1. Introduction

The Master’s degree program at the Department of Environmental Engineering, part of Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Engineering, provides education and research based on engineering technology and has been founded with the aims of providing solutions for evident or hitherto undetected regional environmental issues; securing environments that support health; creating sustainable global and regional environments; and establishing new fields in environmental science.
To solve global environmental issues, it is essential to cooperate internationally with other universities and institutions and to develop globally-competitive human resources. We promote international academic cooperation in research with other countries, including China and the ASEAN countries. The Human Security Engineering element of the Interdisciplinary Engineering Course warmly welcomes international students, and has educational programs that include major subject classes given in English, with the aim of developing persons who will be active on the world stage. We anticipate further progress in these areas.
We have decided to launch a collaborative curriculum between the Graduate School of Engineering and Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, with whom we have a strong cooperative relationship, through which students can take a double degree program. The two major objectives of this curriculum are to:

China has achieved remarkable economic growth in recent years. Shenzhen was the first special economic zone to be designated in China. It has experienced explosive population growth and development which, however, has resulted in dynamic and urgent global and social issues. We need to address global warming issues, which are common to both Japan and China, cooperatively. The establishment of a double degree program will enable students to gain opportunities to study not only at Kyoto University but also in Shenzhen where they can learn about regional environmental problems. This program can therefore nurture interdisciplinary human resources who can demonstrate leadership in engineering solutions for global environmental problems. Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School has a system for accepting students from Kyoto University: the curriculum in English is in place and the Kyoto University-Tsinghua University, Cooperative Research and Education Center for Environmental Technology (Japan-China Center), approved as the Kyoto University On-site Laboratory, has been established. This collaborative curriculum is expected to play a crucial role in promoting research and education at both institutions.