Hanyang University takes student-led community innovation project to Japan

Hanyang University's Global Social Innovation Center has extended its student-led "living lab" project, which focuses on community innovation, to Osaka, Japan. This overseas program, part of the "Sustainable ESG Leader Course 3.0," brought eight advanced students to Japan from July 27-29.

Building on their experiences with regional revitalization projects in South Korea, particularly in Seoul's Yongdap Market, the students engaged in on-site research in Osaka. They investigated local commercial districts, comparing them with South Korean examples to identify sustainable regional innovation strategies. This initiative is a collaboration with "Gongsaeng," a company specializing in living lab-based community innovation.

The program began with a field research trip to Osaka's Ishibashi shopping street. Students observed the area, interviewed local stakeholders, and collected quantitative and qualitative data to understand the district's characteristics and revitalization methods. They specifically drew parallels and contrasts with the challenges faced in Seoul's Yongdap Market.

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Through this program, beyond a simple visit to a foreign university, I gained the goal of creating a sustainable relationship between Hanyang University and Yongdap Market, similar to the collaboration between Ishibashi Shopping Street and Osaka University.

On the second day, students participated in a workshop at Osaka University. They shared their findings and experiences from the Yongdap Market project and discussed community innovation and university-community collaboration with Osaka University members. The discussions also focused on developing ideas for revitalizing the Ishibashi shopping street and fostering sustainable cooperative models.

This program emphasizes a transdisciplinary research approach, integrating students' diverse academic backgrounds and perspectives with on-site data and stakeholder experiences. Hanyang University aims to create a model for field-based social innovation education and research that explores real-world social issues from multiple viewpoints and develops sustainable solutions.

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We aim to create a model for field-based social innovation education and research programs that explore actual social problems from various perspectives and derive sustainable solutions by connecting student projects originating from local communities in Korea with overseas universities and local communities.