NEWS

On July 15, 2026, the final presentation for the College of Sustainability and Tourism Practicum course (Theme: Beppu Community Development, Instructor: Hirokazu Goto) was held at Beppu City Library in Comorebi Park. The event was open to the public and welcomed approximately 60 participants, including 19 enrolled students, local residents, Beppu City officials, and members of the APU community.

This course aims to provide students with practical opportunities to apply the knowledge they acquire at university to real-world social and community issues while learning about sustainable community development. Through lectures, fieldwork, and interactions with local stakeholders, students develop the ability to identify local challenges and propose potential solutions.

The course is taught by Hirokazu Goto, an APU alumnus who currently works in the Community Collaboration Division of the Mayor’s Office at Beppu City Hall. Drawing on his extensive experience in various areas of public administration including international exchange, social welfare, tourism, public relations, and collaborative community development, Goto has served as a part-time lecturer at APU since the academic year of 2026.

Through lectures and fieldwork conducted between April and July, students deepened their understanding of local issues and community development. The course featured presentations from practitioners on a wide variety of topics, including Vice Mayor Masuo Abe’s lecture on the City of Beppu’s vision and policies, as well as sessions on urban planning, the management and utilization of hot spring resources, tourism strategies, local economies, disaster preparedness, collaborative community building, and public relations and marketing.

Students also participated in site visits throughout Beppu, where they engaged with local professionals and community leaders. These firsthand experiences provided valuable insights into the realities of community development and allowed students to experience practical “living community development”. Based on their learning, students explored solutions to local challenges and developed final project proposals from their own unique perspectives.

During the final presentation session, student teams presented five projects:

• Beppu Morning Onsen Project
• Beppu Town Exploration Tour
• Kamegawa Challenge Café
• Sustainability of Community Hot Springs
• APU Multicultural Week in Kannawa

Each team analyzed challenges facing either Beppu as a whole or specific local communities and developed initiatives related to tourism promotion, the preservation of hot spring culture, the effective use of local resources, multicultural coexistence, and community building. Rather than offering detached or purely theoretical recommendations, students presented projects that they would personally like to take ownership of and help realize.
Following the presentations, participants engaged in lively discussions and exchanged ideas with the student teams. Many attendees expressed enthusiasm for the proposals, commenting that they hoped to see the ideas implemented and that they looked forward to deeper collaboration between APU students and the local community to further enhance Beppu’s appeal.

In closing the event, Goto shared his hopes for the future relationship between students and the city:
“I believe there is a possibility that our graduates will one day become involved with Beppu through their own careers or businesses. I would be grateful if this course helps them look back on their time in Beppu in the years to come and serves as one of the inspirations for them to reconnect and engage with the city once again.

Practicum course (Theme: Beppu Community Development) is also scheduled to be offered in the Fall Semester of AY2026. Going forward, students will continue to use Beppu as a living learning resource, deepening their understanding of the city through fieldwork and engagement with local practitioners. Through these experiences, they will further develop their ability to apply academic knowledge to real-world settings and contribute to discussions on solving local challenges and fostering sustainable community development.