The Kyoto University International ONLINE Symposium on Education and Research in Global Environmental Studies in Asia was co-organized by Kyoto University and Mahidol University and was supported by the “Kyoto University Environmental Innovator Program Cultivating Environmental Leaders across ASEAN region”. On November 30th, 277 participants from 73 organizations (60 universities, 13 companies and others) from 18 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the United States, as well as Japan, attended the symposium. Following the day, 166 participants attended it.
The event was held for two days from November 30 to December 1, 2020. On the 30th, it started with the opening addresses by Banchong Mahaisavariya, Rector of Mahidol University, and Nagahiro Minato, President of Kyoto University. The subsequent keynote lectures were given by Professor Prasit Watanapa (Mahidol University) and Professor Hajime Kita (Kyoto University). Both lectures were focusing on the responses of university institutions to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was followed by a research poster discussion session, which was divided into 4 research fields: “Science and Technology”, “Agriculture and Biology”, “Urban and Rural Planning”, and “Policy and Economics”. The posters were published on the symposium’s website from November 23 and the audiences gave comments as well as actively discussed the posters online. In the following session, titled “Information Sharing on Post COVID-19 Countermeasures at Universities”, the status and efforts of post COVID-19 measures at seven universities in Asia, Europe, and the United States were discussed. Lastly, in the summary session of day 1, Professor Fujii (Kyoto University) explained the history of the symposium, before Professor Nguyen Thi Anh Tuyet (Hanoi University of Science and Technology), Professor Shimizu (Kyoto University), and Professor Ernan Rustiadi (IPB University) shared their ideas about future international collaborations, bringing the first day to a close.
The second day started with young researchers presenting their work on environmental research in four fields: “Science and Technology”, “Agriculture and Biology”, “Urban and Rural Planning”, and “Policy and Economics”. After the young researcher presentations, five international research projects were introduced in the plenary session, and the future of international collaboration was discussed. In the closing session, a brief summary of the young researcher presentation sessions was shared, and Professor Tran Van Quang (Da Nang University), Rector Ngo Bunthan (Royal University of Agriculture), Professor Tran Thanh Duc (Hue Agricultural and Forestry University), and Assistant Professor Naito (Kyoto University) gave comments on the four poster sessions. This was followed by an online best poster award ceremony led by Dean Katsumi (Kyoto University). The symposium was then officially closed with final remarks from Professor Funakawa (Kyoto University) and Vice-Chancellor Nopraenue Sajjarax Dhirathiti (Mahidol University).
