KAWAKAMI Atsushi, the Dean of Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

「Educating professionals who can solve global problems through interdisciplinary learning and multicultural dialogue」

Nagasaki University, a university dedicated to the “Planetary Health” vision, started a program called “Planetary Health Africa-Japan Strategic and Collaborative Education (PHASE) Program” in 2021. This program aims to educate professionals who can play an active role in the wider world community and enhance the university’s education capacities for global leadership as a part of the Inter-University Exchange Project funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).

 Restoring planetary health is a global issue. To address this issue, we need to share expertise and gradually understand the differences across many environments and cultures. The PHASE program will build an inter-university network for Japan and Africa to work together to realize planetary health and cultivate professionals who can solve global problems, and who can become a bridge between Japan and Africa.

 To train professionals, we offer exchange programs for students who have grown up in different surroundings in Africa and Japan. These students, who have received specialized education at our respective universities, will work together on activities to address global issues from the perspective of planetary health. For example, with the online exchange program, students will explore the theme of multicultural coexistence and acquire the communication skills necessary to create a bridge of understanding between Japan and Kenya. With the short-term exchange program, we will welcome students and professors from Kenyan universities to Japan to showcase the advances in marine energy and telemedicine developed by Nagasaki University on remote islands in Nagasaki Prefecture. In turn, students and professors from Nagasaki University will travel to Kenya study recent developments in the fields of infectious diseases and social medicine in Africa.

 Nagasaki University, through the PHASE program, will educate the next generation who can engage with global issues and improve planetary health. If you would like to contribute to the environment of our planet Earth, please join Nagasaki University. I am looking forward to learning with you.