Details of the Initiative
Meiji University, which houses a variety of research and educational institutions, has established Liberty Academy, which is staffed by faculty members of Meiji University and other lecturers, in order to fulfill the major social role of lifelong and recurrent education in addition to regular education, and provides a variety of learning opportunities such as liberal arts and culture, business programs, and language courses.
In AY2019, a total of more than 16,000 people, mainly business people, retirees, and students, attended lectures through Liberty Academy. In addition, the number of participants has been increasing year by year, such as elementary school students in the Summer Vacation Experiment Course and junior high and high school students in the Nakano City Library Collaboration Course.
In response to recent trends in diversity, Liberty Academy launched the Smart Career Program for Women in April 2015 to support women’s return to work and career advancement. By the end of AY2019, more than 400 students completed the program and are active in their respective fields, including employment, entrepreneurship, and higher education.
In addition, in December 2020, we invited two guest lecturers to give free open lectures at Liberty Academy (Talking with local action practitioners: SDGs × community development). In this lecture, we discussed practical examples of incorporating the SDGs into familiar community development settings and the nature of partnerships that contribute to the SDGs.
