KISSY2025

Kansai Intercultural Summer School for Youth

KISSY is a residential summer school for children aged 10 to 16 that harnesses digital technology to help them develop a global-citizen mindset. Pangaea—the nonprofit organization that runs KISSY—received the Japan Foundation’s 2018 Global Citizens Award and is now in its 22nd year. Since its founding, Pangaea has believed that the most important thing is for children to collaborate empathetically with peers around the world and acquire the skills to solve problems together through dialogue.

Recognized by overseas universities and media outlets, KISSY is regarded as a pioneering model for using digital tools to advance SDG 4.7 “Global Citizenship Education” and to build a society that embraces diversity. Through hands-on workshops, participants tackle issues said to be critical for the planet’s sustainability. This year, against a backdrop of global uncertainty, children of different races, languages, religions, and nationalities will gather to explore what they can do—as global citizens—to create change, discuss their ideas, and share them with the world.

KISSY has been held eight times to date, welcoming participants from many countries. Because of COVID-19, overseas participants joined online from 2020 onward, but this year children from Kenya and Georgia will once again travel to Japan. By overcoming linguistic and cultural differences, they will cooperate toward shared goals and deepen mutual understanding—an essential step toward Pangaea’s vision of a next generation that thrives in a global society and builds a more peaceful world.

What We Aim to Achieve Through KISSY

• See the world as global citizens and articulate our ideas.
  By bringing together participants from different countries to tackle the same challenges—sharing and presenting their thoughts—we strive to transcend barriers of language, culture, and working style, gaining a bird’s-eye view of the world and learning how to communicate our perspectives.
• Foster a genuine desire to communicate across language barriers.
• Spark the feeling of “I want to speak in another language!”
  We hope this excitement will lead participants toward self-motivated language study.
• Provide a forum for thinking—and speaking out—about how to build a peaceful society in the AI era.
• Deepen inquiry and discovery through digital, project-based workshops. Participants conduct research and fieldwork, refine their findings, and share them with peers in other countries.
• Through a lecture on digital literacy by professionals, the participants skillfully leverage AI to advance their projects.
• Contribute to a sustainable society that can be handed down to future generations.