Environmental initiatives

Keio University contributes to the preservation of the global environment and the development of a sustainable, circular society through its activities in education, research, and medical care. Furthermore, each faculty and staff member, and each student, promotes environmental improvement activities with an awareness and responsibility of being a member of the global ecosystem.

Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, Keio University has been working to reduce energy consumption, primarily through electricity-saving measures, while taking care not to compromise the educational, research, and medical environments, from the perspectives of finite resources and environmental protection.

We will continue to work on electricity saving and reducing energy consumption in the future.

For details, please refer to the Business Report.

Keio University aims to convert all of its electricity consumption to natural energy by 2030. The university has six campuses, and including the university hospital and affiliated schools, the conditions such as energy consumption, usage patterns, and potential for on-site solar power generation vary significantly for each. Taking into account the characteristics of these campuses, specific studies are being conducted towards carbon neutrality. In particular, for the Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC), a roadmap has been created to achieve the conversion to green power as a model campus for carbon neutrality, and plans for the installation of solar power generation systems are being advanced ahead of other campuses.

Keio University's Hiyoshi Campus received the Award for Contribution to the Sound Water Cycle System of the Tsurumi River Basin for FY2017 from the Tsurumi River Basin Water Committee and the Keihin Branch Work Office, Kanto Regional Development Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, for its contribution to the sound water cycle system of the Tsurumi River basin. Since around 1991, the campus has continuously and actively engaged in environmental preservation and regeneration, including the restoration of water retention capacity through the regeneration of coppice forests, the conservation of biodiversity, the implementation of soil runoff prevention measures, the regeneration of watersides using spring water, and the control of runoff through the voluntary installation of rainwater retention ponds. These efforts were recognized.

As student activities related to the environment, Keio University has been holding “Environment Week” every June at Hiyoshi Campus since AY2002, centered around the officially authorized student club, “Environmental Student Group E.C.O.”

Various activities are held annually to encourage interest in the environment, such as cleanup activities with students and local residents, and panel discussions with environmental student groups from other universities.

Keio University currently conducts afforestation and forest management activities across approximately 160 hectares of university-owned forests and shared forests under contract with the national forest nationwide, utilizing them for education and research. In the Keio University Forest in Shizugawa, Minamisanriku-cho, Miyagi Prefecture, which became the first school forest 50 years ago, faculty, staff, and students have been engaged in afforestation and the maintenance of walking trails. A mountain hut was constructed in June 2014 as a base for these various activities. It is expected that educational and research activities, as well as volunteer activities, conducted in the Keio University Forest will become increasingly active.

Mountain Hut Unveiling Ceremony Held at Keio University Forest in Minamisanriku-cho (June 16, 2014)

Keio University's Initiatives Featured in ISCN Report: Best Practices in Campus Sustainability Presented at Davos Forum (February 25, 2014)

In January 2015, Keio University's research activities were featured in the report “Developing Skills for Future Leaders: 2017 Sustainable Campus Best Practices from ISCN and GULF Schools” published by the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) (*Keio University joined in AY2011) in conjunction with the Annual Meeting (commonly known as the Davos Forum) of the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Davos, Switzerland.

・Keio Co-Evolving House (Graduate School of Media and Governance)