11-Feb-2026 Kawasaki, Japan:
Innovation Center of NanoMedicine (iCONM) announced that the 4 th annual symposium of Project CHANGE would be held at 1:30pm-5:10pm on March 5 (Japan Standard Time) and would be streamed online as well. Project CHANGE stands for the Kawasaki activity of the national project “COI-NEXT” by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology/Japan Science and Technology Agency. This project aims to establish a resilient, healthy, and long-lived society by addressing Japan's future healthcare workforce shortage—particularly the nursing shortage—caused by its declining birthrate and aging population, through collaboration with engineering. Focusing on one of two approaches—namely, “Innovation on the Care Provider Side” versus “Innovation on the Care Recipient Side”—this presentation will concentrate on the former and report on the current state of “Nursing Engineering.” The strength of the Kawasaki hub lies in its close collaboration with the Kawasaki Nursing Association—the only city-level nursing association in Japan—and in being the only project among selected institutions led by a municipal foundation (Kawasaki Institute of Industrial Promotion). This strength is crucial for rapidly translating university research into societal implementation. The Kawasaki Care Design Consortium (Care-Saki), launched in 2024, has attracted more than 40 member companies. The ability to evaluate prototypes in nursing settings and provide rapid feedback to companies is a compelling advantage.
The keynote speaker for the symposium will be Prof. Sei-Kwang Hahn from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in South Korea. He will discuss South Korea's care situation, where the aging rate is projected to surpass Japan's around 2040 due to a severe low birth rate, and the latest wearable device technologies. In Part 1, other speakers include Ms. Akie Hotta, Chairperson of the Kawasaki Nursing Association, and Professor Akira Matsumoto from Institute of Science Tokyo, who will discuss the current status of the project. In Part 2, students from the Welfare Class of Kawasaki Municipal Kawasaki High School and the Science Class of Kawasaki City High School for Science and Technology, who participated in the joint workshop held in November 2025, will take the stage to reflect on the topics discussed during the workshop. Then, in Part 3, a discussion involving university and high school students will be held on topics related to nursing × engineering, provided by Professor Gojiro Nakagami (Professor, Global Nursing Research Center, The University of Tokyo Faculty of Medicine), Director of the Society of Nursing Science and Engineering, and Mr. Isao Shirasaki, Chairman of Liliam Otsuka Co., Ltd.
For detailed program and content information, please visit the following website (Japanese/English). Participation is free of charge. Simultaneous interpretation will be provided.
https://iconm.kawasaki-net.ne.jp/pdf/event_4th_symposium_proceedings.pdf
Please register to attend via the following website.
https://iconm.kawasaki-net.ne.jp/form/changesympo2025/
About Project CHANGE, please visit the homepage through the following link: