Representatives from the world's 37 leading universities will meet in Sapporo from June 29 to July 1 to discuss ways of coping with environmental and other issues, organizers said Wednesday.
The Group of Eight University Summit, the first of its kind, will be organized by Tokyo, Keio and Hokkaido universities, their executives announced in Tokyo.
Participants from 28 universities in the Group of Eight industrialized countries and nine from the others will discuss such issues as how to achieve global economic growth in an environmentally sustainable manner, and the role universities play in pursuing that goal.
Their suggestions will be summarized in a "Sapporo Declaration" and conveyed to members of the G8 at the summit later in July at Hokkaido's Lake Toya resort.
"We feel the role of universities is becoming increasingly significant," University of Tokyo President Hiroshi Komiyama said.