On April 9, 2019, a symposium titled “Okayama SDGs Project” was held at Santa Hall (Yanagi-machi, Kita-ku, Okayama City), in which Okayama University President MAKINO Hirofumi participated in the panel discussion. Held as an event commemorating the 140th anniversary of the newspaper Sanyo Shimbun, the symposium aimed to deepen understanding of SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and discuss what is required to achieve them, attracting about 300 Okayama citizens and others.

In the first part of the symposium, KAWAGUCHI Mariko, Senior Researcher, Daiwa Institute of Research, gave a lecture titled “Sustainability that local regions should aim to achieve SDG strategies for local enterprises,” explaining the details of SDGs and introducing various efforts made in different fields.

In the second part, Professor KANO Mitsunobu, Vice Executive Director in charge of promoting Okayama University’s efforts to help achieve SDGs, led a panel discussion as the coordinator on the theme “SDGs connect all regions in Okayama a sustainable future in local communities.” Five panelists participated in the discussion: Okayama University President Makino; Mr. OMORI Masao, Mayor of Okayama City; Mr. OTA Noboru, Mayor of Maniwa City; Mr. MIYANAGA Masato, Chairman of the Okayama Association of Corporate Executives; and Ms. Kawaguchi. They discussed issues such as the SDG efforts made by their own organizations, the nurturing of human resources that took the lead in promoting SDGs, and their plans for future development. During the discussion, one of the event participants introduced an effort to achieve SDGs made by local students of SETO High School, to which Okayama University provided support in studying SDGs. The introduced effort by the high school students, who made a hand cream using peaches that were meant to be discarded, livened up the discussion.

President Makino closed the panel discussion by saying: “To promote SDGs, it is important to ensure cooperation among industry, government, academia, financial institutions, and media. I hope that each of you will take part in promoting SDGs at home and in the workplace, using the knowledge accumulated at Okayama University and sharing the same philosophy of SDGs.”