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"Setouchi Sustainability & Well-being Research Project" Interim Debriefing Session

March 14, 2022

Okayama University and Benesse Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereafter referred to as Benesse) have partnered to promote academic research related to sustainability and well-being in the Setouchi region. Both entities are deeply invested in the SDGs, and the goal of the three-year joint project, which runs from 2020 to 2022, is to investigate the “Naoshima method” and current economic theories such as Public Interest Capitalism in order to understand the changes that have occurred in the region in recent decades, particularly in Naoshima, Inujima and Toyoshima, as well as the mechanisms behind those changes and, finally, to present the findings in an academic forum.

On March 6, an interim debriefing session was held at Benesse Museum House in Naoshima, Kagawa Prefecture to share research results. As a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the session was held in hybrid format, and only related parties involved in the project were invited to attend.

The session opened with opening remarks by Okayama University President MAKINO Hirofumi and Benesse CEO President ADACHI Tamotsu, followed by presentations by researchers from four different fields. Under the abovementioned project mandate, research is being conducted and analyzed from a variety of perspectives. This includes formulating and evaluating a model of well-being, developing the Naoshima method as a corporate strategy related to corporate social responsibility, analyzing sustainability in relation to health and the environment, combining the Naoshima model with social innovation, and considering the relationship between the SDGs and well-being.

Significantly, as part of the research project, the results of a complete enumeration survey targeting all Naoshima residents over the age of 20 have been captured as numerical data and the results will be analyzed in the near future.

Along with other pertinent research developments, the results of the survey will be presented at a debriefing session in Autumn 2022.

○Okayama University and Benesse Commence Three-Year Joint Research "Setouchi Sustainability & Well-being Research Project" Centered on SDGs

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