Hokkaido University Delegates for WSES 2010 Shimeno AOI Sebastian CHARCHALAC
HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY SUSTAINABILITY WEEKS 1. Overview Sustainability Weeks is a project created and hosted by Hokkaido University with the aim of promoting research and education to help turning into a sustainable society. The first session was organized in 2007, and since then it has been held every year with the involvement of all the faculties and schools of the University. The style of events has improved as well, including activities organized for students. These activities include: research poster contest and student-supported small sustainable projects within the campus. Student teams organized events like Fair-trade Fair and Clark Theater Project (movies as communication tool). Hokkaido University’s philosophy about sustainability regards not only environmental issues but also public health and human dignity. For SW 2008 and 2009, subjects were classified in six key categories: Climate and Environment Change; Biodiversity and Nature Conservation; Education and Communication; Technological Innovation and Social Change; Food, Water and Health; Human Rights, Culture and Peace. These issues were addressed in the different events covered in the discussion of moving to a sustainable society. Also, in Hokkaido University’s view, high quality of life and human wellbeing is necessary to achieve a sustainable society, so this year the main topic will be related to this field.
2. History Hokkaido University established the Initiative on Sustainable Development (HUISD) in 2005, focusing on research and education that may contribute to shift to sustainable development. HUISD hosted the Hokkaido University International Symposium on Sustainable Development in 2006 with the participation of approximately 1000 people, and the success of the event turned into a proposal from the participants for the continuity of the Symposium. As a result, a campaign to strengthen research and education in the field of sustainable development was planned and the project named “Sustainability Weeks" started in 2007. Sustainability Weeks 2007 was held from October 20 to October 31, 2007. During this period the following were held: three outreach programs, two international symposia and the opening ceremony for a new research center. The total number of participants exceeded 800. The main themes were “Influence On Hokkaido By Global Warming” and “How Should We Deal With Aquatic Environment?”. In 2008, the Sustainability Weeks 2008–G8 Summit Round was held over a period of three weeks in June and July to coincide with the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, which focused on the global environment as its main theme. In 2009, total events were 33 including pre and post events that were hosted from October to December.
3. Participants The participants of Sustainability Weeks 2007 were mainly general public in Sapporo area. The number of participants was about 800 people. Sustainability Weeks 2008-2010 were intended for researchers, students (University students, High and Junior-high school students, Elementary school
students), and general public. The number of participants of Sustainable Weeks 2008 was 6339 (including 557 people from overseas) and the number of events was 50. The number of participants of Sustainable Weeks 2009 was 8440, and the number of events was 33 (including 5 events hosted by students).
4．Achievements and Future Activities These are the main achievements of SW: - Sapporo Sustainability Declaration: This is one of the outcomes of G8 University Summit 2008, which was an event of Sustainable Weeks 2008. In this declaration, the universities presidents agreed with the idea that some issues that used to be considered as scientific became of political concern. It is the
universities’ role to remain as a neutral and objective player. The responsibilities are: restructuring
scientific knowledge, innovation of knowledge and sustainability in higher education. They also agreed with the idea of the function of universities campuses as experimental models for sustainable society. - Establishment of “Hokkaido University's Network of Research and Higher Education for Global Sustainability”: This network is thought to become the platform of communication for researchers by which it will be possible to find various international collaborative activities (joint symposium, etc). Broad challenges (“from environmental changes in Antarctic to the right of ethnic minority”) are covered in five key areas: Global Warming; Securing Food & Forest; Integrated Water Management; Recycle-oriented Community; and Infectious Disease. - Sustainability Weeks: Hosting Sustainability Weeks every year. - Development of human resources: In order to develop experts who can cooperatively work on issues commonly faced by all humanity, Hokkaido University started providing training courses. These are intended for professionals, including technicians, policymakers, educational service providers, and researchers from all over the world. The themes of the courses include: prevention of avian influenza, preventive measures for HIV infection, water supply and sewage management in cold climates, waste treatment and forest ecotourism.
5．Sustainability Weeks 2010 In this year the theme is “Toward a Society Offering Quality of Life and Human Dignity for All”. In that meaning, the classification of subjects will turn to 4 key areas: Quality of Life and Human Dignity for All; Our Relationships with Nature; Sustainable Campus and Learning for the Future. Already 34 events are proposed. Pre-events will begin from September 25th, while the main activities start on October 25th and end on November 15th. The Opening activity theme will be Hokkaido University International Symposium on Sustainable Development. Students participation will be encouraged through several new events. The Sustainable Campus Contest will make students to think and propose ideas to change our University campus to a sustainable way (facilities, energy, water, etc), and giving a reward to the most creative idea.
Hokkaido University’s motto is “Boys, be ambitious”. Now, boys and girls in Hokkaido have the ambition to change the World, it’s the University’s responsibility to produce professionals committed with social and environmental sense.
Opening Symposium
Poster session
Fair-trade Fair Event
References 1. Overview http://www.sustain.hokudai.ac.jp/sw/whats 2. History http://www.sustain.hokudai.ac.jp/sw2008/english/about/index.html 3. Participants http://www.sustain.hokudai.ac.jp/sw2009/jp/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/09_houkoku_e.pdf http://www.sustain.hokudai.ac.jp/sw2008/img/SW2008digest_jp.pdf 4. Achievements and Future Activities http://g8u-summit.jp/english/ssd/index.html http://www.sustain.hokudai.ac.jp/sw2009/jp/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/09_houkoku_e.pdf 5. Sustainability Weeks 2010 http://www.sustain.hokudai.ac.jp/sw/ http://www.sustain.hokudai.ac.jp/sw/jp/events/2010/opening