“Integrated Knowledge” Workshop for Regional Revitalization Through Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration (Shibata) Held

On Wednesday, February 28, we held a “Comprehensive Knowledge” workshop—a collaboration among industry, academia, and government aimed at proposing a vision for the region’s future—at the Shibata City Hall (Yorinesu Shibata Fudanotsuji Lounge).

To kick off the event, Professor Masao Takahashi, a Specially Appointed Professor at our university who previously served at the World Economic Forum and is currently working at GAVI, delivered a keynote speech titled “The Challenge of Building Communities and Shaping the World.”

In addition, as part of local initiatives, Project Leader Ogasawara explained this project—including the current challenges facing rice farmers and the research and development issues they face—and also introduced “Organic SHIBATA,” an initiative underway in Shibata City, as well as examples of industry-academia-government collaboration.

Afterward, we held a workshop with approximately 70 participants, dividing them into six groups based on the themes of “tourism,” “food,” and “commerce and industry.”

In the “Food Topic 1” group, with the theme of promoting and publicizing COI-NEXT’s “Rice-Producing Region” initiative, With university students serving as facilitators, they brainstormed ideas—such as “I want to do something like this!!” and “It would be fun to launch a project like that!!”—together with Ogasawara PL, participating companies, Shibata city staff, and agricultural product retailers.

Through interaction among various stakeholders, the event served as a vibrant forum for co-creating the region’s future—highlighting the charms of Shibata and Niigata, identifying local challenges, and generating ideas for their resolution.

(Photo: From left: Masao Takahashi, Specially Appointed Professor; Ogasawara, PL)

(Photo: From left: Brainstorming to identify and solve problems; a student serving as facilitator; presentation of ideas)