The Office for the Promotion of Diversity & Sustainability of Sophia School Corporation participated in “Green Kyoso EXPO 2026 (Green Co-Creation EXPO 2026)”.
- Sophia School Corporation
- Social & Local Cooperation
- Research
- Student Staffs
On February 13 and 14, the Office for the Promotion of Diversity and Sustainability took part in “Green Kyoso EXPO 2026 (Green Co-Creation EXPO 2026)” held at Kyoto Research Park.
“Green Kyoso EXPO 2026 (Green Co-Creation EXPO 2026)” is an event designed to foster new connections by bringing together various entities such as universities, students, companies, local governments, and NPOs from across the country, sharing their respective initiatives, and working toward the construction of sustainable communities and societies.
Sophia University participated in the following sessions:
1, “給水がインフラになる日～万博、オフィス、大学、地域等における挑戦～ (When Water Refilling Becomes Infrastructure: Challenges in Expositions, Offices, Universities, and Communities)”
As an effective measure to reduce plastic waste, the use of personal reusable bottles and water refill stations has been gaining attention. In this session, where universities, offices, and local communities shared their efforts to promote reusable bottles and water refill stations, the Assistant Director of our office gave a presentation.
He introduced initiatives to install water refill stations on campus and activities aimed at promoting the use of reusable bottles, highlighting the role universities can play and future possibilities in this area.
2, “Rising! 私たちのグリーン共創スター誕生 (Rising! The Birth of Our Green Co-Creation Star)”
This award program provides students with the opportunity to present their initiatives and ideas for addressing environmental, climate change, and local issues. Supporters who resonate with their vision and efforts declare their commitment to accompany and support the selected teams.
Student Staff from the Office for the Promotion of Diversity and Sustainability presented their vision of establishing permanent “solar charging stations” on campus and shared the significance and value of this initiative.
Through the solar charging station events held in November and December 2025, we reaffirmed that allowing people to experience renewable energy firsthand serves as an opportunity for them to perceive energy issues as their own. Therefore, rather than ending this initiative as a one-time event, we aim to institutionalize it as a permanent campus infrastructure. Furthermore, we seek to expand collaboration with other educational institutions and local governments and scale the initiative nationwide.
The purpose of this project is to convey the significance of renewable energy adoption to the tens of thousands of students at our university. We hope that students who understand its importance will, in the future, play active roles in politics, business, academia, and various other fields, and allow the seeds planted during their university years to grow into substantial social impact.
(For details about past events, please see here:
https://diversity-sustainability.sophia.ac.jp/information/6478/）
In this award format, 13 judges declare their “support” for the teams they wish to accompany through PR collaboration, joint research, and other forms of partnership.
As a result of our presentation, 4 judges expressed their desire to support our project. In addition, we were able to build new connections with high school and university students, as well as companies, and gained many stimulating ideas and insights.
(Photo with Judge Narumi Yoshikawa, graduate of Sophia University and researcher at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, second from the left.)
3, “グリーン共創ひろば (Green Co-Creation Plaza)”
At the Green Co-Creation Plaza, we installed our solar charging station, which had previously been implemented on campus. Using electricity generated and stored in advance via solar panels at the Yotsuya Campus, visitors were able to charge their smartphones and experience renewable energy firsthand.
We also introduced Sophia University’s student staff system, and many visitors stopped by our booth to learn more about our initiatives.
We will continue to build on the connections formed at this event, expand co-creation within and beyond the university, and contribute to the realization of a sustainable society