Current Topics on the Local Public Sector

　These lectures, offered annually, are taught by distinguished government workers such as the lieutenant governor of Okayama Prefecture and staff from the Okayama prefectural office and City Hall. Many of these are recent graduates of Okayama University’s Department of Economics.

　The lectures cover a wide range of content, from general topics, such as the state of local government in Japan and the challenges these governments experience, to specific topics, such as problems prefectural and city governments in Okayama currently face and how they are being dealt with.

The goal of these lectures is to provide the following to participants:

１) General information regarding the state of local government and the mechanisms at work within them

２) Knowledge of the various issues that local governments currently face and specific efforts to resolve these issues, citing specific examples from Okayama Prefecture and Okayama City

３) The ability to understand and get personally involved with the problems facing government The goal is to teach students to take the initiative in thinking about these topics. Additionally, we promote these lectures in hopes to further develop and strengthen cooperation between the Department of Economics and Okayama Prefecture and City.