President Nakano Joins Virtual U7+ Alliance Summit

On November 22 and 23, 2020, the second U7+ Alliance of World Universities Presidential Summit was held online, and President Satoshi Nakano participated in the summit from Hitotsubashi University.

Under the patronage of French President Emmanuel Macron, the inaugural U7+ summit took place in July 2019 on the campus of the Paris Institute of Political Studies, commonly referred to as Sciences Po, in the center of Paris. The purpose of the summit is for an alliance of universities to tackle pressing global challenges by sparking dialogue on the challenges and communicating their vision and proposition to the international community. The name “U7+” refers to universities in the G7 counties, along with universities in Africa, Latin America, Asia, Oceania, and other regions.

From Japan, four universities—Hitotsubashi University, Osaka University, Keio University, and the University of Tokyo— participated in both the first and second summit.

Approximately 100 university leaders from 20 countries attended the second annual summit to discuss its theme of Intergenerational Justice in a Post-Pandemic World. With the COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacting the world’s education, the leaders expressed their resolution to reach beyond borders to uphold the interests of youth and future generations.

Prior to the summit, volunteer students from participating universities held U7+ Worldwide Student Forum, where the youth voice was strongly heard and represented. From Hitotsubashi Univesity, four students joined discussions with students from around the world.

The summit, hosted online by Northwestern University in Chicago, was live streamed globally on YouTube.