Over the past few weeks, I’ve begun work on a group-based practicum project at the intersection of sustainable finance and international entrepreneurship. The focus is on the city of Fukuoka, Japan, which is emerging as both a testbed for urban regeneration and a gateway for international startups entering the Japanese market. My team’s task is to explore how small business financing, real estate revitalization, and foreign startup entry intersect, and how these forces together can shape the city’s economic future. The project requires us to engage with diverse stakeholders, identify their most pressing issues, and map out opportunities where finance and policy can better support sustainable entrepreneurship.
One of the most engaging moments in our early conversations with stakeholders came when we discussed the parallels between Japan and Korea. In reflecting on Fukuoka’s growth within Kyushu, I noted how its trajectory resembles Seoul’s dominance in Korea, where talent and capital flow disproportionately into one metropolitan center while surrounding regions experience demographic and economic decline. This led to a broader discussion about whether regional cities can retain entrepreneurs and innovators without simply losing them to Tokyo, or in Korea’s case, to Seoul. Another point that stood out was Fukuoka’s connections with Korea through tourism and small businesses, particularly with Busan, and how these differ from the more market-driven nature of startup ecosystems. These cross-cultural comparisons helped me appreciate the project’s complexity: regional ecosystems are shaped not only by local policies but also by geography and cultural ties.
Another dimension of this experience is teamwork: learning how to collaborate effectively across different professional backgrounds. Whereas I have prior exposure to consulting project norms and best practices through undergraduate coursework and internships, other teammates bring expertise from mathematics and education, which means they often frame questions differently or break down problems in ways I would not initially consider. While this sometimes means we approach tasks from very different angles, it has also been one of the most creative aspects of our work. A routine exercise like defining stakeholders or drafting a project scope can become a deeper inquiry when viewed through multiple lenses, and that dynamic has already enriched both the process and the outcomes of our early weeks.
From this practicum, I expect to gain both subject-matter expertise and multi-channel stakeholder management skills. On the substantive side, I anticipate learning how stakeholders - from universities to policymakers to investors - navigate the challenges of aligning economic development with sustainability goals. On the professional side, I look forward to refining skills in stakeholder engagement, issue prioritization, and the synthesis of diverse perspectives into actionable recommendations. Initial conversations have already shown me that what might seem like abstract terms, such as 'regenerative entrepreneurship' or 'ecosystem support,' become much more tangible when tied to questions of regional resilience, population flows, and cultural exchange. Ultimately, I see this project as a chance to connect broader themes of sustainable investing with the lived realities of entrepreneurship in a specific place, deepening my understanding of how local context shapes global challenges.