Message from the Director

Atsufumi Yokoi Vice President, Global Engagement

Chairholder, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Chair in Research and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

Earth Charter International (ECI), ECI Council member (United Nations-mandated University for Peace : UPEACE) In April 2020, the Okayama University Office of Global Engagement (OUGEO) was established in a bid to commit to the Okayama University global engagement strategy and to support seamless interaction and coordination of the activities of the Vice President for Global Engagement Strategy; Okayama University as the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization chair institution in Asia's first "Research and Education for Sustainable Development"; and the Institute of Global Human Resource Development. OUGEO is positioned as a core organization for global engagement of SDG University Management, which is Okayama University's framework for university-wide efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

OUGEO will push forward with its global engagement strategy, which applies and expands the resources of the university’s education and research as well as those of the local community to global-scale issues in order to mutually collaborate with various stakeholders, including international organizations, for the realization of human welfare and planetary health. This strategy aims to make valuable assets of the strengths and characteristics of the university and local community and to drive the university as a global gateway to the region through direct collaboration with like-minded international organizations.

OUGEO, as part of a leading world class university, will act as an engine that links SDG University Management with global engagement strategies to promote education, research, and social engagement services that contribute toward the realization of a decarbonized society, a circular economy, and a decentralized society through partnership projects.

Deputy Directors Executive Adviser

About OUGEO

Okayama University’s Global Engagement

Okayama University uses the name "SDG University Management" to describe university management that tackles both regional and global issues in an integrated way and expresses the university’s mission for contribution to the SDGs as the core of university management.

The Okayama University Global Engagement Office (OUGEO) will promote engagement between SDG University Management and multiple stakeholders in Japan and overseas to provide new values to society.

Diagram of SDG University Management with global engagement strategies

As a university for the promotion of the SDGs, we will contribute to stabilizing our management base and enhancing our international presence by strengthening our research capabilities.

Engage in research and analysis, conduct interactions with mainly with foreign institutions, and coordinate with the university.

Strengthen direct cooperation with various international organizations, e.g., UESCO, UNU, UNCTAD, UPEACE, and UNFPA.

Match Okayama University's research and education resources to priority issues in the international community.

Search for and communicate with overseas universities suitable for global alliances and strengthen inter-university networks.

Image Illustration

The concept of this design is derived from nature—
that is, the relationship between the Sun and the Earth. Light from the activities of OUGEO energizes the water and earth. This energy produces growth like a plant that blooms by producing many buds.

SDGs at Okayama University

On February 28, 2018, Okayama University established the Okayama University SDGs Promotion Headquarters with the aim of promoting university management from the perspective of achieving the SDGs and promoting initiatives to build more integrated partnerships with the local community and the international community. As a long-term vision for 2030, the target year of the SDGs, Okayama University announced, “As a research university that pursues sustainability and wellbeing, we will create new value for the world and region through human resource development and social innovation and realize the creation of the International Academic Center of Okayama which is rich in sustainability and inclusion, through collaboration with diverse stakeholders."

Okayama University and SDGs

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