Zenbird speaks to University of South Australia about SDGs and Circular Edonomy

Zenbird Media was invited to be a guest lecturer to a diverse group of international students from the University of South Australia on 18 October. The class is one in a series of learning about sustainability in different countries, and it is the second time Zenbird Media is representing Japan to share the country’s situation and progress in terms of sustainability.

Roger, Editor-in-Chief of Zenbird Media, led the lecture, breaking the session into two sessions. In the first half, he shared what Zenbird does and its purpose, and proceeded to share various SDGs trends in Japan, including the rallying force against food waste and how COVID accelerated new workstyles. However, he did not hold back from talking about current problems like gender inequality and dependency on fossil fuels in the country.

Examples of startups leading the way in sustainability were also featured, including Tokyo’s Rinne Bar and elab.

Circular Edonomy was the essential lesson in the second half of the lecture, as Roger shared the discovery of a perfect circular economy during Japan’s Edo Period. He reminded the students that the circular economy addresses the problem of overconsumption of natural resources and the creation of waste. He also pointed out that the philosophies that formed Circular Edonomy should be revived in today’s modern world.

Discovering hints of Japan’s centuries-old sustainability together with the students.

During the Q&A session, the students limited their questions to two main areas. First, Australian students queried about the whaling controversy in Taiji, Wakayama. One of the students also shared how nuances complicated the already complex problem, displaying the quality and awareness in the students.

The second interest area was in Zenbird Media itself. The students were interested in how Zenbird operates and what inspires its content. Roger revealed that a keyword for Zenbird was “impact.” The Zenbird team did not want to put out information only, but also tries to find something that leads readers to action. It is why Zenbird focuses on urgent topics, like Climate Crisis and Women’s Wellness, and tries to shorten the distance between searching for information to taking action.

[Reference] Zenbird Media
[Reference] Circular Economy in Japan
[Reference] Circular Edonomy: Japan’s successful Circular Economy 400 years ago