Last month, UB’s Office of International Education welcomed 11 students and two faculty members from Kanazawa University as part of a special short-term summer program for undergraduate students interested in international cooperation, urban planning, and medicine.

Kanazawa and Buffalo have been sister cities for many years, and UB and Kanazawa University have had an official exchange agreement for more than 50 years. This was the third year of this short-term summer exchange program between the two universities.

Earlier this summer, UB sent 10 urban planning students to Kanazawa University as part of an annual academic faculty-led program coordinated with UB Education Abroad and led by Camden Miller, clinical professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and assistant dean for inclusive excellence in the School of Architecture and Planning.

These two short-term programs were added to the regular semester and academic exchange programs supported by UB and Kanazawa University through a special international cooperation grant managed by Kanazawa University. This grant has also helped spark increased faculty research exchange and other student-focused exchange and Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) projects.

The visit primarily took an experimental learning and community engagement approach. During their 10 days in Buffalo, the students sampled a wide range of UB’s programs and experienced many of Western New York’s attractions and culture.

The students toured the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; went on a tour of Buffalo with the School of Architecture and Planning; visited the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science; visited with the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Clinic; attended a Department of Political Science talk on U.S.- Japan relations; and learned about many of UB’s sustainability efforts.

They also saw firsthand several of the impactful projects that UB’s School of Public Health and Health Professions is spearheading in the community, including the Mobile Health Clinic, the Seneca-Babcock Food Bank, and Pathways to Stability, a new program in partnership with the School of Social Work and Department of Family Medicine in the Jacobs School that is stationed within the Downtown Library and designed to help individuals experiencing homelessness in Buffalo.

In addition to experiencing a small sampling of what UB has to offer, the Kanazawa University students enjoyed the time they spent with current UB students. The group spent an afternoon on the water on the Moondance catamaran with International Student Services, where they met with many incoming international students, including a new UB student from Kanazawa, Japan. They also had a luncheon with several members of the J-Tomo student club, as well as a few Japanese language students, and had the chance to speak with medical students from the Buffalo chapter of the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association.

The group attended a Buffalo Bisons game, toured the Darwin Martin House, visited the Japanese Gardens in Delaware Park, and visited Niagara Falls. They also had the opportunity to lunch with several members of the Japan Culture Center of Western New York, the participatory arm of the Buffalo-Kanazawa Sister City Committee in Buffalo.

As part of the sister city relationship with Kanazawa, the student delegation also visited Buffalo City Hall, where the group spent some time with Mayor Sean Ryan, including presenting him with a letter and gift from Kanazawa Mayor Takashi Murayama. Ryan reciprocated and provided a letter to be delivered to Murayama as well as Buffalo lapel pins for all the students.