【Overview】
The Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University and the Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University will establish the Consortium for Resource-based Education in collaboration with 17 private companies and 5 public institutions.
The Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University and the Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University established Japan’s first joint educational program on mineral resources engineering (Joint Major in Mineral Resources Engineering, Master’s Program) in FY2017, and have been working to develop “experts who will play a central role in the stable supply and securing of mineral resources” based on collaborative education between students from resource-rich countries and Japanese students This time, the program is a new phase of the project. This time, as a new phase of efforts, an educational consortium has been established with 17 private companies and 5 public institutions as members, aiming at further development of the human resource development program in the field of natural resources.
The Consortium will build a support system for the sustainable development of resource-based human resources required by society through cooperation among industry, government, and academia.
【How it started】
In order to build a carbon-neutral society and develop society sustainably in the future, it is essential to have human resources with expertise and creativity to build new systems and develop new technologies related to resources, such as securing rare metal resources such as lithium for electric vehicle batteries, underground utilization technologies such as geothermal power generation and CO2 storage, and urban mining (resource recycling).
In order to establish such a center for human resource development in the field of natural resources, the Graduate School of Engineering at Hokkaido University and the Graduate School of Engineering at Kyushu University launched the Sustainable Human Resource Development Program (specially funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) in 2015, and in FY2017 established Japan’s first joint educational program on natural resources engineering education (Joint Major in Natural Resources Engineering, Master’s Course ) was established. The program aims to build a strong human network between Japan and resource-producing countries by actively accepting university faculty members and administrative officials from resource-producing countries as international students to conduct collaborative education with Japanese students, dispatching students for overseas internships, and providing lectures by invited faculty members from overseas universities. In addition, we dispatch students to overseas internships and provide lectures by faculty members invited from overseas universities.
The two schools have decided to launch a “Resource Education Consortium” with 17 resource-related private companies and five public institutions as members, with the aim of further enhancing and developing the resource-related human resource development program.
【Significance】
The consortium aims to strengthen and enhance the educational system for human resource development in Japan, and will support students’ overseas dispatch and corporate internships, as well as lectures by experts from companies, to build a new career and recurrent education system in the field of natural resources engineering. We will build a new career and recurrent education system in the field of natural resources engineering. In addition, workshops and symposiums will be held as needed to share and update information on resources, and to strengthen exchanges between related companies and university staff.
Participating companies include not only resource-related companies, but also construction-related companies, commerce and trade-related companies, and information and telecommunications-related companies.