- Posted 11-May-2021
Second EU-Japan Policy Dialogue on Education, Culture and Sport
The European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, took part in the 2nd EU-Japan Policy Dialogue on Education, Culture and Sport in an online meeting with Mr Koichi Hagiuda, Japanese Minister for Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
Both sides shared practices in these policy areas, and agreed to build on the already successful people-to-people cooperation that they enjoy.
The online meeting was an occasion to review progress since the first meeting, which was held in Budapest in July 2018.
Japan is a key partner for the European Union (EU) in many areas of policy and cooperation, a fact recognised by the participation of the EU ambassador to Japan and the Japanese Ambassador to the EU, as well as officials from the Japanese Ministry, the EU’s Delegation to Tokyo, and the European Commission.
The discussions between the EC and Japan took full account of the importance of international cooperation to bring people together – to learn, teach, create and compete – and that these areas will always lead to better understanding between Europe and Japan.
Shared objectives in support for the cultural sector and heritage, as well as the ways in which sport can be a channel for diplomacy and wider people-to people cooperation were discussed.
The Dialogue also recognised the active re-thinking of the future of education that is underway and the role that digital skills will play, particularly in schools.
Of course, ministers on both sides acknowledged the difficulties still faced with coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and how to mitigate its impact, which has been particularly strong for these three sectors.
The meeting was also a chance to review the three special joint EU-Japan Erasmus Mundus Master programmes. These three programmes focus on the areas of robotics, extended reality, and history.
The programmes aim to produce graduates ready to pursue a further academic or professional career.
Commissioner Gabriel and Minister Hagiuda confirmed their continued commitment to cooperation and support from their respective programmes and reached an agreement on new cooperation for the mobility of researchers.
To conclude the meeting, the EU and Japan issued a joint press statement, which summarised in the agenda.
Source: European Commission I Education and Training (https://bit.ly/3exzStP)