On 30th September 2022, 7 students from the Hosei University’s SCOPE programme, took part in a hybrid Climathon event held at the Athens University of Economics and Business. The Climathon was co-organised by the Research Laboratory on Socio-Economic and Environmental Sustainability (ReSEES), the Alliance of Excellence for Research and Innovation on Αephoria (AE4RIA), the ATHENA Research & Innovation Information technologies, the EIT Climate-KIC Hub Greece and the Institute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo (IFI). The event was funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and was a part of JSPS-Bilateral Seminar between Greece and Japan.

Islands are considered as unique socio-ecological systems with endemic flora and fauna, cultures and innovative resource use practices all of which needs to be preserved and cherished in the long term. The Climathon targeted this conservation angle and strived to capture youth’s voices on island sustainability, and possible solutions to enhance it. The Climathon was officially launched on 28th September, with the challenge “Enhancing sustainability in the face of change in islands of Greece and Japan” when students started thinking possible solutions that could target islands of Greece or Japan.

The 7 SCOPE students formed teams to compete in the Climathon, presenting and discussing on their proposed possible sustainability solutions for islands of Greece and Japan. In the process they talked with mentors from Greece and Japan to help them shape their ideas and get comments and suggestions on how they can better their presentations, while talking about innovative sustainability solutions for islands. SCOPE students’ proposals focused on the development of nature-based tourism, environmentally responsible tourism, and developments for small-scale renewable energy sectors for islands.

Participants from SCOPE:
Ahn Jihyun, Jeon Jiho, Rena Ichikawa, Shunsuke Nicholas Nakamura, Shuichi Hasegawa, Weijet Soh, Yui Ichinose (In alphabetical order)

Mentors (In Alphabetical order):

Dr. Alexandros Gasparatos, Associate Professor of Sustainability Science at the Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), University of Tokyo;
Dr. Ebun Akinsete, Senior Researcher at the Sustainable Development Unit, ATHENA RC;
Ms. Lydia Papadaki, Co-Manager EIT Climate-KIC Greece Hub;
Ms. Maria Loloni, Maritime Programme Lead, EIT Climate-KIC
Dr. Shamik Chakraborty, Lecturer at the Department of Sustainability Studies, Hosei University;