On Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023, President Samson Sajidu and his delegation from the University of Malawi, our academic exchange partner university in the Republic of Malawi, paid a courtesy visit to President Hiroshige Nishina. During this courtesy visit, Mr. Nishina first gave a greeting and words of welcome, followed by President Sajidu’s greetings.
In 2019, Ehime University concluded an MoU for academic exchange with the University of Malawi Chancellor College (at that time). In the same year, the international joint research project called “Establishment of a Sustainable Community Development Model based on Integrated Natural Resource Management Systems in Lake Malawi National Park (IntNRMS)” (2020-2026) was adopted by Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). We have been working on this project at the helm of Professor Tetsu Sato of our university’s SDGs Promotion Office in collaboration with the University of Malawi and others.
President Sajidu expressed his gratitude that this large-scale joint research project has been in progress with great smooth thanks to the enduring efforts provided by Ehime University and other related organizations. He also expressed his expectations for further growth in a broader range of the fields in the years to come.
On the following day, Nov.23, an international symposium based on the project, ‘Co-creation of collective action through transdisciplinary collaboration’ was held at Hime Terrace, Ehime University and online distribution platform. The symposium, set in Chembe Village in Lake Malawi National Park, a World Natural Heritage Site to deal with various collective actions that have been co-created or that are currently being created through transdisciplinary processes in and around the project was held. Furthermore, through the analysis of the transformation mechanisms of social and ecological systems based on collective actions and internal innovations that have emerged in transdisciplinary partnerships, we will apply these examples to a broader context of sustainable developments. The participants discussed future attempts to integrate those issues into community development models.
Ehime University shall continue to further promote exchanges such as joint research with the University of Malawi in the years to come.
＜SDGs Promotion Office＞＜ International Relations Office＞