While developing technologies to conserve biodiversity, the Kajima Technical Research Institute's Hayama Marine Science Laboratory (Hayama-cho, Kanagawa Prefecture; a member of the Hayama Eelgrass Council since 2005) joined with the Hayama Fisheries Cooperative, local elementary schools and NPOs in growing eelgrass beds for coastal environment restoration.

On December 4, 2018, fourth-grade pupils at Hayama Municipal Isshiki Elementary School cooperated in preparing eelgrass seedlings. After attending a lecture delivered by a senior research engineer about the roles of eelgrass, an eelgrass cultivation technique that Kajima developed, and the sea environment, each pupil sowed seeds in a biodegradable pot and placed it in a water tank with their name tag.

Since its establishment in 1982, the Kajima Foundation for the Arts has contributed primarily to supporting art-related research studies. In recognition of its services, the foundation was commended at an award ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Agency for Cultural Affairs in September 2018. The foundation also received the Cultural Promotion Award at the 13th Western Art Promotion Foundation Awards in October 2018.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs' commemorative award ceremony celebrated the agency's 50th anniversary on June 15, 2018 by reflecting on the past 50 years and commending individuals and organizations that contributed to cultural promotion. The Kajima Foundation for the Arts was commended in recognition of making significant contributions to cultural promotion through its grant programs for cultural and artistic activities.

The Western Art Promotion Foundation Awards promotes western art by commending outstanding western art exhibits and other activities implemented in the past two years from the viewpoints of boosting the understanding of western art, promoting cultural exchange, and research and development. The Kajima Foundation for the Arts was chosen for the Cultural Promotion Award owing to its contributions toward realizing the "Lucas Cranach the Elder: 500 Years of the Power of Temptation" exhibit through its continuous activities and grant programs.

The foundation's activities provide grants for research in the arts, related publications, international exchange, and projects to foster the spreading of art, chiefly for young and middle-level art researchers in Japan and overseas. It has provided some 2,370 grants, making a total of approximately 1.92 billion yen (as of FY2017).

The Global Japan Studies Summer Program is held by the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo to provide overseas students with an opportunity to understand post-war and present-day Japan. On August 2, 2018, as part of this program, a total of about 20 visited Kajima, including students and their professor from universities in Europe, America, and Asia.

A chief designer at the Architectural Design Division introduced the participating students of diverse nationalities to our technology that fuses functionality with aesthetics and realizes universal design that appeals to the senses. Our chief designer also described our efforts to create new environments and spaces in Japan as it faces a society that is aging at the fastest rate in the world.

The students exchanged many opinions, and one commented that the program provided a very electrifying experience that made them realize that everybody has a disability in a sense, such as when they listen to music on earphones or they walk with a heavy package in their arms.

Going forward, Kajima will continue to engage in social contribution activities to inform students who will be responsible for the next generation about efforts to develop environments and communities that make it easy for anyone to live in them, along with our efforts in international exchange.

The private sector training for teachers program was held by the Keizai Koho Center (Japan Institute for Social and Economic Affairs) for three days between July 31 and August 2, 2018. The program has been implemented as an activity to promote dialog between economic and educational circles. This year, Kajima marked its 10th anniversary of accepting participants for this program. A group of 20 people attended the program in 2018, including elementary, junior high, and high school vice-principals that belong to the Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education, just like last year.

On the first day, the participants attended a classroom lecture on the construction industry and Kajima and then took a tour of Kajima Technical Research Institute, in which they experienced the latest technologies. On the second day, they took a tour of a building site and then they were introduced to Kajima's human resource nurturing and training. On the third day, they took a tour of a civil engineering site and engaged in group work to review the three-day program.

On a tour of this construction site that is usually off-limits, many participants commented that safety measures and other efforts could also be applied at school. Despite their differences as a private company and schools, the activity revealed several shared issues, such as human resource nurturing, and many opinions were exchanged.

Going forward, Kajima will continue to accept participants in private sector training as a social contribution activity to help educate the next generation.