On May 2, President Yasuto Nasu, Executive Director Yukari Mimura (Planning, Evaluation and General Affairs), and Vice President Atsufumi Yokoi (Global Engagement) paid a courtesy visit to Rector Tshilidzi Marwala at the headquarters of the United Nations University (UNU) in Tokyo.

The 14th Global RCE Conference, organized by the Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (RCE) accredited by the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), will be held in Okayama City from October 21 to 23, marking the 20th anniversary of RCE Okayama’s accreditation. In connection with the conference, Okayama University— which has collaborated with Okayama City on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) since the early stages — received a formal request for cooperation from UNU. During the visit, President Nasu formally accepted this request. The participants also discussed the possibility of concluding a cooperation agreement with UNU by October to further advance institutional collaboration.

In addition, the Okayama University delegation held detailed discussions with Director Shinobu Yamaguchi and other officials of UNU-IAS regarding implementation plans for the Global RCE Conference.

Okayama University is committed to positioning ESD as a distinctive pillar of its education, laying the foundation for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and promoting initiatives to build more integrated partnerships with local and international communities.