On February 27, 2025, we held the first student exchange event of the Inter-university Exchange Project (EU), an online seminar titled “Ocean and Maritime Governance and Scientific Innovation for the Safe and Secure Oceans.”  

The seminar was attended by 12 students from Hiroshima University and 14 students from five partner universities in the EU: Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy), Leipzig University (Germany), the University of the Basque Country (Spain), the University of Graz (Austria), and the World Maritime University (Sweden), making a total of 26 students.

Before the seminar, participants watched videos related to the lecture content. During the seminar, participants were divided into five groups and engaged in discussions on the following topics:

1. What are the effective countermeasures against ocean environmental problems?
2. What are the necessary achievements to realize autonomous ships?
3. What are your ideas for utilizing AIS for safe maritime operations?

After the discussions, each group presented their findings using slides and shared their ideas.

In the limited time of two hours, the students actively engaged in discussions in English and worked collaboratively on their final presentations. This seminar provided a valuable opportunity to deepen their learning from an international perspective and fostered student exchange and teamwork.