In accordance with the promotion of SDGs, on Sunday 11th December 2022, Soka University invited 9 practitioners (businessmen, professionals, researchers, international organizations, persons related to NPO/NGOs, and others) to engage in the accomplishment of environmental, and climate change, human rights, and other SDGs to the university campus, and held the 2nd Networking Meeting/Discussion between Practitioners and Students/Faculty for the Accomplishment of SDGs.

This project was implemented with the aim of facilitating discussions around the activities and research related to SDGs set by the students of Soka University, surpassing fields through feedback from external practitioners, as well as completing research and other activities through expanding networking.

At the opening ceremony, Faculty of Economics Associate Professor Michiyo Kakegawa, the head of this project, introduced the project outline and the participants. After that, there were student presentations on the following four themes and discussions with practitioners, leading to a lively exchange aimed at improving activities.

[Goal 1] Industry-academic cooperation to create a bioplastic using Hachioji-grown sake rice flour
[Goal 2] Acceleration using shared bicycles in and around Soka University
[Goal 3] A society that doesn’t throw away the potential for old clothing
[Goal 4] Research into refugee support through university classes

After that, the practitioners that are most active in America gave a lecture on the companies that are promoting sustainability strategies, and Tatsuki Toda, head of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, gave a special lecture called “Trying to Construct Modern Recycling-Societies in Developing Nations and Emerging Markets”.

After the special lecture, the students split into groups for each theme again and took part in lively discussions with different practitioners from the morning session, exchanging ideas regarding aiming to resolve problems in society. During the discussion with everyone that took part after that, the students sought advice about their future careers from the practitioners and the practitioners told the students what kind of people society looked for, encouraging the students, which turned into a relaxed and informal talk.

During the closing ceremony, the students got feedback from all of the practitioners. There were many comments, such as “We were surprised by the way everyone focused on their subjects. We’re glad we took part.” “There are opportunities to discuss ideas for new product development within the workplace too, but we were really moved by everyone’s earnestness. We will share everyone’s abundant ideas and enthusiasm with our workplaces and strengthen activities in order to achieve our SDGs.” “We actually learned a lot from the student’s activities and ideas. We look forward to everyone’s work.” Lastly, the head of the SDGs Center Ryohei Tanaka said, “I think the feedback from all the practitioners will greatly connect with the student’s development. From here on out, we will aim to achieve our SDGs while supporting and sharing the students’ activities to the best of our abilities.”

Associate Professor Kakegawa, who was in charge of the discussions, said, “Our students have all cultivated the ability to find problems and analyze them thanks to everything they’ve learned in seminars, and they will be carrying out research on policies to resolve problems in society. On that front, this was an incredibly valuable experience for our students, as they were able to receive advice from all the experienced practitioners and specialists present with regard to the feasibility and endurance of implementing these measures in society. Thanks to that advice, our students will be able to further deepen their research, and as a university, we will be able to continue supporting them by improving on and moving towards implementing their ideas.”

The participating students and practitioners gave the following comments.
During the discussions, I was able to learn about the things you don’t know as a university student from working adults, and I was able to hear lots of things that will become useful for my future research. Thank you for providing us with this opportunity. (Student)

From here on out, I’ll be considering what kind of effects my own actions will have on the achievement of SDGs and society itself while continuing our research. (Student)

I was able to get lots of advice from people working in a range of fields. I’m so grateful they seriously thought about our projects. I was able to learn how to encourage people to change their behavior, as well as how to find the faults or points that need improving in our own projects. (Student)

Until now, I would clean the beach when I went to the sea and was conscious of keeping a vegetarian diet. I want to continue with those to the best of my abilities. In addition, I’ll strive to learn more about how to resolve climate problems during my postgraduate studies, and in the future I would like to work for a company that has a big impact on the global market, aiming to separate financial growth from the environment. (Student)

This has been really useful because both sides were able to learn something thanks to the discussion between working adults and students. (Practitioner)

I was able to exchange opinions not just with students but also with teachers, and I myself was able to learn a lot and feel encouraged. (Practitioner)

By establishing the specific goals needed to aim for SDGs with both students and teachers battling to achieve them, they will gain the trust of regional communities and bring more value to the university in this era of SDGs. I look forward to seeing how they progress in the future. (Practitioner)