Okayama University has made university-wide efforts to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2017, we held the world’s first international conference on attainment of SDGs in Okayama City in cooperation with other organizations. We were also the only national/public university to be a recipient of the first Japan SDGs Awards organized by the national government. Thus, we have produced satisfactory results regarding promotion of the SDGs. To accelerate our efforts toward achieving the SDGs in the future and reinforce the establishment of a strategic system that can work toward sustainable development, President Hirofumi Makino visited the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) (Shibuya, Tokyo) on February 22, 2018.

He was accompanied by Vice Executive Director and University Research Administrator (URA) Norito Satoh, Vice Executive Director and Senior University Global Administrator (UGA) Atsufumi Yokoi, and Vice Executive Director and Professor of the Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences Mitsunobu Kano, and they held a meeting with Dr. Kazuhiko Takemoto, Director of UNU-IAS.

During the meeting, President Makino explained the efforts toward the SDGs made by the university, and Vice Executive Directors Satoh and Kano talked about our trial plan that aims to identify and resolve specific social issues, entrenching the SDGs both inside and outside the university, and to create sympathy with such activities. Listening to our results for the SDGs, Director Takemoto talked about how important it is to always have a strong will to lead the implementation of the SDGs and accelerate cooperation with various stakeholders at home and abroad. He also exchanged views with President Makino and other members to make it clearer what we can do for the world.