2026 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 80-95
This study qualitatively examines the practical potential of utilizing the diversity of international students to address regional challenges, within a policy and social context where they are increasingly expected to serve as key actors in local communities—particularly in light of recent multicultural coexistence policies and university internationalization initiatives. Rather than viewing international students as passive “resources of diversity,” the study reconceptualizes them as proactive agents who collaborate across cultures to create new value. Focusing on a collaborative project promoting regional specialty products overseas, the research employed visual ethnography to conduct a sequential analysis of interactions between international and domestic students. The analysis revealed that the process of international students’ active engagement in intercultural synergy creation unfolds through seven stages: imitative adaptation, shared judgment, autonomous role performance, adjustment and accommodation, skill acquisition and trust-building, creative contribution, and complementary collaboration based on trust. At each stage, students demonstrated problem-solving, understanding of others’ perspectives, intercultural relationship-building, and action-taking capabilities, progressively evolving from passive participants to proactive collaborators. This study offers a new analytical framework that reconceptualizes international students within dynamic, relational practices and provides insights for advancing multicultural coexistence and regional revitalization.
