The Future of Earth and Biodiversity Week
Talk Session: The Future of Earth and Exciting Automation Technologies
Azbil Corporation
The key to realizing a Planet and a future we hope for may
include exciting automation technology we still cannot
imagine today!
Let's explore “The Future of the Earth and Exciting
Automation Technology” together.
Not only with experts, but also with our employees working
directly with automation!
Come and enjoy "Visions of our Planet and the
future!" drawn by local children, while diving into the
exciting world of automation and its creative thinking!
Recorded video available
Discussion
- Nature Positive
- Decarbonisation
- Circular economy
| Transmission of simultaneous interpretation | Provided |
|---|---|
| Language of interpretation | Japanese and English |
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Agenda2025
Participation Programme
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Time and
Date of
the event -
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2025.09.18[Thu]
14:30 ～ 16:00
(Venue Open 14:00)
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- Venue
- Theme Weeks Studio
Programme details
*Subtitles: Choose “Subtitles/CC” in the “Settings” (gear
icon) at the bottom right of the YouTube video.
*Subtitles may not show with multiple languages or overlapping
audio.
Let's imagine the future of the Earth in 2050. The future
Planet that you envision and hope for is surely wonderful and
filled with your aspirations. The key to realizing that future
may lie in automation technology that no one has ever thought
of before. What kind of technology could that be?
In our talk session, Azbil employees, who are experts in
automation, will introduce the future Planet as envisioned by
local children, along with the exciting world of automation
that can make it happen. Together with nature-positive experts
and local residents, we will discuss the Earth of 2050 from
various perspectives, and the potential of automation
technology to make it a reality.
At Azbil, we are engaged in businesses based on automation
technology. Therefore, we are eager to explore the
possibilities of realizing the exciting automation technology
that you have envisioned together with all of you.
Reports
【Reflection】
In this program, we held a talk session inspired by the
backcasting method. This had participants envision a future
Earth they would love to see, the sort of planet that they
thought would be wonderful, and then we discussed the exciting
automation technologies that could help realize those futures.
The children who imagined these futures came from Fujisawa,
Kyōtamba, and Thailand. Through dialogue leading up to the
session day, each child envisioned their own future Earth,
resulting in a rich collection of 197 unique and heartfelt
visions.
To explore automation technologies that could bring these
freely imagined futures to life, Azbil employees, who are
experts in automation, engaged in serious discussions. On the
day of the session, they engaged in deep conversations
alongside distinguished experts. We welcomed Kaori Fujita, a
specialist in nature-positive initiatives (Professor at Tohoku
University’s Green Future Creation Organization and Graduate
School of Life Sciences, and Senior Editor at Nikkei ESG), as
the facilitator. Joining her were Genichi Hatanaka, who is
actively involved in urban development from a governmental
perspective as the current mayor of Kyōtamba Town, and Peo
Ekberg (One Planet Café), an environmental journalist with
over 20 years of experience in lectures and eco-tour planning
and who also engages in wildlife conservation activities in
Zambia, Africa.
Together with Azbil’s developers, they explored the exciting
possibilities of automation technologies. Through this
session, we were reminded of the importance of envisioning the
future, as doing so can make the impossible possible and bring
us closer to realizing the futures we imagine. What truly
matters is the feeling of excitement and the individual desire
to make those envisioned futures come true. These aspirations
will shape a future Earth full of wonder and excitement.
【Post EXPO Initiatives】
Through dialogue sessions, children envisioned a total of 197
different futures for the Earth. During the session itself, we
were able to discuss six of these futures directly with the
children. For all the futures imagined by the
children—including those not covered in the session—each Azbil
employee came up with exciting technological ideas inspired by
them.
As part of our post-Expo initiatives, we will deliver these
messages directly to the children. We plan to conduct outreach
classes again and create opportunities for further dialogue
with them.
We are truly excited about the possibility that this series of
activities before and after the Expo will resonate with the
children and inspire them to realize their own exciting
visions for the future of the Earth.
Cast
Moderator
写真提供：藤田氏
Kaori Fujita
Professor, Green Goals Initiative and Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, and Senior Deputy Editor, Nikkei ESG
Born in Uozu City, Toyama Prefecture, Kaori Fujita graduated from the University of Tokyo, Department of Physics and joined Nikkei Business Publications. She worked as a writer for Nikkei Electronics, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of National Geographic Japanese edition, and Senior Deputy Editor of Nikkei ESG. Specializes in biodiversity, natural capital and business. She serves as Deputy Director of the “Nature Positive Sustainable Development Hub” at Tohoku University. She is a member of the Central Environment Council of the Ministry of the Environment.
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Speakers
写真提供：鼻中氏
Genichi Hatanaka
Mayor of Kyotanba Town, Funai District, Kyoto Prefecture
He served as deputy mayor of Kyotanba Town from December 2009 to December 2017. He has been mayor since November 2021.
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写真提供：ペオ氏
Peo Ekberg
One Planet Café
Born in Malmö, Sweden, EUs first carbon neutral area. Co-founder and sustainability producer of One Planet Café, a fair trade labelled company based in Japan, Zambia and Sweden. As an environmental journalist, he has visited five continents. He has also taught sustainability at Musashino University. At One Planet, he organizes study tours for sustainability, and works to protect wildlife such as African elephants through a unique and circular banana paper.
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The Future of Earth and Biodiversity Week
Talk Session: The Future of Earth and Exciting Automation Technologies
The key to realizing a Planet and a future we hope for may
include exciting automation technology we still cannot imagine
today!
Let's explore “The Future of the Earth and Exciting
Automation Technology” together.
Not only with experts, but also with our employees working
directly with automation!
Come and enjoy "Visions of our Planet and the
future!" drawn by local children, while diving into the
exciting world of automation and its creative thinking!
-
2025.09.18[Thu]
14:30～16:00
(Venue Open 14:00)
- Theme Weeks Studio
OTHER PROGRAM
The Future of Earth and Biodiversity Week
