News

On Wednesday, January 11, an event was held on Hiyoshi Campus for student representatives to deliver their final proposals to the president of Keio University for the 2022 Keio Student Conference.

The Student Conference was a component of Keio University's "Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)" initiatives. Students were selected from across all of Keio's undergraduate faculties to discuss and propose an overall vision, specific objectives, and attainable targets for Keio University to accomplish in order to make progress towards its SDGs. In the spring semester, students deepened their understanding of the SDGs by attending lectures from various experts in their fields. In the fall semester, students then held discussion forums among themselves, breaking into groups that covered the full range of the 17 relevant SDGs and summarizing their findings into official proposals. This event was the culmination of all their work.

Student delegates delivered their proposals to President Kohei Itoh in front of a group of university officials. Among them were the 2022 Student Conference supervisors, Professor Norichika Kanie and Project Professor Hiroko Kuniya who both work with the Graduate School of Media and Governance, and other faculty and staff members.

The students' presentations took a multifaceted perspective on a variety of issues facing Keio University, local communities, Japan, and the world at large. Based on these observations, they included recommended actions for Keio University to take moving forward. During the feedback portion of the event, President Itoh and the students were able engage in an in-depth discussion where they shared their thoughts and personal opinions about the proposals. The proposals contained unique and powerful suggestions based on insights students gained from their daily lives and their awareness of general social issues. They had refined these ideas through independent research and meticulous preliminary analyses.

A review of the recommendations submitted from this year's student conference will be spearheaded by the president and their proposals will tie in to the 2023 Student Conference initiatives.

◆ News Article: Orientation for the "2022 Keio SDGs Student Conference" (June 8, 2022)
◆ News Article: 2022 Summer Camp Held as Part of the Keio SDGs Conference (Sept. 12, 2022)