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The eighth and final Theme Week of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai—“SDGs + Beyond: Designing a Future Society for Our Lives ”—will culminate in a landmark panel discussion that brings this journey to a close.

The session will revisit the significance of “Theme Weeks” as an innovative approach within Expos, and explore how they can shape both present and future dialogues. Joining the discussion are official participants of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai; representatives from Expo 2020 Dubai, where Theme Weeks were first introduced; and stakeholders from Expo 2030 Riyadh, the next World Expo host. Together, they will reflect on the lessons learned, the value created through global dialogue, and the pathways toward future collaboration.

This conversation will not only consolidate the legacy of Theme Weeks at Expo 2025 but also set the stage for their continuation and evolution in Riyadh and beyond. It is an invitation to imagine how Expos can serve as platforms for meaningful exchange and collective action in a rapidly changing world. Join us for this culminating session, and be part of shaping the future of international collaboration and the next chapter of World Expos.

【Program Summary】
The program “Expos in a New Era and the Significance of Theme Weeks” was held as the final session of SDGs+Beyond Future Society for Life Week, concluding six months of the Theme Weeks series. The session reflected on the overall outcomes of all Theme Weeks and explored the evolving role and potential of Expos in the coming era. Moderated by Masaru Ishikawa, Site Operation Producer of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, the panel featured Dr. Tarek Oliveira Shayya (Founder & Managing Director of Gratiya Advisory; Former Executive Vice Chairman of Expo 2020 Dubai), Leonardo A. A. Teguh Sambodo (Deputy Minister for Food Affairs, Natural Resources, and Environment, National Development Planning Agency, Indonesia), Laurie Peters (Commissioner General, Canada Pavilion at Expo 2025), and Dr. Shinya Hashizume (Distinguished Professor, Osaka Metropolitan University; Theme Week Supervisor, Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition). Discussions unfolded from three key perspectives — the historical evolution of Expos, national practices, and intergenerational legacies.

【Speaker Summary: Masaru Ishikawa】
Ishikawa began by expressing deep gratitude to all participating nations and partners for their collaboration throughout the six months of Theme Weeks. Reflecting on his visit to Expo 2020 Dubai, he described it as both “the culmination of the past Expos” and “a creative challenge for a new era.” He highlighted Dubai’s introduction of the innovative Theme Weeks framework, which accelerated global knowledge exchange and cooperation, emphasizing Japan’s commitment to inherit and advance this spirit in Osaka.
At the Osaka–Kansai Expo, a collaborative framework was adopted in which a wide range of stakeholders—including government, industry, local authorities, and citizens—worked together around three core pillars: Exhibition, Business Exchange, and Dialogue.
The implementation of the Theme Weeks was described as the embodiment of Japan’s international commitment to “achieving the SDGs and co-creating the future society.” Under the framework of Agenda 2025, a three-tiered structure was established, comprising Hosting, Co-creation, and Participation.
Furthermore, it was reported that over the course of six months, eight thematic areas were presented, encompassing more than 430 individual programs. The process in which each theme posed its own questions and sought answers through dialogue was said to exemplify the very concept advocated by the Osaka–Kansai Expo — “People’s Living Lab.”
Tracing the historical evolution of world expositions, Ishikawa noted that from the 1851 London Expo through the postwar science-centered era, Expos have since 1994 evolved into arenas for tackling shared human challenges. With Expo 2005 Aichi as a turning point, Expos began centering around social issue resolution. Building on this legacy, Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai defines itself as a global platform for collective thinking and action.
He concluded that “Theme Weeks are not merely in-session events but legacy-building mechanisms for co-creating the future society.” Ishikawa emphasized the need to archive and perpetuate their intellectual assets and called for sustained international collaboration toward Expo 2030 Riyadh.

【Speaker Summary: Laurie Peters】
Peters, representing the Government of Canada, underscored how Theme Weeks provided a common language connecting diverse national pavilions. Rooted in Canada’s values of diversity and creativity, she explained that following Expo 2020 Dubai, Canada has advocated for Theme Weeks as a standard structural framework for future Expos. Drawing inspiration from Dubai’s Women’s Pavilion, she highlighted Japan’s focus on gender equality and co-creation as central principles for its programs.
She introduced several of Canada Pavilion’s initiatives. The Canada Live program, themed on cultural creativity, featured over 150 artists delivering more than 200 performances, symbolizing the richness of cultural diversity. Meanwhile, the Regeneration series at the Women’s Pavilion explored women’s leadership in sustainable societies and reaffirmed the value of social innovation.
During the Mobility and Community week, Canada promoted sister-city partnerships, academic exchanges, and youth engagement — notably through programs such as JET, fostering mutual understanding among future generations. In the Learning and Playing week, Canada organized street dance battles and collaborative art events, showcasing inclusion and creativity through culture. In the Peace and Human Rights week, Canada featured Tareq Hadhad, a Syrian refugee turned Canadian entrepreneur, whose story “Peace by Chocolate” conveyed a universal message of hope, peace, and human dignity.
Ms. Peters emphasized that Theme Weeks functioned as equalizers, fostering cooperation rather than competition. They transformed the Expo into a “Living Laboratory” for Society 5.0, transcending national and disciplinary boundaries. Concluding, she stated, “Diversity is the driving force that powers global dialogue and innovation.”

【Speaker Summary: Leonardo A. A. Teguh Sambodo】
Sambodo characterized Indonesia’s participation as “a declaration of the nation’s future vision, not merely a cultural exhibition.” He introduced Vision 2045, aiming to build an United, sovereign, advanced, and sustainable Indonesia. He stressed Indonesia’s commitment to low-carbon development and greenhouse gas reduction through international collaboration, positioning Expos as platforms for demonstrating such initiatives.
Indonesia’s Pavilion, themed Harmony of Culture, Nature, and Future, was designed around four objectives: promoting investment, strengthening trade, enhancing tourism, and showcasing national branding. With a strong focus on interactive engagement, the pavilion hosted over 300 business forum, exhibition and cultural events, attracting 3.5 million participants and generating over USD 28 billion in investment commitments.
Highlighting achievements across various Theme Weeks, he noted that the Culture and Creative Economy Week empowered women and youth-led SMEs, illustrating a model of economic growth through cultural diplomacy. During Mobility and Community Week, Indonesia advanced smart city infrastructure projects, concluding agreements worth USD 23 billion. Under Food and Life Week, the nation presented its universal health insurance system — covering 240 million people, the world’s largest single national insurance scheme. In Future of Earth and Biodiversity Week, mangrove restoration, as well as biodiversity and peatland conservation demonstrated Indonesia’s commitment to natural capital investment and planetary stewardship.
Sambodo concluded that “Theme Weeks are not merely forums for dialogue, but catalysts for action.” He emphasized the collaborative model uniting governments, academia, the private sector, and civil society, and invited all participants to “move forward together toward the future.” His closing words — “Advance, together into the future” — echoed powerfully throughout the venue.

【Speaker Summary: Tarek Oliveira Shayya】
Drawing upon his experience as Executive Vice Chairman of Expo 2020 Dubai, Dr. Shayya narrated the origin story of the Theme Weeks concept. The Dubai Expo, themed “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future,” was the first World Expo held in the Global South, requiring inclusive representation of diverse voices worldwide.
He recalled that prior to 2020, governments, businesses, academia, and civil society often worked in isolation, without platforms for collective dialogue. To bridge these silos, Theme Weeks were conceived as a unifying framework enabling diverse stakeholders to discuss shared global issues. Dubai introduced ten Theme Weeks, including Climate & Biodiversity, Urban Development, Inclusion & Tolerance, Knowledge & Learning, Food & Agriculture, and Space Exploration, organizing 229 events over six months with participation from 204 countries and organizations, 19,000 speakers, and an audience exceeding 29 million.
He introduced Dubai’s People and Planet Program as a cross-sectoral platform linking economic, social, and cultural spheres. In the post-pandemic context, the guiding principle “Leave No One Behind” became a cornerstone across all events. To ensure long-term legacy, Dubai established the physical Expo City Dubai and the intellectual Expo Dubai Group, fostering continuing collaboration among global cities through initiatives such as the Asia-Pacific Mayors Summit.
Dr. Shayya emphasized, “Dubai planted the seed, Osaka nurtured it, and Riyadh will bear the fruit.” He urged the continuation and evolution of the Theme Weeks model toward Expo 2030 Riyadh, concluding: “We began a movement; now it must be sustained. Expos must remain humanity’s ultimate platform for global dialogue.”

【Speaker Summary: Shinya Hashizume】
Speaking from his role as overall supervisor of Theme Weeks, Dr. Hashizume reflected on the philosophy and historical continuity of the Expo concept. Recalling his childhood experience at the 1970 Osaka Expo, he noted how its pavilions still stand as cultural heritage, symbolizing the endurance of both physical and intellectual legacies.
He described the early conception of Expo 2025 in 2014, emphasizing that “Expos are microcosms of society — experimental laboratories for the future, People’s Living Labs.” By 2015, the vision aligned with the UN’s SDGs, leading to the proposal of the “SDGs + Beyond” concept — Japan’s mission not only to achieve goals but to envision what lies beyond them.
He elaborated on the site’s architectural symbolism: the circular Ring Structure representing interconnectedness and diversity, embodying the idea of “A Resonating World.” He also highlighted Kansai’s traditional philosophy of “Sanpō-yoshi” (“good for seller, buyer, and society”), reinterpreted globally as a Win-Win-Win Philosophy, calling it “the very spirit of the SDGs.”
Defining true legacy not as physical structures but as contributions to the global community, Hashizume cited the enduring BIE emblem born from Expo ’70 as a symbolic example. He affirmed that “Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai is not an Expo for Japan, but an Expo for the world — a platform for dialogue among humanity.” He concluded that “Theme Weeks became an intellectual laboratory where diverse actors intersected to co-create the vision of a future society. The challenge now lies in how the next generation will inherit and advance this legacy.”

【Discussion Summary】
In the discussion, panelists shared perspectives on “The Mission of the Next Expo.” Ishikawa identified the most significant achievement of the Theme Weeks as establishing the SDGs as a shared global language. Beyond a sequence of events, the Expo fostered a systematic global dialogue where nations presented their own visions for the future through culture and policy.
Peters described the Expo as marking a shift from competition to collaboration among nations, calling it “the democratization of Expos.” She emphasized that inclusive participation and co-creation are the most effective approaches to addressing global challenges today.
Sambodo highlighted action as the key outcome, noting that Indonesia had already launched concrete investment and technological partnerships inspired by the Expo dialogues. “Trust built through dialogue becomes the foundation for new industrial, environmental, and social collaborations,” he said.
Dr. Shayya discussed the symbolic relay of Theme Weeks from Dubai to Osaka and onward to Riyadh, portraying it as a continuous global dialogue mechanism. He argued that Theme Weeks are “not transient events but infrastructures of knowledge for humanity’s future,” urging the development of digital archives and inter-Expo collaboration networks.
Dr. Hashizume concluded by defining Expos as “humanity’s collective experiment.” From the material to the intellectual, the Osaka legacy represents an evolution in the philosophy of world expositions. He described Theme Weeks as an institutionalized dialogue enabling cross-sectoral and intergenerational co-creation of a future society where life shines. He proposed that this constitutes a new model of Expo that Osaka should present to the world.
Closing the session, Mr. Ishikawa declared, “Osaka is not the destination, but the departure point,” calling for intellectual and human legacy to be passed forward to Expo 2030 Riyadh. Collectively, the panelists affirmed a shared recognition: Expos have evolved from sites of exhibition to platforms of co-creation — and now, to arenas of collective action. Theme Weeks thus stand as the emblem of this evolution, offering the world a new vision of the Expo in the 21st century.