Award Ceremony for Student Video Contest and International Student SDGs Forum held

As part of Osaka University SDGs Virtual Student Exchange 2023, the Award Ceremony for the Student Video Contest and International Student SDGs Forum were held online on December 15, 2023 under the sponsorship of the Center for Global Initiatives.

Student Facilitators: Anna Boehme (School of Human Sciences) (left) and
Adil Qafarli (Graduate School of Information Science and Technology)

This 3rd Student Video Contest entitled “3 Minutes of Inspiration for Sustainable Development” accepted entries of 3-minute-long videos on the theme of “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” from OU students and students from overseas universities with which OU has agreements.

There were entries of 95 videos from 32 universities from 16 countries, with 11 videos receiving prizes, including the Grand Prize: President's Award. The numbers of entries and participating countries exceeded those of the previous year, showing that the awareness of the contest increased.

These videos showed students’ keen interest in SDGs from a variety of perspectives, such as society, economics, and the environment. In particular, these videos showed a high level of students’ interest in SDGs 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, 3: Good Health and Well Being, and 13: Climate Action.

Prior to the award ceremony, Executive Vice President YAMAMOTO Beverley Anne delivered the opening remarks, speaking about SDGs activity at OU in anticipation of EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai. Following her talk, Vice Chancellor Professor Dato’ Seri Ir. Abdul Rahman Mohamed of Universiti Sains Malaysia, a university with which Osaka University has an exchange agreement, delivered a powerful message to students in attendance.

At the award ceremony, after Professor ISHIKAWA Mayumi of the Center for Global Initiatives commented on the contest, the 11 prize-winning works were announced by the following presenters.

• SDGs Idea Award - TAKAHASHI Miwako (Advisor for Promotion of Collaboration, Kansai NGO Council)
• Video Production Award - OOTAKE Shinji (CEO, Lamp.K.K. Production Company)
• Grand Prize: President's Award / Encouragement Prize - YAMAMOTO Beverley Anne (Executive Vice President for International Affairs (Education), Osaka University)
• Honorable Mentions - SAKUMA Hiroshi (Director at the Virtual Osaka Pavilion Promotion Committee, Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan)

Grand Prize Winner

Of particular note was that for the first time in this contest's history, a student from Osaka University received the Grand Prize. YOKOCHI Natsumi (4th year, Department of Humanities, School of Letters) received the Grand Prize for her video entitled "OKULU ~ Providing bicycles to children in Cambodia," which covered issues facing SDGs and also featured a powerful depiction of action taken by students to solve these issues. This video was highly praised by each of the judges on the panel.

At the student forum following the ceremony, a student discussion moderated by OU students, students talked about their efforts to achieve the SDGs and challenges they faced while making videos and answered questions.

Finally, President Nishio congratulated the award winners and thanked attendees, ending the event on a positive note.

Panelists

Closing remarks by President Nishio

The International Student SDGs Forum drew 114 participants from both inside and outside of Japan, providing a valuable opportunity for students around the world to think together about SDGs through online dialogues.

Major Prizewinners

• Grand Prize: President's Award - OKULU ~Providing bicycles to children in Cambodia~ (Osaka University)
• SDGs Idea Award - Food’s Journey: From Taste to Waste (University of São Paulo, Brazil)
• Video Production Award - A Hungry Mouth is a Needy Mouth (Mapúa University, The Philippines)
• Encouragement Award - Women Tag on (Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam)
• Encouragement Award - Plate to Planet (Osaka University)

All of the prizewinning videos can be viewed at the official YouTube channel for the Student Video Contest.