Keio University Student Conference (KUSC) Projects

  Proposals from the Keio University Student Conference (KUSC) are submitted to the President as proposals from all participants of each academic year.

Proposals selected to proceed as projects are carried out for one year as projects that any Keio students can participate in.

We aim to embody the proposals filled with the thoughts of Keio students as actions, leading to behavioral changes among Keio students and faculty/staff, and making them Keio University measures that continue into 2050.

Please take a look at past projects, and if you wish to make a new proposal, please participate in the Keio University Student Conference (KUSC).

If you are interested in ongoing projects, please contact the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

Why not participate in a Keio University Student Conference (KUSC) Project for a year?

Hiromitsu Kobayashi
Chairperson, Community Engagement Promotion Project Committee, Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Representative, Keio University SDGs Conference—2025 Keio University Student Conference (KUSC)
Professor, Faculty of Law  

Introducing the projects that have been selected so far.

Aiming to reduce digital waste, we held the "Left on 'Watch Later' Exhibition" in June 2026.

To promote the installation of water servers on all campuses and further increase their awareness and usage rate, we conducted free distribution of bottles made with straw and stamp rallies with prizes at each campus from May to June 2024.

Now, bringing personal water bottles and using water servers have become widespread, and many Keio students, faculty, and staff can be seen refilling their bottles during breaks.

It is also well-received by visitors from overseas who come for international conferences and other events. 

This project aims to improve awareness of the 10 targets and specific initiatives in SDG Goal 14 "Life Below Water," and to serve as a catalyst for interest in sustainable seafood.

In April and December 2024, we held "Sustainable Seafood Week" at the Hiyoshi Campus student cafeteria "Green's Marche," providing menus using ASC/MSC certified seafood (sustainable seafood), and Keio students raised awareness among other students by distributing pamphlets.

From the 2025 academic year onward, the regular provision of sustainable seafood continues as a project of the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

To realize SDG Goal 11 "Sustainable Cities and Communities," this project aims to transform Keio University from being "close yet distant" to being the "pride of the town" while considering the role Keio University should play in the local community through interaction between students and local residents.

Focusing on elementary school students, we are implementing the "University Student Book Caravan—Let's Have Fun with Books and Games!—" where students visit elementary schools and after-school kids' clubs near the campus to conduct book-themed workshops, aiming to make both Keio University and books feel more familiar. 

Forests are expected to have various utilization methods and effects, such as reducing carbon dioxide—an urgent issue for global warming countermeasures—as well as serving as places for environmental education and improving mental health.

As a project aiming to collect and disclose information regarding forests owned by Keio University and to promote the awareness and utilization of Keio's forests, we conducted field surveys to measure CO2 absorption in the Shizugawa forest in Minamisanriku in January 2024 and the Shiki-no-Mori Miyama forest in Mie Prefecture in March 2024. 

An internal survey revealed that even when projects aimed at achieving the SDGs were implemented, their existence was not being noticed.

Based on these results, we felt the need for projects that are highly topical and visually prominent, so we held "0-yen Electricity Bill Illuminations" using solar panels.

We believed that realizing an illumination event using 100% renewable energy would lead to the future progress of the project.

In December 2024, we installed illuminations at Hiyoshi Campus and SFC using solar panels for lighting and decorations made from discarded aluminum foil, straws, and clear folders. 

This project aims to improve the recycling rate within Keio. Based on surveys conducted with Keio students and faculty/staff and their requests for improvement, we installed waste paper collection boxes and signs to promote waste sorting at Hiyoshi Campus in March 2024.

Additionally, in January 2025, to collect disposable chopsticks that were being thrown away as combustible waste as a resource and to reduce combustible waste, we installed collection boxes for used disposable chopsticks at the Hiyoshi Campus student cafeteria.

The collected chopsticks are reborn as paper through a recycling project.

From January to February 2025, we were able to collect approximately 7,400 sticks (3,700 pairs). 

This project aims to realize SDG Goal 12 "Responsible Consumption and Production" and Goal 14 "Life Below Water," with the goal of reducing plastic waste by 20% by 2030.

Focusing on contact lenses, which are estimated to be used by approximately 60% of students based on our own survey, we installed contact lens empty case collection boxes at five locations on Hiyoshi Campus starting in December 2024, enabling constant collection.

Furthermore, in January 2025, we held a contact lens empty case collection event for awareness-raising purposes and collected a total of 2,841 cases over two days.

Now, collection boxes are permanently installed at multiple campuses.

This project aims to alleviate students' anxieties about parenting, support the formation of career plans that include parenting, and resolve the high turnover rate due to childcare, which remains an issue in Japan.

In February 2025, we held a panel discussion event at Hiyoshi Campus titled "Let's Ask Our Seniors! Tell Us About Parenting and Careers," where five speakers provided advice for the future, including their struggles in balancing childcare and work and what worked well in their workplace and home initiatives.

Additionally, in March 2025, as an attempt to actually experience parenting, we planned a total of three childcare experience sessions at Benesse Hiyoshi Nursery School. 

This project focuses on "regional areas" to realize SDG Goal 10 "Reduced Inequalities." With the goal of "restoring the proportion of students from regional areas to 40% by 2030," we are working with the Admissions Center to strengthen soft-side support to alleviate anxieties at the time of admission and during university life.

At the pre-admission exchange meeting, we held an online event for regional students and new students starting to live alone, aiming to alleviate anxieties about student life.

Additionally, at the cafeterias of Hiyoshi Campus and SFC, we held "Yoru Shokudo" (Night Cafeteria) events for regional students, new students living alone, and international students to learn the importance and tips of healthy self-catering. These events were a great success, featuring lectures by specialized teachers and exchange programs, in addition to providing dinner.

To support regional students and students living alone in leading a more fulfilling university life, we created a digital pamphlet in May 2024.

We emphasize soft-side support such as health management, mental support, and building friendships.