ICHARM Open Day 2019 held with local school students

The ICHARM Open Day 2019 was held on April 23. It is organized annually as an open house event. Students studying in ICHARM’s graduate programs (ICHARM students) and office assistants cooperated to prepare for this event. This year, local students, 81 from the Ibaraki Prefectural Takezono High School and 31 from the Ibaraki Prefectural Namiki Secondary School, were invited along with six teachers. The event contained brief lectures, poster presentations, and Q&A sessions, which were all conducted in English.

The open day started with a lecture entitled “Transform a Society against Floods under Climate Change” by Director Toshio Koike. Then, Mr. Ahmad Tanjir Saif, a doctoral course student, gave a short lecture entitled “Water Related Disasters around the World in 2018”. The local students were amazed at the power-point slides and listened to the lectures very earnestly.

After the lectures, the local students enjoyed poster presentations prepared by the ICHARM students including an intern student from nine countries of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Myanmar, and Korea. The young local students had a very exciting time communicating everything in English at each poster presentation.

Afterwards, we collected comments from the local high school students who participated in the event. Many students found presentations interesting and informative. They also mentioned that they learned a lot about the world’s natural disasters such as floods, landslides and debris flows. Others commented that it was a valuable opportunity in which they were able to interact with people from different countries in English. They added that, through the interaction, they enjoyed the cross-cultural experience very much and could really feel that each country has its own unique culture. The ICHARM students also had a great time talking with young Japanese students and sharing their culture and experience with them.

The ICHARM Open Day is a unique event for local students to learn water issues around the world in English and has been fruitful for both students and ICHARM. We will continue to hold this event every spring, hoping that young students will be inspired to become hydrologists in the future.

 
Poster presentation by each countries’ ICHRM students
Poster presentation by each countries’ ICHARM students
   
Lecture by Mr. Tanjir at Auditorium
Lecture by Mr. Tanjir at the auditorium
Bangladesh Booth
Bangladesh Booth

Students and ICHARM staff at the entrance hall
Students and ICHARM staff at the entrance hall  (*Permitted by both schools)