Details of the Initiative
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to achieve “quality education…” (Goal 4) at the same time, by coordinating with the course of study at the university, the Machida seminar in the School of Commerce has annually conducted practical activities since 2019 on the issues raised in the SDGs, such as “inclusive and sustainable economic growth for all…” (Goal 8) and “combat climate change and its impacts…” (Goal 13) from the perspective of logistics.
The activity was carried out on a seminar basis and was named the “Tamago Project” (also known as the “Packaging Expert Competition Project”). Specifically, the “Tamago project” was addressed by the following procedures: As a matter of principle, no money would be spent except for the eggs purchasing and shipping charge. The original packaging of the eggs (containing 10 eggs per package) must be removed, and each participant is required to repackage the eggs by using recyclable materials to complete the packaging work whenever possible. In addition, students must send the packaging work with detailed descriptions to other universities (Meiji University initiated this project, and currently, four universities; Fukushima University, Mejiro University, and Kyoto Tachibana University, collaborate on this project). Eventually, the “Tamago project” is designed to evaluate each student’s packaging work simultaneously online at an arranged time.
The evaluation criteria include “weight”, “size”, “perfection of appearance”, “uniqueness of packaging”, “effective and unique packaging materials”, “environment friendliness”, “availability of materials”, “ease of packaging/ effortless to remove the package”, ” damage condition”, “state of the eggs taken out from packaging”, “satisfaction with the work” and so on. These common criteria for evaluating works are established in advance.
Furthermore, a joint presentation session is held every year based on the evaluation results, where each university introduces its best works as well as those sent by other universities and presents what participants have learned through the project. This project provides a great opportunity for students to experience the SDGs.
Through the project, students became aware of the challenges that the logistics industry faces and the importance of achieving the SDGs. Currently, the network of the project launched by Meiji University has gradually gained recognition with each event and has come to be appreciated by a growing number of logistics companies.
The Machida seminar’s activity report “Tamago Project 2023” (university website)
The Machida seminar group’s “Tamago Project 2022” (university website)
The Machida seminar group’s “Tamago Project” (at a class of the School of Commerce)
The Machida seminar group’s “Tamago Project” (at a class of the School of Commerce)
