Social contribution plan
As it strives to be an open university, NSSU will implement further organizational reforms to achieve such goal.To this end, the Institute for Social Contribution has been established to facilitate NSSU’s social contribution through physical education and sport, while cultivating its network of alumni that are making an impact at regional and national levels. NSSU management hopes that everyone affiliated with NSSU recognizes this important social duty and joins forces to fulfill it.
Since April 2014, the Institute for Social Contribution’s structure has been fully set up, including its cooperative arrangements with external organizations, and information on NSSU’s numerous local and social outreach activities that were conducted in the past has been organized and reviewed. NSSU is now making necessary preparations such that its full-scale social contribution activities will commence effectively starting July.
NSSU’s social contribution plan
NSSU’s history spans over 120 years, dating back to its beginnings, first as Nippon Taiikukai (the Japan Association of Physical Education; founded in 1891) and then as Taiso-Renshujo (gymnastics practice facility; a physical education instructor training school established in 1893). Throughout all these years, NSSU has been guided by its founding spirit (philosophy) that emphasizes the institution’s crucial responsibility for teaching its students to become well-rounded persons, possessing both a healthy mind and body, by actively promoting and advancing physical education and sports, and to become good citizens that help build a nation and society that are truly rich, in the deepest sense of the word. Hence, NSSU has been consistently promoting sports to help people achieve mental and physical health, which is a universal goal of all, while tirelessly training its students to become excellent athletes and coaches.Since the Basic Act on Sports was enacted in June 2011, it has been officially declared that all people are entitled to lead happy and fulfilling lives through sports, and that sports should play various roles in people’s everyday lives, including the promotion of healthy growth among youths, the revitalization of regional communities, the maintenance and promotion of mental and physical health, the invigoration of society and economy, and the improvement of Japan’s status on the international stage. In response to this statute coming into effect, the government introduced the Sport Basic Plan in March 2012, thereby providing its basic blueprint on how Japan would be promoting sports.
In the aforementioned Plan, its basic principle is explained using keywords such as practitioners, spectators, and supporters (educators/trainers), with the goal being to create an environment where people of all walks of life are able to enjoy sports throughout their lifespans. The Plan also lays out policy along with seven specific action items for achieving the aforementioned goal, which are the following:
- Provide improved opportunities for young children to engage in sports.
- Promote sporting activities that are suitable for each life stage.
- Develop a sporting environment in local communities such that local residents can participate in sporting activities on their own initiative.
- Develop athletic talents and a sporting environment that are conducive to Japan’s improved athletic performance capability in international competitions.
- Promote international outreach and cultural exchange activities through the invitation and hosting of international sporting events, etc.
- Improve transparency, equality, and fairness in sports.
- Create and facilitate a virtuous cycle in sports.
All these measures are consistent with the initiatives that NSSU has been executing and promoting all along since its inception as described above, and NSSU has been communicating relevant information and providing service in these areas for the good of society, in addition to pursuing knowledge in sports science which is NSSU’s field of specialization.
To this end, NSSU has so far assigned its President’s Office, Office of Social Contribution (Community Contribution Office), and Student Support Center the responsibility to promote cooperation and communication with local communities, and these departments have been actively engaging in social outreach, including activities to support municipalities, NPOs, schools, etc. in physical education and sports based on their requests, physical fitness evaluation of local residents, provision of assistance to schools with their teaching activities, offering of extension courses, and opening up of the NSSU libraries for public use.
In response to the selection of Tokyo as the host of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, NSSU management has decided that the institution must have its faculty, staff, and students share information on specific issues and challenges that each regional community is faced with in physical education and sport, and further promote NSSU’s time-tested activities that could address them, while cooperating with municipalities, organizations, schools, etc., with a view toward achieving the goals as set forth in the Basic Act on Sports and the Sport Basic Plan with eminent success.
For this purpose, NSSU has undergone organizational reform and established the NSSU Institute for Social Contribution that is charged with the task of building cooperative and collaborative relationships with municipalities and other local organizations, uniting those regional ties to promote nationwide outreach activities in conjunction with NSSU’s alumni network, and facilitating such initiatives that are useful for improving the vibrancy of this country at both regional and national levels.