Glocal Hatara-Kurasu Gunma
Project
Project for International Student's Living Environment and Job Search Support
Project to improve the environment to make it favorable for foreign students by promoting the“Glocal Hatara-Kurasu Gunma”Project
Glocal Leadership Program
| To foster talented international students who can actively lead local industries in Gunma as glocal leaders. | Glocal Leadership Program (GLLP) Model case development |
What is “the picture of human resources to develop”?
In the “Glocal Leadership Program (GLLP)”, after discussions with parties in educational institutions, municipalities, private enterprises, and financial agencies, we decided on “the picture of human resources to develop” in 2017, as follows.
(1) Talented people who have an attachment to Gunma Prefecture, and who can contribute to enhance the sustainability of society, the economy, culture, and so on, in Gunma Prefecture.
(2) Talented people who are based in Gunma Prefecture, working as highly skilled personnel with a global view, and who have the planning ability and practical skills as leaders of glocal regional revitalization.
(3) Talented people who have communication skills and leadership, to live in a society of multicultural symbiosis and diversity, where people who were born and raised in different cultures and societies are living and working together, making use of their own characteristics.
Approaching “talented people to be fostered” through the internship program
With “talented people to be fostered” in mind, a “community-based” internship program and an “industry-based” internship program were developed as GLLP internship programs that match the characteristics of Gunma Prefecture, which is a “local area” located near a “metropolitan area.”
GLLP internship [Community-based]
A project-type internship, to utilize the abilities of international students for the sustainability and globalization of local industries in a specific area or community, and under a specific theme. The Program is intended mainly for first-year and second-year university students, and seeks to hone their holistic ability to live independently and productively as members of society and strengthen their connections with the local or non-local companies involved in the project.
GLLP internship [Industry-based]
To provide international students with thorough guidance and support, from beginning to end, in their effective job-hunting focusing on a specific industry. The start-up seminar is designed for university students above their first year, while the step-up seminar is for those above their second year. Internships are offered to third-year and fourth-year university students and graduate students.
The project to develop model cases of the two internship programs
The project is intended to develop model cases of the “community-based” internship program and the “industry-based” internship program, for use with “talented people to be fostered.” Successful cases (model cases) developed through trial and error, in cooperation with local and industry stakeholders, will be suitable for application in various areas and industries in the prefecture.
In the development of model projects, Kawaba Village cooperated in the “community-based” internship program and Sanden Holdings Corporation in the “industry-based” internship program.
GLLP [Community-based] Internship in Kawaba Village
Kawaba Village is located in the north of Gunma Prefecture. It has an area of 85.25 km2 and a population of 3,302. Agriculture and livestock are its major industries, and the aging rate is 34.2% (as of January 1, 2019). This small village is home to a michi-no-eki (roadside station) that attracts 1.9 million visitors every year. It also has two sake cellars that have been highly ranked and awarded every year, in sake contests held in Japan and elsewhere. Moreover, it produces a branded rice that has been recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive rice in the world.
In December 2016 the village was registered as a hosting town for the US Olympic and Paralympic teams for the 2020 Games in Tokyo. The issue identified by the village to deal with in the program was that of improving the environment to accept increasing numbers of foreign tourists; to “identify attractive spots for them from the viewpoint of internship participants (international students) to promote environmental improvement as a hosting town for the 2020 Games.”
To contribute to solving this issue to the extent possible, a two-week internship program, including preliminary and follow-up guidance, was carried out in 2017 to gain insights from “outsiders (non-villagers), young people, and international students.” See the details in “Activities.”
The GLLP [community-based] internship in Kawaba Village was a good opportunity for international students and local residents and businesspeople to confirm how “outsiders, young people, and international students” can contribute to the solving of area-specific issues. As a result, both international students and Japanese students came to love the nature, companies, and people in the village even more. Even after the internship program, there is continuing contact between participants, with some repeatedly showing up or visiting to report they have found employment. It is also noted that some foreign and Japanese participants have received provisional job offers from companies in the village.
Any municipality faces specific issues to solve. We started to visualize a design process and the administration and outcomes of the program to make it useful for other municipalities and other issues.
GLLP [Industry-based] Internship in Sanden Holdings Corporation
It has been said that job-seeking in Japan is unique in the world, and that this makes it difficult for international students to seek jobs, due to the difference from the practices in their home countries. In addition, international students compete for the same positions and undergo the same hiring procedure as Japanese students. Under these circumstances, international students tend to get a late start and Japanese companies find it difficult to approach talented foreign people. A status survey of international student employment among 1,000 local companies, conducted by Gunma University for the period from January to March, 2016, revealed that 63.0% of the surveyed companies, even those interested in recruiting international students, didn’t know how to recruit them, and 78.7% didn’t know how to manage them.
Thus, we decided to develop a scheme for selection and recruitment, by creating internship programs for international students, in cooperation with an excellent glocal company based in Gunma and active in the world, but which had never before hired international students as interns.
The cooperating company was Sanden Holdings Corporation, an electrical appliance manufacturer headquartered in Isesaki City, Gunma. The company, which will celebrate its 77th anniversary in 2020, supplies its products to manufacturers of automobiles and construction and farm machinery around the world, from 54 bases in 23 countries, in pursuit of “developing earth- and user-friendly air-conditioning systems.” It established a foundation 10 years ago to actively develop the next generation of talented people who can contribute to global environmental conservation and the creation of new industry.
The “industry-based” internship program is intended to train and support participants thoroughly, from the first step of job-seeking to successful employment, so that they can seek jobs in the right way for a specific industry. Under this two-week program, after preliminary guidance (a start-up seminar and a step-up seminar), participants undertake their internships and are then given follow-up guidance. International students “seek jobs” and “get employment” by themselves, with the knowledge and experience gained in the internship program.
The “start-up seminar” is for international students in their first year of study and above, while the “step-up seminar” is for those in their second year and above and who attended the start-up seminar. Internships are available to those in their third year and above (except undergraduate and graduate students in their senior year) and who attended the “step-up seminar.”
