Sylff administrators from all 10 Sylff institutions in China (Peking University, Fudan University, Lanzhou University, Jilin University, Nanjing University, Chongqing University, Inner Mongolia University, Xinjiang University, Yunnan University, and Sun Yat-sen University) gathered at the Beijing Friendship Hotel on June 29, 2018, for a meeting that marked an important milestone for the program in China.

The meeting resulted in the signing of a historic agreement among the 10 schools on the criteria to be used in selecting Sylff fellows. The 10 institutions also agreed to hold an annual joint award ceremony for new fellows, to be hosted by a different university each year, and to schedule an administrators meeting on the sidelines of the ceremony.

The agreement was reached following presentations by the vice-presidents of the 10 universities on the kind of leader Sylff should support in the light of the Sylff mission and the ideals of each institution. The re-identification of the qualities sought in China’s fellows had been a priority in the light of the country’s rapid economic growth and changing social needs.

It has been a topic of ongoing discussions between the Sylff Association secretariat and the 10 institutions since 2016. Another key issue has been the concentration of Sylff funds on a more selective group of fellows.

The Sylff Association secretariat’s Sanae Oda, executive director of the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, addresses the meeting Sylff administrators in Beijing.

The past quarter century has been a very fruitful period for Sylff in China, as the country has produced more than half of all fellows worldwide. The achievements of the administrators meeting in Beijing represent a major step forward that will help steer Sylff’s next 25 years in China.

Sasayama, Hyogo prefecture

The Sylff Association secretariat is pleased to announce the successful applicants of Sylff Leaders Workshop for 2018–19. After a careful review of 114 applicants from 45 Sylff institutions, 20 fellows were selected to attend the first, start-up session from September 16 to 23, 2018, and the second, wrap-up session from April 7 to 14, 2019.

In line with the overall theme of the workshop, “The Potential of Trans-border Networking in 2030,” a focus topic was developed to facilitate our discussions, “Food Production in 2030: What Will Our Children Be Eating, and How Will We Produce It?” Participants will be guided by a strategic method called “Visioning” to contemplate norms regarding the future landscape of food and to generate ideas on how to direct actions toward such a vision.

The workshop will primarily take place outside of Tokyo to give participants an opportunity to experience the culture, nature, and history of rural areas of Japan. The site of the start-up session (from September 17 to 19) is the city of Sasayama, a beautiful castle town with a rich natural landscape and old city charms located in the Kansai region of Japan—about an hour outside Kyoto and Osaka.

The conclusions of the discussions and other insights gained from the workshop will be shared broadly with the Sylff community through reports and updates written by fellows and members of the Sylff Association secretariat.