Kumamoto is globally renowned as a city sustained by its abundant groundwater. Today, however, rapid urbanization has reduced natural infiltration areas, while climate change is placing increasing pressure on the long-term sustainability of this shared natural asset. Efforts by individual companies and organizations to protect water—valuable though they are—cannot alone restore the groundwater recharge capacity that is being lost. What is needed now is a transition from isolated, site-based initiatives to a landscape-scale ecosystem approach, grounded in scientific evidence and supported by society as a whole.

The Kumamoto Water Positive Design Center (WPDC) was established to serve as a catalyst for this transformation. Dedicated to protecting groundwater and restoring healthy water cycles, WPDC promotes the widespread adoption of green infrastructure—particularly rain gardens—across the region. At the same time, it develops standardized specifications and robust methodologies to quantitatively evaluate their environmental benefits. By bringing together government, industry, academia, finance, and civil society, WPDC also seeks to create an environmental credit market that translates positive environmental outcomes into economic value, designing a sustainable system in which environmental stewardship and economic development reinforce one another.

WPDC is far more than a temporary project. It is a long-term commitment to passing on abundant water resources to future generations and demonstrating, from Kumamoto to the world, a practical model for achieving regional Nature Positive outcomes through a focus on water. We sincerely invite your understanding, partnership, and participation in building this new social model—one that harmonizes economic prosperity with environmental regeneration. Together, let us shape a water-positive future