We, MIS, has two main activities, “Japan-ASEAN Student Conference” and “Implementation of projects by country teams of Network department (JPSI, JVSI, JMSI, JBSI).
“Japan-ASEAN Student Conference” is a student conference that invites mainly undergraduate and graduate students from East Timor, ASEAN countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan to discuss social issues in Southeast Asia. “Japan-ASEAN Student Conference” consists of several divisions, each with a different social issue as its theme. This year, we have five divisions: “Food Sustainability,” “Cultural Heritage,” “Fair Trade,” “Education,” and “Disaster Prevention.” We have activities at this conference: lectures and workshops. In the lectures, international organizations, companies, and NPOs in fields related to the themes set by each division give talks to deepen the knowledge that will lead to discussions among the students. In the workshops, students will set common ASEAN issues related to the theme and devise solutions to them. In devising solutions, we will use the problem-solving framework used by MIS in its daily activities. Each division will present their solutions as an action plan at the final presentation.
The second activity is “Execution of problem-solving projects by country teams. This year, we have five country teams, the Philippines, Hue, Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, Myanmar, and Malaysia. Due to the global spread of the COVID-19, it has become difficult to implement projects that require travel to the area, so we are currently working in Japan. Each country team holds exchange meetings and study sessions with Southeast Asians living in Japan and conducts online exchanges with local people.