Education at Kyoto Seika University has always been based on the concept that all members of the university will respect each other's differences and treat each other as equals. In 2016, we shared our President’s Statement on Diversity and established the Center for Diversity and Inclusion the following year. Based on the concept of “growing with our differences,” we aim to help create a society that transcends national, religious, and ethnic differences.
We joined the Kansai SDGs Platform in 2018 and have been actively involved in training and other initiatives.
On Tuesday, December 1, 2020, we announced the new Kyoto Seika University SDGs Declaration. We are dedicated to making efforts throughout the university to achieve the SDGs to help build a sustainable society that respects individual differences, ensuring that no one is left behind.
Kyoto Seika University SDGs Declaration
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted unanimously at the United Nations Summit held in September 2015, are an international set of 17 goals and 169 related targets to be achieved by 2030 in order to realize a sustainable, diverse, and inclusive society. It is becoming increasingly important for universities to contribute to achieving the SDGs in terms of education, research, and administration.
Kyoto Seika University’s Foundational Education Principles clearly state that our basic philosophy of education is “respect for humanity” and “freedom and autonomy,” which we share in common with the Constitution of Japan, the Fundamentals of Education Act, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We reiterated this basic approach in our Declaration on Diversity Promotion, announced in 2016, and established the Center for Diversity and Inclusion the following year. Furthermore, in 2018 we published our President’s Statement on Diversity, which incorporates a more straightforward concept and activity policy. Our educational philosophy and vision of diversity promotion—to “grow with our differences”—is fundamentally in line with the SDGs pledge to “leave no one behind.”
In addition to continuing our policy of creating an inclusive campus for all students, faculty, and staff, promoted under the Statement on Diversity, we declare that the entire university will work toward realizing the SDGs. This will contribute to building a sustainable society that respects individual differences, ensuring that no one is left behind. These differences include those that are easily noticed (such as age, race, gender, or physical characteristics, including sexual difference) as well as others that are harder to see (such as nationality, religious affiliation, family background, place of birth, style of working, gender identity, or sexual preference).
Kyoto Seika University is founded on the three pillars of “liberal arts,” “expression,” and “global society.” We will utilize our knowledge of art, design, and the humanities to understand the common issues the world currently faces and develop creative solutions through education and research while emphasizing ESG (environmental, social, and governance aspects) in the operation of the university.
Oussouby SACKO
President, Kyoto Seika University
December 2020