Large-scale natural disasters including the global spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and regional conflicts have forced us to make major restrictions and changes in societal activities. In addition to these social disruptions, the rapid development of cutting-edge science and technology is expected to bring about more uncertainty and complexity in our daily lives. This is not a temporary thing, but a characteristic of the with/after-corona society that we are about to enter. Developing next-generation human resources who can respond to the major changes in society and daily life called the VUCA era (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) is an urgent issue. In recent years, many have promoted STEM/STEAM education as one solution to this need.
 

This trend indicates that solutions to the difficult issues of modern society are not achieved within a single subject area, but rather with transdisciplinary efforts. An increasing number of schools today address one of the 17 goals established in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a problem-solving theme, but needless to say, achieving this requires learning in collaboration with diverse disciplines. While inquiry is at problem-solving’s core, the introduction of new concepts such as resilience and diversity into the school education has become essential in recent years. In order to build a harmonious world where everyone can live in health, vitality, and peace; and achieve SDG’s pledge to "leave no one behind", we need to challenge ourselves to conduct research to discover the essence of a new kind of biology education.

In light of this situation, the organizing committee set the theme of the conference as "Perspectives for global well-being: biology education in the integrated learning.” We hope that AABE 2024 will be an opportunity to lead to new proposals through presentations of participants’ innovative research and heated discussions.