Campus Design Division
In order to achieve the objectives of the Campus Sustainability Office, the Campus Design Division carries out: (a) planning for the effective use of campus buildings, facilities, structures, and land on campus, (b) planning for the Campus Master Plan and other related policies, and (c) coordinating facility development planning.
Its unique activities can be found below.
Recent Topics and Updates
- [2023.8.22] Campus maintenance officers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University visit Osaka University
After talking about campus maintenance and management with counterparts from OU, the maintenance officers toured the CoMIT Building and the Integrated Medical Care Building of Osaka University Hospital (now under construction) on the Suita Campus.
- [2023.5.15/18] Sessions held to discuss revisions to the Campus Master Plan
The Campus Design Division is currently in the process of revising the Campus Master Plan. Sessions were held on May 15 (for the Suita and Minoh Campuses) and May 18 (for the Toyonaka Campus) at which members from each department at the university expressed a variety of opinions regarding these revisions. The opinions received at these sessions will be reflected in upcoming revisions to the Campus Master Plan.
Table of Contents
Planning
Osaka University Campus Master Plan
The Osaka University Campus Master Plan, which emphasizes the importance of a common space for multiple purposes of architectures on campus, was established in 2005 not as an annual plan, but rather as a flexible framework plan.
Revised in 2016, the Campus Master Plan details sustainability of the university, the relationship with the university's management strategy, long-term measures against aging facilities, improving durability of facilities, and a vision for renewal of plans. This plan was revised from the perspective of improving the campus while using it and will be revised as necessary.
Framework Plan for Greenery Design and Maintenance
In 2011, the division created The Framework Plan for Greenery Design and Maintenance to outline policies regarding maintenance of trees, plants, and wooded areas on campus.
In 2018, the division revised this Framework Plan focusing on (1) improvements in landscape and crime prevention and safety measures, (2) supporting student activities while using the campus, and (3) making the campus into one that is loved by students, faculty, staff, alumni, and members of the surrounding community.
In 2018, Suita and Ibaraki cities created their city plans in view of the OU Campus Master plan. In their regional plans, the cities designate greenery areas as green conservation areas. They plan to conserve natural resources in their cities by maintaining these green conservation areas, including Expo '70 Commemorative Park, Senri Ryokuchi, Senri Kita Park, Nishihozumi Hills, the natural environments between mountain foothills and cultivated land which fans out across the conservation area, and the OU campuses.
Framework Plan for Barrier-free Design and Sign System
Osaka University strives to make the campuses accessible to all people so that the elderly, children, people with special needs, and individuals not able to read or speak Japanese can easily find their way whether in a wheelchair, walking, riding on a bicycle or riding in a car. The Framework Plan for Barrier-free Design and Sign System was formulated in 2011 in order to promote these efforts. This plan is to be revised in the not-so-distant future.
Considerations regarding overall objectives for welfare and facilities in 2016-17
The Campus Design Division participated in a working group under the Student Life Committee, performing surveys and holding workshops regarding welfare and extracurricular activities in fall 2016, and compiling them into the overall concept for facilities in spring 2017. The main concepts can be found in the Osaka University Campus Plan posted above.
Reviewing the use of real estate
In light of revisions to national university corporation law, the Campus Design Division aims to effectively and fully utilize land and buildings on campus in order to develop education and research activities. The division will proceed with this task, including the idea to invite private corporations to campus, while incorporating opinions from individuals within the university. The division has already worked on a detailed study while organizing a system for that purpose.
Coordination of building plans
Regarding improvement plans for individual buildings, from the stage of developing ideas to the stage of design and construction, the Campus Design Division supervises the process to make sure that it is carried out according to the Campus Master Plan.
Current projects can be found below.
A special preview for local community was held on April 4
Osaka University's new Minoh Campus, with its Research and Education Hub and dormitories, has opened as a part of the redevelopment project for the station plaza at Minō-Semba-Handaimae Station (to be opened in 2023).
This plaza, located next to Minō-Semba-Handaimae Station, is covered with a large deck that provides an open space for visitors and is equipped with a pedestrian deck that connects new facilities for academia, culture, and the arts, including a public library, a lifelong learning center, and various halls both large and small. This public library also functions as the university’s Foreign Studies Library. OU is the first national university in Japan to manage both a library and a lifelong learning facility.
A part of the deck and plaza is located on the premises of OU's New Minoh Campus, which can be used for holding the Minoh Campus’s long-established summer festival, embodying OU’s vision of a campus open to the public.
In planning this campus, under the concept of “a university functioning as a living laboratory,” OU discussed joint research with corporations and collaborations with Minoh City with landowners in the project area and the Minoh Semba Urban Development Committee.
The Research and Education Hub built on this new campus has earned Gold Rating in the green building rating system LEED for New Construction and Major Renovation (LEED-NC) (second in Japan) and the new campus itself is expected to acquire certification under LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND). (first in Japan)
A special preview for local community was held on April 4 with 131 participants.
The pamphlet below shows the high expectations of the people of the region for this new campus.
Osaka University's new Minoh Campus, Research and Education Hub
More information about the New Minoh Campus (updated October 2, 2020) (link in Japanese)
Completed in 2021 (Steel reinforced concrete, 10 stories, building area: 4,500m2, total area 24,896m2)
In collaboration with Minoh City, the Campus Design Division proceeded with a relocation & construction plan for the new Minoh Campus while discussing with citizen groups and landowners of the surrounding areas from the perspective of town planning, with construction beginning in January 2019. This construction was scheduled for completion in December 2020, with the campus scheduled to open in April 2021.
The Research and Education Hub built on this new campus has earned Gold Rating in the green building rating system LEED for New Construction and Major Renovation (LEED-NC) (second in Japan) and the new campus itself is expected to acquire certification under LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND). (first in Japan)
A student dormitory is also be located next to the Foreign Studies Research and Lecture Building.
In addition, the library in the Minoh City cultural facility located across the plaza will act as both a municipal library and a foreign studies library, serving as a lifelong learning facility managed and operated by Osaka University.
About LEED
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a green building rating system developed and managed by the non-profit organization U. S. Green Building Council (USGBC). This well-known system is used in more than 140 countries in the world. In addition to the U.S., Canada, and nations in South America and Europe, the number of authentications is also increasing in China, India, and nations in East Asia and the Middle East. LEED plays the role of a world standard for assessing buildings’ environmental performance.
Green Building Japan (link in Japanese)
Completion of landscaping in the Senri Gate area (Suita Campus)
(Tentatively completed at the end of March 2021)
On the corner of the Senri Gate intersection, an open space utilizing natural elements for the purpose of inviting commercial facilities in the future was created.
Suita Campus Cherry Blossom Loop Street
(Completed in Spring 2021)
The division will improve the street using existing cherry, Chinese tallow, Japanese zelkova, and other trees.
Examples of maintenance based on the Campus Master Plan
New expansion of the walking path between the Senri and West Gates makes walking safer
Osaka University community members and local residents use the walking path along the Osaka Prefectural Road Yamadakami-Onohara Route, which stretches from the Senri Gate to the West Gate of Osaka University's Suita Campus, on a daily basis, but pedestrians and bicyclists had a hard time passing each other due to the narrowness of the path, and the gutter lids presented a slipping hazard for those passing through.
By providing university property for use as a walking path, the university has taken the initiative to widen the path and ensure that those using the path can travel safely. (Completion date: June 2019)
Surveys, Research, and Activities
Symposium "The Future of Community University Relationships: Development of the Minoh Semba Area" and the 2021 Sustainable Campus Awards held
The Minoh Campus hosted the 2021 Sustainable Campus Awards on December 4, 2021, and a symposium entitled "The Future of Community University Relationships: Development of the Minoh Semba Area" on December 5, 2021. Thank you to everyone who participated.
Sustainable Campus Office Activity Report 2021
Osaka University Environmental Report 2021 Supplement Volume published (link in Japanese)
SSI Cooperation Project “Biodiversity Conservation via University-Community Co-creation” receives the 6th Sustainable Campus Award
The Social Solution Initiative (SSI) Cooperation Project “Biodiversity Conservation via University-Community Co-creation” received the 6th Sustainable Campus Award, sponsored by the CAS-Net JAPAN (Campus Sustainability Network in Japan), for university management and regional partnership.
This project aims to create networks and systems for promoting sustainable development of local communities by recruiting fellows through research and education activities by university community members and local individuals and groups. Through these collaborative activities, participants will understand biodiversity and be willing to protect and foster it. This project is also related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Primary members of the project:
- NAKAJIMA Hiroaki (student, doctoral program in the Graduate School of Science)
- FURUYA Hidetaka (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Science)
- MATSUMOTO Kaoru (visiting fellow of the doctoral program in the Graduate School of Science/teacher, Toneyama High School)
- KURIHARA Sachiko (Osaka University Press)
- OHKUBO Noriko (Professor, Graduate School of Law and Politics)
- ITOH Takeshi (Professor, Social Solution Initiatives)
- YOSHIOKA Satoshi (Associate Professor, Sustainable Campus Office)
- IKEUCHI Hiromi (Associate Professor, Sustainable Campus Office)
In particular, the members of the Toneyama High School Ecology Club, under the guidance of Mr. Matsumoto, have made significant contributions to the project.
Members of this project received the award at the annual CAS-Net Japan Conference on Saturday, November 14, with NAKAJIMA Hiroaki delivering the acceptance speech.
Osaka University Bathroom Study Group and Facilities Division receive Sustainable Campus Encouragement Award!
Osaka University Bathroom Study Group and Facilities Division receive Sustainable Campus Encouragement Award!
On Saturday, November 23, Osaka University received the Sustainable Campus Awards 2019 Encouragement Prize in the Campus Sustainability-Considered Student Activity Division at the 2019 Campus Sustainability Network in Japan (CAS-Net Japan) Conference held at Nagoya University. The installation of a bathroom and powder room at the Center for Education in Liberal Arts and Sciences through a cooperative workshop with the student organization “Osaka University Bathroom Study Group” was highly evaluated in Osaka University’s selection to receive this prize.
Established in March 2014, CAS-Net JAPAN aims to contribute to the formation of a sustainable, eco-friendly society in Japan. Particularly outstanding examples of this are recognized through an award system in 3 categories concerning campus stability: Buildings and facilities, university management and regional collaboration, and student activity.
Campus Image Survey
Campus Image Surveys are held regularly for each of the 3 campuses in order to gather information from members of the university about its image and the effects of its development. Analysis of the results of this survey will serve as documents for reviewing the effects of endeavors at the university while also serving as comparable basic data for follow-up surveys in the future.
Campus Image Survey (2018-2019) Digest
Campus Image Survey (2016-2017) Digest
Campus Image Survey (2014-2015) Digest
Campus Image Survey (2012-2013) Digest
Campus Image Survey (2010-2011) Digest
Campus Image Survey (2010-2011)
Other activity
Take no Kai
(Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of bamboo forest thinning activity has been cancelled during the 2020-21 academic year.)
Since 2011, local citizens and university members have come together 5 times a year to perform bamboo forest thinning and cleaning around the Toyonaka Campus. As many as 150 people join in harvesting bamboo shoots in spring. A portion of the bamboo collected from this forest thinning is used in the region as well as in education, research, and events at the university.
Date: Saturday, December 7, 2019
Venue: Toyonaka Campus
Take no Kai members cut bamboo trees for traditional decorations of the new year for elementary and junior high schools in the community and enjoyed group planting of flowers to celebrate the new year with local people.
Date: Saturday, November 9, 2019
Venue: Toyonaka Campus
About 60 people joined in bamboo thinning, cutting out 20 bamboos to be used in the cultural festival at the community centers from bamboo grooves in the back of the athletic ground and the Student Commons.
Date: Saturday, June 8, 2019
Venue: Toyonaka Campus
99 people joined in bamboo groove maintenance and thinning in the back of the athletic ground and the Student Commons.
Nagashi-somen @ Handai Slope
Using bamboo collected in the Bamboo Forest Thinning, students from the School of Economics hold a Nagashi-somen (flowing somen noodles) event on Handai Slope on the Toyonaka Campus in cooperation with the Ishibashi Shopping Street. In Nagashi-somen, somen noodles are put in water flowing along a long bamboo gutter. Individuals catch the noodles with chopsticks to eat. The university, which welcomes new students to lectures and seminars every year, holds this event in collaboration with residents' associations and shopping streets deeply rooted in the region.
Collaboration with Minoh Semba Urban Development Committee (updated July 1, 2019)
Local people in the Minoh Semba area, especially the "Minoh Semba Urban Development Committee" derived from a joint residents’ association in the area, in addition to anticipation of the influence on city planning in the area, place more expectations on the relocation of the new campus. Currently, the Campus Design Division is in the process of improving the system to make full use of the university and promote collaboration between the university and the local community from the perspective of society-university co-creation.
The May 1st pamphlets(Japanese only) (above) describing the 5th Forum of the Minoh Semba Urban Development Committee (held in March 2019) and its particulars were distributed to some 5,500 local households.
Activity in the Architectural Institute of Japan and The Campus Sustainability Network in Japan (CAS-Net JAPAN) (updated: June 3, 2020)
The Campus Design Office participates in a campus-related research group “Campus Living Laboratory Subcommittee” under the Urban Planning Committee of the Architectural Institute of Japan.
The Campus Design Office shares the writing of a book named “Design for Campus Revitalization – Building a Campus like a Town and Utilizing the Town like a Campus,” which is the project by the research group. (written in Japanese)
Design for Campus Revitalization – Building a Campus like a Town and Utilizing the Town like a Campus
Design for Campus Revitalization – Building a Campus like a Town and Utilizing the Town like a Campus
International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) 2018 Participation Report (updated July 1, 2019)
The Campus Design Office compiled the ISCN 2018 Participation Report to describe the ISCN annual meeting held in June 2018 and recent trends of university campus sustainability.
Campus Sustainability Office TOP | Environment and Energy Division | Campus Design Division