NEWS

　The symposium commemorating the establishment of UTokyo International collaborative research organization on floating offshore wind energy and related technologies (UT-FloWIND), which was established on October 1, 2025, was held on May 11, 2026. The theme of the symposium was “Creating offshore wind energy with harsh-environment resilience, environment-friendly and high-reliability“.
　This symposium was held with the aim of identifying the challenges facing the floating offshore wind sector, the role of UT-FloWIND should play in overcoming these challenges, and the forms of domestic and international collaboration and cooperation. It was open to the general public, including researchers from private companies and research institutions.
　On the day of the symposium, Prof. Teruo Fujii, President of the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) and Prof. Koichi Ito, Dean of the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences (GSFS), delivered opening remarks as the event organizers. Mr. Hiroshi Funamoto, Director of the National ocean policy secretariat, Cabinet office, delivered a speech as a guest of honor and Mr. Keisuke Sadamori, Director of the Energy markets and security bureau, the International Energy Agency (IEA), and three other distinguished guests delivered congratulatory remarks. Six presentations were then given. These presentations introduced the overview and vision of UT-FloWIND, and its key initiatives, including an outline of its designated research areas, activities of related workshop, its roles as a hub for industry-academia-government collaboration and for domestic and international collaboration, industry-academia-government roundtables, and programs cultivating highly skilled professionals. And examples of the projects of UT-FloWIND were presented, including the initiatives under “Social cooperation program on innovation for construction, operation and maintenance of floating offshore wind energy system” and the research on the impact of offshore wind power generation on the marine environment and ecosystems.
　In addition, a panel discussion was also held, featuring eight speakers, on the themes of “challenges Japan must address, the role of UT-FloWIND, and goals for industry-academia-government collaboration, international collaboration, and the development of highly skilled professionals.” Following the symposium, a networking session was held to facilitate information exchange among participants. Through this symposium, we recognized the high expectations that participants have for UT-FloWIND and reaffirmed the many challenges that must be addressed moving forward.
　The symposium was held in a hybrid format, combining an in-person session at Ito Hall, the Ito International Research Center, UTokyo, with an online broadcast via Zoom Webinars. It was a great success, with a total of 553 participants, including 248 on-site participants (159 participants jointed the networking session) and 305 online participants.
　We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all attendees, to the speakers, and to everyone who provided invaluable support in making this symposium a success.

Toru Sato, Director of UT-FloWIND
Kazuo Hiekata, Director of the promotion office of UT-FloWIND
Shinobu Yoshimura, Deputy director of promotion office of UT-FloWIND

◆ The materials are available here (in Japanese).

○ Scenes from the event ○

Opening remarks as the event organizers:

Presentation:

Panel discussion: