The 6th International Academic Consortium for Sustainable Cities (IACSC)* International Symposium/General Assembly and the 1st International Student Forum were held in Yokohama Port Opening Memorial Hall for 2 days on September 11th and 12th, 2015. Many researchers and students from IACSC member universities, mainly in Asia, participating and interacting together, it served as a stepping stone to the 2nd stage of IACSC. The 7th IACSC International Symposium/General Assembly will be held at Universiti Sains Malaysia next academic year, and it continues to be taken into education and research activities.
The International Academic Consortium for Sustainable Cities (IACSC) is a network among universities mainly in Asia, which makes collaborative efforts with cities and international organizations in solving urban issues.
Yokohama City University hosted the International Symposium under the theme of “Global Partnership and Local Initiatives for Sustainable Cities”. This symposium is an event by the International Academic Consortium for Sustainable Cities (IACSC), a network among universities established by YCU. This event is held annually in one of the countries, and this year, it was held in Yokohama after 5 years from the 1st symposium.
In the symposium, activities of IACSC thus far was reported and the representative from each participating university, top-level in Asia, introduced their school. City of Yokohama, Universiti Sains Malaysia, and JICA Yokohama also reported the specific project collaborated among cities, the support for urban planning in Seberang Perai, Malaysia.
In addition, Mr. Jitsuro Terashima, the president of Tama University and the chief director of Japan Research Institute, was invited to give a lecture on the theme of “Thinking urban issues in the world: trend and future of the global society”. While the symposium made the participants understand the YCU’s international initiatives such as IACSC and collaboration with City of Yokohama and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), it ended successfully with the expectation for the future.
In the afternoon, parallel sessions were held in three units, Environment, Urban Planning, and Public Health, where presentations by researchers and discussions took place.
On September 11th, a day before the IACSC International Symposium, the 1st IACSC International Student Forum was held with about 100 students including 29 international students from 7 countries. Usually, the symposium contains presentations and discussions by researchers under a research theme regarding urban issues, which is the theme of IACSC; however, this time, students from IACSC member universities gathered in Yokohama for this student version of the symposium.
Various presentations were held with many international students, such as fieldwork* by YCU students, Sustainable Urban Development Program (SUDP), International Student Exchange Program by urban planning unit (adopted to JST SAKURA Science Plan), and so on. Discussions on each presentation took place among the participants.
After the IACSC International Student Forum, as an event to experience Japanese culture, a walk in Yukata was held, which fostered the cultural understanding of each country. This event was the one that facilitate the student interaction the most among the IACSC activities.
YCU conduct student fieldwork in cities where IACSC member universities are located, 5 times for environment unit and urban planning unit, and for public health unit, first time this time. In addition to the presentations in the international student forum on the 11th, students presented their activities in English in the poster session in the IACSC International Symposium on the 12th, which was a good practical opportunity for them to report their activity.
