On February 1, Okayama University President MAKINO Hirofumi signed a comprehensive agreement with Bizen City Mayor YOSHIMURA Takeshi, committing to contribute toward the promotion of local industries, community development, and the achievement of the SDGs through joint research and other collaborative efforts. 

The Graduate School of Education initially entered into an Academia-government Collaboration Agreement to Promote Education with Bizen City on November 10, 2021, agreeing to develop a new e-learning system called Micro-step Study (*1) that would be made available to Bizen City. However, it was determined that a more comprehensive agreement was needed to tackle various local challenges facing the region, one that would oversee the promotion of local industries, community development and the achievement of the SDGs. 

As of March 31, 2022, the aims, purposes and content of the initial agreement will come under the terms of the new, more comprehensive agreement, which covers the following: promoting the new e-learning system and providing user support, promoting the local industry to revitalize the city center, promoting community development through upgraded public transportation and marketing to attract tourists and achieving SDGs by studying a model for local production and consumption of energy at the regional level.

After the signing ceremony, President Makino commented that, “Bizen City has a wealth of local resources and substantial infrastructure. I believe that we can achieve the SDGs locally by working together and utilizing these assets, thereby becoming a role model for Local SDGs (*2) that will inspire not only the rest of the prefecture, but the rest of the country, and possibly even the rest of the world.” Mayor Yoshimura stated, “By sharing knowledge and resources with Okayama University, I believe that this agreement will have a positive effect on various aspects of life in Bizen City, including community development, education, industry, and medical treatment.”
  
※1　Micro-step Study
An e-learning system that utilizes the latest memory research and big data technology developed by Professor TERASAWA Takafumi (Okayama University, Faculty of Education). The system was awarded the “Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award” at the 2019 Japan E-learning Awards.
See the following website for more detail (Japanese only): https://micro-step.jimdofree.com

※2　Local SDGs
A concept that promotes maximizing the strengths of local regions through mutual support and resource sharing while taking into account the unique characteristics of each region, maintaining self-reliance and encouraging decentralization.
Source (Japanese only)：http://chiikijunkan.env.go.jp/