2026/3/31

How can universities work with nearby communities to help solve local problems? At the Faculty of Global Engagement of Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, all students are required to take two Community Engagement (CE) Workshop courses and spend time embedded in a community doing volunteer activities such as tutoring school children, supporting local festivals, cutting back overgrown bamboo groves and cooking healthy meals for local residents.

For more in-depth understanding of how community engagement plays out in Asia Pacific, several researchers from the Department of Global Studies have visited eight CE-focused universities throughout the region. On January 28 and 29 a total of 46 students and faculty joined a workshop co-hosted by Kyoto University of Foreign Studies and Danang University of Science and Education in Danang, Vietnam to share their ideas and experience.

On the first day, researchers from both countries explained the history, features and accomplishments of university-led community engagement. Many students credited their community engagement experience for improving personal skills such as communications, leadership and resilience, while increasing empathy and understanding of people from different backgrounds. The Vietnamese presenters noted that recent Vietnamese laws and policy promote integrating community engagement into the university curriculum and involving all instructors in CE. The first day concluded with discussions of steps for improving community engagement outcomes.

On the second day, several of the researchers met with local farmers during a field visit to an organic community garden in nearby Hoi An. The farmers explained that they often hosted ecotourism visits by university students and international tourists wishing to gain a taste of farming and agrarian life. In return, university students and staff have experimented with farm techniques and inputs that have increased farm harvests and raised local income.

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