About SOLA
What is SOLA?
SOLA is the “Olympic of Education” and this year is the fifth year of hosting this event. Junior high and senior high school students administer this event and it is a place where junior high and senior high school students from all over Japan and all around the world learn more as the next generation for creating the future.
This year’s theme is
“Actions to spread our wings to the world – The call of liberal arts.”
We aim to go over the theme of “SDGs” which we had in the past, connect the world with the mind of liberal arts, and create the next generation.
Having diverse perspectives that go over various fields. Ask a question, think, and act. By sharing individuals’ own knowledge and working with peers that possess different perspectives, it will yield new values. Through these actions, SOLA becomes a place where one another learns from each other through various discussions, competitions, and workshops, in order to create the future.
The projects which are launched by junior high and senior high school students, who do everything from launching the event to administering on the day of the event, are all unique. “Teenage perspective” is vividly reflected in these projects and the event is for young generations. Find a project that makes you intrigued and please apply for it!
About Liberal Arts
Liberal arts is commonly defined as “the education to live freely.” Here, “freedom” means to not simply be liberated from certain limits, but to have the power to think, choose, and act on one’s own. In order to do this, one is required to face problems with no answers and to create their own values.
The liberal arts that we aspire in SOLA 2025 is based on achieving such freedom. We believe the following three principles are necessary in order to embody this.
• The ability to discover issues: The ability to not only answer questions we are given, but to also set the questions by oneself
• Collaborative ability: The ability to communicate with diverse people and create values together
• The ability to take action: The ability to not just think, but to also encourage society
In order to foster these three skills, SOLA provides the following “opportunities”:
• The opportunity to learn beyond subjects: One can capture complicated issues in multifaceted ways by learning from an interdisciplinary point of view
• The opportunity to demonstrate leadership: One can self-propel their learning by setting their own questions through their interest and experience
• The opportunity to share and connect: One can enrich their learning while sharing their values and knowledge with others
We believe that it is especially because SOLA has a unique student-led structure where different interests intervene and international and cross-border communication is held, that it can achieve liberal arts unbounded by existing societal norms.
