This time, we student staff from the Office for the Promotion of Diversity and Sustainability, together with student staff from the Center for Global Education and Discovery, conducted a program in the GLP (Global Leadership Program).  

The GLP is a program aimed at learning about international understanding, conducted collaboratively by five universities under the administration of the Jesuits in East Asia. The content of the program varies depending on the theme of the year, and it enjoys high popularity among students. The hosting universities take turns each year, and this year, 40 students gathered at Sophia University. 

We were responsible for planning and implementing a program held on the Yotsuya campus on August 6. At the beginning of the program, we explained the student staff system and its activities using a video we created. After that, we conducted an English version of a puzzle-solving game called Campus Quest, where participants explored SDGs-related facilities on the Yotsuya campus based on hints. To ensure that international students unfamiliar with the campus could also enjoy the experience, we adjusted the difficulty level from the Japanese version of Campus Quest conducted during the Open Campus and assigned one student staff member to each group of international students for support.  

After the Campus Quest, the groups engaged in discussions. In order of completing the Campus Quest, each group selected one topic from the following for discussion: 

• Should the school completely eliminate plastic products? 

• What are the hurdles to implementing sustainability initiatives? 

• How can international students contribute to creating a sustainable and inclusive environment? 

Next, based on each group’s opinions, we discussed our ideal university and made presentations. We were able to listen to a variety of interesting and unique presentations, including one group composing a school anthem and singing it together, another utilizing images effectively, and a group passionately discussing events planned at their ideal university. Listening to opinions from the new perspectives of international students proved to be a valuable experience for us as well. We wish to apply the lessons learned from this experience to our future activities as student staff.