On 23-24 January, 2025, ASEF was invited to join and to speak at the JIGE International Forum in Osaka, Japan, organised by the Japan Hub for Innovative Global Education (JIGE); a global education initiative by Kansai University, Tohoku University, and Chiba University and funded by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and technology (MEXT).
ASEF was invited as a partner to share about our work as well as the cooperation with JIGE in 2025 with the organisation of the 6th ASEF Young Leaders Summit taking place in Osaka, Japan in September/October 2025 – hosted by Kansai University and taking place alongside the World Expo 2025.
THE FORUM
Exploring the theme ‘Onward: Pioneering Japan’s Hub for Global Education Innovation in the era of Education 5.0’, the Forum brought together professors from universities and educational institutions, and educational and industry leaders and experts, to share their perspectives on global education and educational collaboration – discussing best practices and innovative strategies to address current and future challenges facing education.
With the aim of fostering connections and strengthen networks, the Forum featured speakers and participants from countries and organisations from all over the world. sharing insights from their work in education, particularly with a focus on blended mobility and global exchange opportunities.
IKEDA Keiko, Executive Project Lead, JIGE; Vice Director, IIGE, Kansai University, welcoming the participants of the Forum
PRESENTATION BY ASEF
From the Education Department, Ms Freya CHOW-PAUL, Youth Project Lead, and Ms Linnea REGNELL, Project Executive, were invited to speak and share about ASEF’s work in Education and with intercultural learning.
Highlighting the work with the ASEF Young Leaders Summit (ASEFYLS), Freya and Linnea shared their insights into facilitating non-formal education opportunities for youth; fostering platforms for intellectual and intercultural exchanges to prepare youth with the skills needed to lead in an increasingly interconnected world.
Under the topic of ‘Leadership in Society 5.0’ – the current focus of the ASEFYLS Programmes – they emphasised the need for a 360-degree approach to leadership, focusing on 1) Self-Leadership, 2) Team Leadership and 3) Societal Leadership, to prepare youth for taking on and growing in their current and future leadership positions.
Society 5.0 is a Japanese concept stemming from the Japanese Cabinet Office and promotes a human-centered society that balances economic advancement with the resolution of social problems by a system that highly integrates cyberspace and physical space. With the concept originating from Japan, ASEF is excited to bring the topic to Japan with the 6th ASEF Young Leaders Summit being organised in partnership with JIGE in the autumn of 2025 alongside the World Expo 2025.
With the topic of the Forum focusing on ‘Onward: Pioneering Japan’s Hub for Global Education Innovation in the era of Education 5.0’, ‘Education 5.0’ is seen as a part of ‘Society 5.0’ – showing how education needs to evolve with society, ensuring that new technologies are being used in a deliberate manner to improve the learning conditions for students.
Keeping this concept of ‘Society 5.0’ and ‘Education 5.0’ in mind, Freya and Linnea shared ASEF’s perspectives on non-formal education Blended Mobility – offering online self-learning, team collaboration, and opportunities for in-person exchanges through ASEF’s programmes.
Other highlights from the Forum include a keynote by Dr David HUANG, Associate Dean at the National Institute of Education Singapore (ASEFEdu Alumnus), on ‘Preparing Future-Ready Learners: Lessons Learnt from NIE’s Education Research Agenda’; workshops on the opportunities and challenges with Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education; and a workshop on UNESCO Story Circles – a tool to help facilitators engage participants/students in intercultural learning.
Learn more about ASEF and ASEFEdu’s work on ‘Leadership in Society 5.0’ by reading more about last year’s ASEFYLS Capacity Buildings 2024 or keep a look-out for more information about this year’s 6th ASEF Young Leaders Summit through our website here or by signing up to our Youth Mailing List here.
Learn more about the JIGE initiative here.