An online seminar on the topic of “Ethics and Community Engagement: Sharing best practices and challenges” was held with faculty members of the University of Washington Bothell and California State Technical University, Pomona (both USA) on Feb. 26 from 8:00~11:30 (Japan time). The event was organized by Yamanaka Akira of the Faculty of Collaborative Regional Innovation, and Adriana Hidding and Ruth Vergin of the Institute for International Relations. Yamanaka-sensei and Okamoto Takashi sensei presented from Ehime University.
All three universities share the mission of community engagement and this was a chance to learn from each other. Many issues came up related to ethics; the balance of power when working in a developing country, the imbalance of benefit for each side, the importance of including all stakeholders in all aspects of the project, and teaching students to be aware of their actions in society in whatever role they have.
Around 20 people joined on Zoom and all participants expressed the desire to continue. David Goldstein of UWB volunteered to help organize the next seminar and it is hoped that there will be participants from more countries.
“Ethics and Community Engagement” Online Seminar
<Institute for International Relations>