Kobe University has been hosting the “Kobe University Brussels European Centre Symposium” until 2022 and the “Kobe University Brussels European Centre Forum” in 2023 at its Brussels European Centre. This year, it was renamed the “Europe Forum” as an international exchange initiative targeting all of Europe.
The forum was held in Brussels March 7-8, 2025, in two parts, with the first part being a symposium titled “Japan in the EU Today” and part 2 the “First KU Global Network Forum in Europe.”

Part 1: Symposium “Japan in the EU Today”
On March 7, the symposium “Japan in the EU Today” was held at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). After  opening remarks by IWAMOTO Kazuko (the director of the Brussels European Centre), KAWAI Naruo (the director of the Global Education Center) spoke about policies for international students and Japanese language education in Japan, GOTO Kanako (the president of the Belgian Association of Japanese Language Teachers and lecturer at the Université de Liège) spoke about Japanese language education in the French-speaking Belgium, and MATSUMOTO Ken (science and technology fellow at the Mission of Japan to the European Union and senior scientist at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel) spoke about careers and life in Europe. This was followed by a presentation by a student from ULB, which led to a lively discussion among the 42 participants.

Opening remarks by Director Iwamoto of the Brussels European Centre
Participants of the symposium “Japan in the EU Today”

Part 2: “First KU Global Network Forum in Europe”
On March 8, the “First KU Global Network Forum in Europe” was held at the Bruegel Library, organized by the Global Education Center. As alums working in Europe, ANNO Eri (deputy director of the Bonn Office of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)), KUWAJIMA Mikako (GIS application manager at Royal Haskoning DHV), and WADA Tsuyoshi (master's student at the Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia) gave lectures on their current work and situations while studying abroad. In addition, students of Kobe University who are studying abroad in Europe shared their experiences, and many opinions were exchanged among the 47 participants about global career paths.

Exchange of opinions between Director KAWAI of the Global Education Center and the speakers
Participants of the KU Global Network Forum

This forum was an attempt to promote educational and research activities in Europe to revitalize the alum association in one place, and it was a very meaningful forum. The Institute for Promoting International Partnerships’ director of the Europe & Africa Division, MIZUHATA Minoru, stated that the institute will continue to work in various regions in the future, and the forum ended on a high note.

The Europe & Africa Division will continue to work to revitalize international exchange at Kobe University.

(Note: Prior to this forum, a delegation of Kobe University visited KU Leuven to discuss future educational and research exchange in the future. Read more about this here.)

（Global Engagement Division）