From Thu. 5th to Sun. 8th December 2024, student staffs engaging with ‘Beyond Borders Plaza (BBP)’ - the global commons which focuses on international exchange and language learning - visited Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) and Beppu, Oita.

The BBP located at the three campuses of Kinugasa, BKC and OIC aims to create global communities that transcend diverse borders such as nationality, language, religion, gender, disability and age based on its concept of ‘Beyond Borders’. The purpose of this visit and exchange was for 5 BBP student staff members and a faculty member to learn about Multilingual and Intercultural Collaborative Learning and apply it to BBP activities.

They stayed at a student dormitory, AP House, and had a chat with its residents. They also visited APU Cultural Week, which was being held at that time, and had a chance to talk with students in charge of planning the event and observe the preparation process. Furthermore, they had the opportunity to learn more about the background and significance of international exchange projects, such as a tour of Self-Access Learning Center (SALC) of APU, a meeting with a staff of Beppu City in charge of international exchange, and a talk with a man who had previously planned and managed a summer camp in collaboration with APU. ‘I was greatly inspired by the free and lively atmosphere of APU’, ‘I learned the importance of involving from both inside and outside the university, including local residents, in international exchange’ and ‘I realized that it is essential to clearly define its purposes/goals in order to successfully carry out a project with a team with diverse backgrounds,’ participated student staffs commented.

We will continue to work on various activities with student staffs and faculty together in order that BBP helps students with developing their skills to be able to play an active role in a global society. We encourage all students to visit and make use of us!