2020.10.26

On October 2 (Fri), Nagaoka University of Technology (NUT) faculty members gave a lecture on the SDGs at Niigata Prefectural Ojiya High School.

This lecture was planned by Ojiya City which is working to raise awareness of the SDGs among its citizens and Ojiya High School which is conducting activities to explore the connections between the SDGs and local industry and manufacturing. NUT was asked by both of them to dispatch a lecturer to the event.

At the lecture, Dr. Mami Katsumi (UEA: Education Administrator) from the Office for SDGs Promotion explained the basics of the SDGs in a fun and easy to understand through quizzes and bingo in English as "SDGs Active Learning". Then, the students were divided into two groups to brainstorm and discuss from their respective standpoint with the aim of making them feel that the SDGs are familiar problem.

Dr. Toshiya Matsukawa (Associate Professor), deputy head of the Office for SDGs Promotion, gave a lecture entitled "SDGs x City Planning" in which he presented data on regional issues such as declining and aging populations and vacant house issues from the perspective of public transportation and urban planning to deepen students' awareness of the close relationship between regional issues and the SDGs.

The lecture was attended by 195 second-year students from the school. At the end of the lecture, a representative of students expressed his gratitude for the lecture and said "We were able to understand that the issues in our immediate community are linked to the SDGs."

Afterward, Principal Masahiro Takeuchi awarded Dr. Matsukawa and Dr. Katsumi with the "Ojiya Studies Professional Instructor's Commission".

NUT will continue to work actively to promote the SDGs in cooperation with local communities and educational institutions.

Dr. Mami Katsumi

Dr. Toshiya Matsukawa