in 1996 and worked for three years as a Coordinator for International Relations in the JET Program. At the same time, because of her passion for the environment, she acted as Head of the Environmental Council of Sapporo City for two years. During her time on the environmental council, her talks about her sustainable lifestyle in Germany ended up giving her the motivation to bring the concepts of sustainability in Japan. She started introducing renewable energy projects such as solar cookers, biomass, off-grid wind, and solar panels. Hakkenzan EcoCatering closely follows the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Mainly the following goals of No. 3: Good health and well-being; No. 7: Affordable and clean energy; No. 12: Responsible production and consumption; No. 15: Life on land and No. 17: Partnerships for the goals.