Executive Vice President Yokota takes the stage at THE Campus Live Japan 2022
University News | December 20, 2022
THE Campus Live Japan 2022 was held at Keio University Mita Campus for two days from December 13th to 14th with the overall theme “Reimagining the future of Japanese universities in the post-pandemic world.” Executive Vice President Atsushi Yokota (in charge of International Affairs and SDGs) took the podium in the session on the first day.
Executive Vice President Atsushi Yokota delivering a presentation
THE Campus Live is one of THE (Times Higher Education) event series, focusing on issues faced by the university sector in specific regions and countries, and university officials sharing ideas and knowledge for solving these issues. In 2022, this series were held in Australia, United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, and Japan.
The event was kicked off with welcome remarks by THE Chief Knowledge Officer Phil Baty and President Kohei Itoh of Keio University; lectures and speeches by Her Excellency Ms. Julia Longbottom CMG, the British Ambassador to Japan; UK Minister George Freeman for Science, Research and Innovation; Senior Fellow Jo Johnson of Harvard Kennedy School; and Prof. Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh.
The session “University’s contribution to SDGs (global challenges) – institutional strategies and the role of university in making a difference?” was moderated by Director Matthew Knowles of the British Council Japan. In this session, THE Chief Knowledge Officer Phil Baty introduced THE Impact Rankings which is followed by presentations from Vice-Executive Director Mitsunobu Kano of Okayama University and Executive Vice President Yokota from Hokkaido University introducing their respective university’s efforts related to SDGs. Prof. Yokota talked about Hokkaido University’s history of incorporating the concepts of sustainability and the SDGs into its activities since its founding, the importance of the sense of unity created by faculty and staff recognizing the connection between their activities and the SDGs, strengthening engagement with stakeholders inside and outside the university, and preparations for attracting investment from outside. Afterwards, lively discussions were held in a panel discussion and Q&A such as the hurdles to realize the SDGs and the motivation of researchers and students, which proves the high level of interest in the SDGs by the participants.
THE Campus Live Japan: https://www.timeshighered-events.com/live-japan-2022
Panel discussion
Article and photos by Division of International Relations
