Disasters are unfortunate events, but various issues during arising the recovery can be highly effective from an educational viewpoint. In a tense situation following a natural disaster, students are presented with an “unstructured and unavoidable problem” to raise the level of motivation and maintain concentration. This paper discusses one concrete example of PBL in an unclear situation. Kumamoto Earthquake (M 7.3) occurred in April 2016. One section of a red brick warehouse built in 1921 in Hinagu, Yatsushiro City collapsed in the disaster. Immediately after the earthquake, local residents, our college students and teachers held a series of meetings about dismantling or conservation of the warehouse. The students proposed several preservation plans to the meetings. The owner decided to dismantle the warehouse at public expenditure. The students continued proposing the preservation of the legacy of the old warehouse by using the dismantled bricks to create a pocket part. With the agreement of the owner, local residents and the city, the park was completed through the cooperation of the students and residents. Students kept motivation high for about 2 years, worked independently on the site, and were left with a deep impression after the project. Also, as an effect of the education, their development of competence including knowledge and the skill was confirmed. In addition, many local residents got involved, learned deeply, and a future-oriented community development seems to have been triggered. The tension existing in the area following a serious disaster made this PBL possible and fruitful.

PBL and disaster－Regeneration by students and local residents of a historic redbrick warehouse damaged in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake

[Conference proceedings](https://vbn.aau.dk/en/publications/transforming-pbl-through-hybrid-learning-models-timely-challenges)