May, 2021
With the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, JICA, Tokyo Keizai University International Exchange Committee, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics (Vietnam), and A.A.E.E NEPAL, we held an online event, "How to Live in the Last Decade of the SDGs - Students Create Their Own Learning Space in the Corona Disaster," with simultaneous interpretation in Japanese and English.
With the support of the Tokyo Keizai University International Exchange Committee, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics (Vietnam), and A.A.E.E NEPAL, we held an online event with simultaneous interpretation in Japanese and English, "How to Live in the Last Decade of the SDGs: Students Create Their Own Learning Space with Corona Disaster.
The event was held online with simultaneous interpretation in English and Japanese.
By holding the event online, we were able to communicate not only to Japan but also to the world, making it one of the largest events AAEE has ever hosted.
In addition, the entire event was held with simultaneous interpretation between Japanese and English, a situation we had never experienced before, but we were able to make it happen through repeated trial and error.
Due to the global pandemic, everything seems to have come to a halt.
However, the students who gave presentations this time continued to work steadily to achieve the goals of the SDGs even in the face of such a corona disaster.
In this event, we asked them to report on their activities and send out a heartfelt cry to the world with less than 10 years left to achieve the goals.
In the first part of the event, members of the online study group program first gave a presentation on diversity in the country. Next was a presentation by the students of Prof. Akinori Seki's seminar, who participated in a four-month joint project by students from Japan and Nepal. They gave a message about the importance and difficulty of heart-to-heart dialogue in the face of language barriers. And finally, members of the Asian Four Countries Joint International Exchange Program gave a presentation on the importance of having a common vision and awareness of issues in a multilateral setting.
In the second part, a panel discussion was exchanged between three students who have actually taken action to solve various problems in society and Prof. Seki. Here, they delivered their heartfelt voices for the implementation of the SDGs and for a sustainable society, and together they and the participants thought about how to live in the remaining 10 years until the SDGs goals are achieved.
In the end, more than 300 people from 26 countries and regions applied for the webinar, and about 150 people attended the webinar on the day. The number of views on YouTube and Facebook, where the webinar was broadcast simultaneously, is now 744 as of May 26. We have received a lot of feedback from the participants, which we would like to share with you below.
(Below are the messages received from the participants)
It was good to hear the opinions of people my age from other countries.
It was a good opportunity for me to think more about the SDGs.
It was good to hear the message not only in Japanese but also in English.
It was the first time for me to participate in an online bilingual event, and the students gave me a lot of energy.
It made me think about what I can do for the SDGs.
It made me think about the great potential that can be created through "dialogue".
Looking at these comments, I feel that we were able to deliver our message to the participants without fail.
Students in the Corona disaster are no longer able to learn in the same way as before. However, I believe that there are lessons that can be learned only now. We at AAEE have been creating a place where students can take the initiative in learning. I think we were able to prove this through this event. In fact, both presenters and participants learned a great deal through this online event.
In today's society, we are inundated with the words "SDGs," but are we not being swept away by these "words" and losing sight of the essence of what they are? The goals that have been set for the world may seem a little vague and distant. The AAEE will continue to bring change to society one step at a time. Please look forward to our future activities.
