A university established by local governments but to be run by the private sector will open its doors here in April to foster a new generation of environmental experts.
Tottori University of Environmental Studies will initially have only one college -- the College of Environmental Information, with a student body of 324.
The college will have three schools: the school of environmental policy, with 166 students, the school of environmental design with 79 and the school of information systems, also with 79.
The university is the fruit of a 30-year effort by Tottori Prefecture to have Japan's first institution of higher learning devoted solely to environmental studies.