The Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence conducted a mini symposium for Kinran Senri High School students on Thursday March 11, 2021. The event, held virtually on ZOOM, featured EU-themed lectures given by three speakers and was attended by 168 students.
The symposium was opened by Mr. TSUJIMOTO Ken (School Director, Kinran Senri Gakuen). In his speech, Mr. TSUJIMOTO stressed the importance of mutual understanding among people from different countries.
The first lecture, "The EU in the world and EU-Japan Relations", was given by Mr. Richard KELNER (Delegation of the European Union to Japan). First, Mr. KELNER introduced the students to the main goals and functioning of the European Union. Then, he gave an overview of the EU-Japan relations. He concluded his lecture by sharing information regarding studying in Europe for Japanese students.
The second lecture entitled "Natural Hazards and Disaster in Japan in the Face of Climate Change and Population Transition: the science, engineering, leadership and ethics that Japan needs to see it through" was given by Prof. Christopher GOMEZ (Graduate School of Maritime Sciences). Professor Gomez discussed the main challenges for Japan such as rapid ageing population and climate change. He urged the new generations of students and academics to think of new ideas to solve unresolved problems.
The third and final lecture of the symposium entitled "The International Politics of Refugee Protection and the European Union" was delivered by Assoc Prof. Kivilcim ERKAN (Institute for Promoting International Partnerships). The purpose of the lecture was to familiarize students with the international actors and instruments that play a role in refugee protection and discuss the specific role of the EU. The topics covered included the legal definition of a refugee and their rights, the shortcomings of the international refugee convention, common EU laws on refugee protection, and the EU's approach to the recent refugee crisis that began in 2015. The lecturer emphasized the uneven distribution of refugees between the developed and developing countries and showed how this pattern was replicated in the case of refugee crisis. The lecturer also concluded that wealthy democratic states, including Japan, could host more refugees.
Prior to the symposium, Mr. TSUJIMOTO gave a pre-lecture on the EU. Thanks to such advanced preparations and the school's strong emphasis on English language education, students showed a strong interest in the topics of the symposium. They raised many challenging questions regarding, for example, the free movement of persons in the European Union, the disadvantages of admitting refugees, the effect of Brexit on refugee policies of the EU.