On Friday, February 6, 2026, a workshop was held at Yorineshi-Shinbata, Shinbata City Hall, to promote regional development through industry-academia-government collaboration and the utilization of "comprehensive knowledge.

Prior to the workshop, students from Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) - with whom Nagaoka University of Technology (NUT) maintains 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 Linked by Engaging with Fermentation Researchers″ by Specially Appointed Professor Teiichi Oya of the Department of Technology, Science and Innovation.

The Workshop included a review of the previous two sessions and the presentations by Shibata City officials on the utilization of closed schools, the current state of organic agriculture, and youth study groups 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 Farming in Shibata
3. Local Biomass Utilization for the Promotion of Mountainous Areas
4. Entrepreneurship for Social Impact
5. Utilization of Kiness-Honden (former Honden Elementary School)
6. Devising Disaster Prevention Facilities and Services for increasing 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. The event fostered a lively exchange of ideas on how to bring these concepts to fruition. International students from the pre-event also joined Team 6, contributing to the “multicultural co-curricular activities” that the university 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 "comprehensive knowledge.”
NUT will continue to strengthen its collaboration with the local community, particularly in the Shibata area.