In order to implement practical environmental leadership programs and promote employment of people with environmental skills, it is essential to promote partnerships among universities, as well as partnerships between universities and the companies, governments, or nongovernmental/nonprofit organizations that will employ them. In 2008 the Ministry of the Environment, working jointly with relevant government ministries and agencies, started providing support for establishing a government-industry-academia consortium for environmental leadership training.
Universities, private companies, nongovernmental, government and international organizations are encouraged to participate in the consortium. The consortium’s major activities will include supporting the development of environmental leadership programs for college students in Asia, serving as an information center, as well as facilitating industry-academia partnerships in environmental businesses and joint research projects.
The consortium will also serve as a framework for promoting government-industry-academia partnerships as well as a foundation for supporting collaborative efforts that are mutually beneficial to people in various fields.
Consortium Objectives
1.Promote and support the development and implementation of high-quality programs as well as serve as an employment matchmaker between the educational institutions that provide human resources and the organizations that employ them in order to facilitate practical environmental leadership training.
2.Function as Japan’s gateway to other Asian countries, networking universities throughout Asia.
3.Promote industry-academia collaboration in joint research and development.
Consortium Advantages
Activities of the industry-academia consortium for environmental leadership training will promote:
1.Development of human resources equipped with the environmental skills needed by society,
2.Development of environmental human resources through practical training,
3.Matching of interns and field work participants with host sites,
4.Use of environmental human resources,
5.Competitive environmental businesses, and
6.Integration of corporate activities and environmental conservation.
Consortium Roles
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1.Coordinate activities in response to individual needs of universities, companies, nonprofit organizations and other organizations and provide opportunities for interaction among universities, or between universities and private sector organizations.
2.Build a common system for disseminating internship, fieldwork and other practical training programs
3.Develop common infrastructure for environmental leadership training open to universities participating in the consortium
Development of environmental leadership program database and storage of common/shared contents |
Consortium Structure
Vision for establishing a consortium
The establishment of an environmental leadership training consortium and its sustainable development requires:
1. Strategy for autonomous development
Establish a mechanism that makes all participating organizations beneficiaries so as to instill a sense of ownership, allowing for the consortium’s autonomous development both in terms of financial and operational aspects.
2. Leveraging existing networks to maximize partnership strengths
Develop organic relationships with existing networks of environmental leadership organizations and programs such as IR3S as well as university consortiums to share knowledge and experiences.
3. Liaison and coordinating function
Serve as a liaison or coordinator for Japanese and overseas organizations to accelerate government-industry-academia cooperation.
4. Phased development of activities and networks
Implement activities in phases according to participants’ needs. Conduct activities mainly in Japan as a first step with an eye to enhancing cooperative relationships with other Asian countries in the future.
