RENKEI | Motohiro Tsuchiya, Vice-President / Professor, Graduate School of Media and Governance
2025.05.20
Five universities each from Japan and the UK have come together to form a consortium called RENKEI. The name is a play on the Japanese word *renkei* (collaboration) and is an acronym for Research and Education Network for Knowledge Economy Initiatives. It is supported by the British Council, the UK's international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities.
Officially launched in 2012, Keio University joined in 2023. Then, in April 2025, the third phase, RENKEI 3, began. On May 6, as Japan's Golden Week was coming to an end, we gathered at Newcastle University in the UK, and from the 7th to the 9th, we held a workshop at the nearby Durham University. The theme was climate change. Last December, we held a similar workshop on climate change at Kyushu University.
In addition to climate change, health is another theme. We held a workshop at the University of Southampton in the UK in March 2024, and a follow-up workshop was held in December 2024 at Keio's Tsuruoka Town Campus of Keio (TTCK). TTCK, with its abundance of rice, sake, seafood, and mountain produce, as well as its enjoyable hot springs, was the perfect place to discuss health. Even the British researchers, who were initially skeptical, asking, "Why are we going to a place like that?", seemed deeply impressed once they actually visited Tsuruoka.
Newcastle, where we first gathered this time, is a city that prospered during the Industrial Revolution. It once thrived on coal mines that powered steam engines. However, a shift is occurring from an era of heavy fossil fuel use to one of green energy, and Newcastle University is keeping pace with this transition, focusing on the research and development of green technologies.
Meanwhile, Durham University is said to be the third-oldest university in England (founded in 1832). I have also heard that University College London (UCL) is the third-oldest university in England (founded in 1826). Apparently, the difference in interpretation stems from whether the university was recognized by the British Parliament or the British Crown, and the debate is said to be ongoing.
From our hotel in the city of Durham to the RENKEI workshop venue, we were made to walk for 35 minutes along the River Wear. It was quite a distance and included an uphill climb, but soon after we started walking, a castle came into view on the opposite bank of the river. Amazingly, this castle is owned by Durham University. And it seems that exchange students from Keio can also live inside this castle. While it's true that the British enjoy walking, they probably wanted to show us this castle.
During the campus tour, we were shown the inside of the cathedral adjacent to the castle. It was so magnificent that it was hard to believe it was managed by the university. It also had the atmosphere of the city's top tourist attraction. This is because the castle and cathedral were apparently used for filming the movie "Harry Potter."
The population of the city of Durham is about 300,000. Of these, 30,000, or 10 percent, are said to be students. The university's colleges and buildings are spread throughout the city, and you can see buildings with the Durham University logo everywhere. The newly built business school building is enormous.
Universities in the UK charge significantly different tuition fees for domestic and international students. However, the UK government is reportedly urging universities to increase the number of domestic students. Since most universities in the UK are public, they seem to have no choice but to comply with the government's request, but I had heard that as a result, many universities' finances have fallen into deficit. I was told that Durham University's finances are not that bad, but even so, the quality of its facilities is remarkable.
Durham is by no means an easily accessible place. It takes over three hours by train from London. Even the nearest airport, Newcastle Airport, is about a 30-minute drive away. The fact that they have continued to accumulate over 190 years of education and research here is worthy of respect. SFC must have potential as well.
Led by the faculty of Durham University, five separate groups competed with their presentations. From Keio University, Associate Professor Yoshinobu Takei of the Faculty of Law and Associate Professor Naoki Wada of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies each served as a group facilitator. Many young researchers from the member universities in Japan and the UK also participated. I hope that more and more joint research will emerge from this UK-Japan collaboration.