The Organization for Local Collaboration Networking connects each discipline at the university with the local communities, making use of our achievements and human networks that have been fostered through initiatives such as the local practical educational and research projects conducted over more than ten years at the Global-Local Education and Research Center, and at the Next Urban Lab (launched in 2017).
Starting in April 2020, the new Education and Research Center for Economic Growth Strategy has been made the center in the Organization for Local Collaboration Networking.

Based on the three concepts of Yokohama National University’s local strategy (to be trusted by the community, to be supported by the community, and to support the development of the community), we will strive to utilize our research and educational capacities as a university to promote local collaborative activities in tandem with the community for the benefit of the community.

Policy for Activities in the Fourth Term

The Organization for Local Collaboration Networking is actively carrying out activities based on the policies shown below in relation to local collaboration, as presented in the Yokohama National University Fourth Medium-term Plan.

To achieve targets related to co-creation with society:

- As a “research university centered on knowledge integration,” with a diversity of both academic and practical knowledge covering the fields of the humanities, the social sciences, and STEM, and based on our principles (University Charter) of practicality, innovation, openness, and internationality, we will contribute to the development of local culture along with tackling solutions to issues faced by industry and the local area, especially Yokohama and Kanagawa, through co-creation with a range of stakeholders (local authorities, industry, schools, civilians, and more). To that end, we will draw on the strengths of our faculty members, with their diverse range of specializations, and construct a platform to discover and solve regional issues, becoming a driver of industrial and cultural development for local authorities and the region.

- To solve issues faced by the region, notably Yokohama and Kanagawa, we will draw on the diverse specializations of our faculty members in the fields of the humanities, the social sciences, and STEM, and contribute to the development of local industry and culture by developing the practical-oriented human resources who will lead the next generation through projects, joint research, academic guidance and more for solving regional and industrial issues thanks to co-creation with a diverse range of stakeholders.

To achieve targets related to education:

- The main subject in the minor program led by the Organization for Local Collaboration Networking, Global-Local Project Based Learning, will be enhanced even more by, for example, approving it as a required elective primarily for students in the College of Urban Sciences. In addition, by having faculty members and students in different fields actively setting regional issues for Yokohama and Kanagawa and tackling issue-solving while working to create ties with the region, industry, and so on, we will promote the acquisition of experiential and practical knowledge, fostering people who can take on sustainable cities and regions with perspectives in risk symbiosis within cities or regions, diversity, the social implementation of the SDGs and more.

To achieve targets related to research:

The Organization for Local Collaboration Networking, our core base for liaising with the region, will construct a platform (Y-plat) to discover and solve social and regional issues. This will function as a system for tackling the solution social and regional issues from a multifaceted perspective through liaisons across multiple disciplines, drawing on YNU’s diverse academic and practical knowledge. On this platform, we will liaise with different stakeholders (local authorities, industry, schools, civilians, and more) and discover a range of social and regional issues, while an interdisciplinary team of YNU faculty members will consider solutions to these issues from a multifaceted perspective. On top of that, the Next Collaboration Core (NCC), made up of more appropriate researcher groups, will be formed through expansion of Next Urban Lab, and work on specific solutions to social and regional issues. To make these activities possible, we will establish a satellite campus and other facilities, and energize our activities.

About the Next Collaboration Core

We established the Next Urban Lab as a way to promote research activities done by Yokohama National University faculty members regarding their own region, and to provide this in a transparent way to the region broadly. “Next” incorporates the meaning of “next-generation”. Multiple YNU faculty members, administrations, and companies form “units” which work on solving a range of issues.

From the 2022 academic year, we have begun the new six-year medium-term targets and medium-term goals period for the fourth term. In the fourth term, we are planning to construct a platform to discover and solve social and regional issues, which will function as a system for tackling the solution social and regional issues from a multifaceted perspective, drawing on YNU’s diverse academic and practical knowledge. On this platform, we will liaise with different stakeholders (local authorities, industry, schools, civilians, and more) and discover a range of social and regional issues, while an interdisciplinary team of YNU faculty members will consider solutions to these issues. Within this, Next Urban Lab will be expanded and the Next Collaboration Core, made up of more appropriate researcher teams, will be formed to work on specific solutions to social and regional issues. In addition, to make these activities possible, we plan to establish a satellite campus and other facilities, and energize our activities.