On Friday, February 6, 2026, a workshop was held at Yoriness-Shibata in Shibata City Hall to promote regional development through industry-academia-government collaboration and the utilization of "Convergent Knowledge."

Prior to the workshop, students from Technical University of Malaysia Melaka (UTeM)—with whom Nagaoka University of Technology (NUT) maintains an exchange program in water treatment technology—delivered a presentation on their educational activities and disaster recovery efforts. This was followed by a keynote lecture titled "Regional Collaboration and Social Implementation Driven by Connections with Fermentation Researchers" by Specially Appointed Professor Teiichi Oya of the Department of Science of Technology Innovation.

The workshop included a review of the previous two sessions and presentations by Shibata City officials on the utilization of closed schools, the current state of organic agriculture, and youth study tourism focused on rural areas. Subsequently, discussions were held among the following six teams:

Teams Themes:
1. Human Resource Development in Shibata City
2. Strengthening Organic Shibata
3. Local Biomass Utilization for the Promotion of Hilly and Mountainous Areas
4. Entrepreneurship for Social Impact Formation
5. Utilization of Kiness Honda (former Shibata Municipal Honden Elementary School)
6. Devising Disaster Prevention Facilities and Services Required to Increase Inbound Tourism

NUT students served as facilitators for the teams, which comprised Shibata City and Regional Development Bureau employees, city council members, local business volunteers, faculty from partner technical colleges (KOSEN), and experienced specially-appointed faculty. Through the active interaction of these diverse stakeholders, the teams identified local issues, brainstormed ideas leveraging Shibata's unique appeal, and discussed methods to realize them, making the event a highly vibrant platform for exchange. International students from the pre-event also joined Team 6, contributing to the "multicultural collaborative learning" that NUT actively promotes.

The participants from Shibata City expressed their appreciation for the diverse perspectives regarding the city’s future and gave high marks to the formation of a co-creation space fostered by "Convergent Knowledge."
NUT will continue to strengthen its collaboration with the local community, particularly in the Shibata area.