On August 18, the start-up event for the “Okayama Dream Education Initiative” was held with 110 high school participants from both within and outside the prefecture. The Initiative, which is a collaboration between Okayama University and the Okayama Prefectural Board of Education, provides a platform for young people to nurture and work towards their dreams.

The event kicked off with a dialogue between President MAKINO Hirofumi and Head of Education KAGIMOTO Yoshiaki from the Okayama Prefectural Board of Education on the subject of “learning from the dreams of the next generation,” in which they spoke about the significance of having a dream and educational support to achieve one’s dream. NAKAYAMA Yoshikazu of the Institute for Promotion of Education and Campus Life acted as the facilitator.
　
Following this, there was an introduction about One Young World from OKUBO Kimihito, Chairman of One Young World Japan. One Young World (OYW) is one of the world’s largest international platforms bringing together more than 2000 young future leaders from more than 190 countries. This was followed by a relay talk about dreams between Okayama University OYW Ambassadors ASANO Hikaru (School of Education, fourth year) and DEGUCHI Anna (School of Letters, fourth year), and ONO Hinata, a second year student from Okayama Prefectural Kurashiki Seiryo High School. ICHIKAWA Taichi, the CEO of World Road, which supports OYW initiatives and who has participated in OYW himself, acted as moderator. Ms. ASANO said, “the emotions that I felt and the connections that I gained from participating in OYW motivate me even now. Through dream education, I hope that many young people including high school students are able to share their thoughts and feelings with people all over the world, talk about their dreams in living words, and work together to achieve their dreams.” Then Okayama University Senior Vice President YOKOI Atsufumi announced that Hives in four locations around the world would be linked via live broadcast to the OYW 2022 Manchester summit, and that one Hive would be held in Okayama, Japan. He called on the high school students in the venue to participate.
　
After a break, the Okayama University DS (Data Science) Club and the University OYW Ambassadors divided the participating high school students into 17 groups to create an action plan for achieving the 17 SDG targets, and guided the students on how to discuss achieving targets and how to refine their ideas. The DS Club advisor, Vice Executive Director NOGAMI Yasuyuki summarized the discussions and brought the workshop to a close.

Lastly, there was a viewing of the endroll movie filmed and edited by IWATA Ryoma (School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, fourth year), and the participants reflected on the day. After that, Executive Director TAKAHASHI Kayo gave thanks to the participants and the event closed on a high note.
　
OYW HIVE in Okayama, Japan will be held on September 8, and courses will be held several times a year to provide a platform for high school students to nurture their dreams together.