I. The 12th Da Nang Urban Development Forum
Da Nang City hosted the 12th Da Nang Urban Development Forum at Da Nang City Hall from 15th to 17th January 2024, in cooperation with the City of Yokohama. Since signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Da Nang City in 2013, the City of Yokohama has been supporting Da Nang City to mitigate urban environmental issues through Japanese techniques and technologies from its local enterprises. The aim of the Forum is to share visions and action plans for promoting sustainable development, and this is the first time the event has been held there in four years.
The three-day forum was comprised of five key activities: thematic sessions, a business matching seminar, a courtesy call between Da Nang City People’s Committee and the City of Yokohama, the main forum and lastly site visits in Da Nang. The thematic sessions covered four topics: eco industrial parks, solid waste management, smart city development, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)/ Voluntary Loal Review (VLR), showcasing best practices, experiences and recommendations from Japanese organizations and enterprises. The business matching seminar was hosted by the Yokohama Urban Solution Alliance (YUSA), Young Business Association (YBA), and a Public Private Partnership platform established by the Ministry of Environment Japan (JPRSI), with the aim of strengthening public-private partnership for urban development projects in Da Nang City. A courtesy call took place between the Chairman of Da Nang City People’s Committee (DPC) and the Director General of the International Affairs Bureau of the City of Yokohama, involving various departments of Da Nang and Japanese organizations and enterprises to facilitate discussions and foster relationships between the two cities. The main forum featured keynote speeches from international organizations such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank, and results from the previous thematic sessions were presented with active discussions among participants. Additionally, the program concluded with the site visits in Da Nang for around twenty delegates and representatives of private enterprises from Yokohama. They explored Da Nang’s current railway station and the planned relocation area, Lien Chieu Port area which is under development, the Khanh Son landfill site, and waste collection/treatment areas around the landfill site.
II. Peace awareness event in Yokohama
The City of Yokohama is engaged in initiatives to think about peace with the young people who will become leaders of the next generation. On December 2, 2023 a peace awareness event was held at Yokohama City Hall in the form of an open classroom-style public talk with the participation of nine local junior high school students under the theme of “what we can do to help achieve peace – from ideas to action.”
The lecturer, Mr. Takao Toda, who has experience from many years of direct involvement in the field of international cooperation at JICA, said that “By taking a step forward, something will start to change. The world expands through connections with others, and the brightness increases with things that never diminish when shared like love, thoughts, wisdom, and so on. The question you must keep asking is what future world do you want to create? I believe that if you keep asking these questions, the world that the 2 billion children of today will see when they grow up will definitely be different from the world of today. Moreover, guest speaker Ms. Marie Louise Towari, who experienced the genocide in Rwanda and is now working in Japan to support education, said that “Education and the kindness of people saved me. Education is the door to the future. I hope that all of you, who have unlimited possibilities, will open that door and become people who can make the whole world smile.” One of the participating students said, “In order to create a good future, each of us needs to know and face the issues on the earth. First of all, I want to know the issues and take action to solve them.”
Check out the event report, including the full video (in Japanese), on the city website HERE
III. Signing of MOU for Educational Collaboration on SDGs among Schools
CYO, in cooperation with the City of Yokohama, has been conducting exchange meetings between schools in CityNet member cities as part of the SDGs Promotion Program for the next generation. The aim of the project is to encourage students to approach the SDGs as part of their daily lives and challenge them to take the lead on sustainable action. Based on the results of past exchange programs, Minatomiraihoncho Elementary School and Ulaanbaatar 23rd School, which have continued exchange since 2022, have concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for educational collaboration on the SDGs on March 12, 2023. Under the MOU, the two schools agreed to further develop cooperation in educational activities related to the SDGs and to promote ongoing cooperation by establishing a communication system among schools and holding exchange meetings among students to share knowledge, issues, and opinions on the SDGs over the medium and long term.
This is selected highlights from the issue. Click HERE to read the full issue
