Graduate School of Public Policy, Hokkaido University (HOPS)

Dean of HOPS
Ken ENDO

We live in a world today where the political, economic, and social surroundings are constantly changing. In the globalized world, what is urgently needed is the ability to think in a wider and global perspective. The changes in demography and industrial structure heightened the necessity to think and practice in a unique manner that reflects our local or regional needs. Moreover, we are faced with the ethical challenges of new technology as the society we live in today is becoming more advanced and complex with the development of scientific technology.

It is not an easy task to find the right solutions to the various issues we face today. Some time ago we sought for possible solutions by referring to models proposed and implemented by other countries or by encouraging material growth, however, past experiences nor existing knowledge alone can no longer be applied to the challenges at hand.

The Graduate School of Public Policy was established to foster and train individuals with the ability to recognize the various challenges in our society and to seek various approaches to the resolution of such challenges. Under the principle of “the integration of arts and sciences”, our first and foremost aim is to construct a new and innovative multidisciplinary scholarship that transcends the traditional disciplines of law, economics and engineering. Moreover, we provide a curriculum that goes beyond the traditional research-based post graduate education in order to provide insights to unprecedented ways to actively pursue solutions to various social problems and needs by emphasizing the linkage between theory and   practice, and by promoting the “integration of the power to think and power to realize.”