New partnership with Japan to increase employability opportunities

Edge Hill University has linked up with Japan to share best practice in technology which will result in better employability opportunities for students.

The University has been awarded a grant from the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation - a charity that supports closer links between Britain and Japan - to help forge new links with the country and improve learning around Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

GIS systems have been designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data and enables users to analyse spatial information and edit data and maps which are used within many organisations.

As part of the new collaboration, the University's Natural Geographical and Applied Sciences department will visit the University of Tokyo and the Japanese Center for Spatial Science on GIS learning in September to cement the partnership.

It is hoped that The Crossing Hemispheres with Digital Geographies project will directly benefit Edge Hill's students and will encourage further learning around understanding GIS, which will help with future job opportunities, as it is an important skill employers are increasingly looking for.

Lecturer Gerry Lucas, who is leading on the initiative, explained: "We decided to set up this new partnership because we are all actively involved with GIS as researchers, teachers, practitioners and advocates of GIS. We have all published work relating to GIS education and we think this project will be important because our research has shown that uptake and digestibility of GIS as a discipline is an issue in both countries. It is highly technological and involves spatial thinking and analysis, which will ultimately benefit our students as they acknowledge the importance of GIS and increase their own job prospects as a result."

The idea behind the partnership is to enhance the development of curricula and delivery models, promote a diffusion of ideas, share datasets and enable intercontinental staff and student collaboration using face to face and digital transmissions. It will enable British and Japanese students and academics to further their education through exchanges and other bilateral initiatives.

Throughout the project, students will use their knowledge to address real life issues of national and international significance, such as the aftermath of the earthquakes in Japan, volcanic geohazards in Japan, the redevelopment of the area associated with the London Olympics, glacial landscapes in Scotland and climate change impacts in Japan and the UK.

Gerry said: "We know that approaches to GIS education are different between Western and Eastern Europe. We recognise the similarities between Japan and UK as island nations, but also recognise different approaches to GIS education and the challenges of different cultures, strategic planning and different hazards. Resources, environments and climate change are all separate issues but are linked and are of significant importance to both countries. There is a need for a greater understanding of these issues due to the growing problem of climate change in international and national public policy. Each country has its own strengths around GIS, which I think will foster a better knowledge and cultural understanding across the hemispheres in the field of GIS education."