To commemorate the certification of Yokohama National University’s “Tokiwa Forest” and “Wadaoki Forest” within Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’s Mihara Plant as OECM sites, the public seminar “Bicultural Diversity Seminar” was held at Yokohama National University on October 24, 2024. The event was sponsored by the Yokohama National University ESD Satoyama Research Center (representative: Prof. Kaoruko Kurata), and also sponsored by the UNESCO Chair (representative: Prof. Hiroyuki Matsuda). The day was blessed with good weather, and there were 26 participants, including people from Earthwatch Japan. The seminar was held according to the following schedule.

Part 1. Strolling “Tokiwa Forest” and visiting “Formosan Squirrel Exhibition” (15:00-15:50)
Part 2. OECM Seminar (16:00-17:00)
– Introduction of “Wadaoki Forest” (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries)
– Introduction of “Tokiwa Forest” (Prof. Kurata and Prof. Matsuda)
– Azbil’s Initiatives 
– Introduction of “Tsukuba Expo Forest” (The Forest Culture Association)