CLAWAR 2021, the 24th meeting of the International Conference Series on Climbing and Walking Robots and the Support Technologies for Mobile Machines, was hosted online by Kwansei Gakuin from August 30 to September 1, 2021. Professor Daisuke Chugo, of the School of Engineering, served as general co-chair of the organizing committee.

CLAWAR is an international conference about rough terrain running robots and legged robots, with a history spanning over two decades. The purpose of the conference is to promote the international exchange of research and information among researchers who are widely involved in robotics-related research, and above all, to serve as a forum for high-level discussions. The conference, now in its 24th year, has placed the utmost importance on discussions and technological advances related to robotics in the real world, the environment that people use in their daily lives. The theme of this conference was "Robotics for a Sustainable Future." CLAWAR invited presentations on practical advanced robotics research, aiming to tackle many challenges that human society faces, such as social unrest caused by COVID-19, global warming, and an aging society, with real robots. There were 50 presentations from over 15 countries, which led to lively discussions. The keynote speaker was Prof. Asama of the University of Tokyo, a leading expert on the issue of "decommissioning robots," an ultimate real robot technology challenge which has no precedent.