July 2009

Nagoya University Global COE Program“From Earth System Science to Basic andClinical Environmental Studies”(FY2009-2013)

Organizations and related programs
Graduate School of Environmental Studies (GSES)
http://www.env.nagoya-u.ac.jp/en/index.html
Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences (GSBS)
http://www.agr.nagoya-u.ac.jp/index-e.html
Hydrospheric Atmospheric Research Center (HyARC)
http://www.hyarc.nagoya-u.ac.jp/English/site_english.html
Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory (STEL)
http://www.stelab.nagoya-u.ac.jp/ste-www1/index.html
Graduate School of Engineering (GSE)
http://www.engg.nagoya-u.ac.jp/en/index.html
Study Consortium for Earth-Life Interactive System (SELIS)
http://www.selis.hyarc.nagoya-u.ac.jp/en/
Global Environmental Leaders Program (NUGELP)
http://www.envleaders.env.nagoya-u.ac.jp/
Academic Consortium 21 (AC21)
http://www.ac21.org/
Nagoya University
http://www.nagoya-u.ac.jp/en/

The website of this program will be uploaded soon.

For further information, please contact
Prof. Hiroshi Kanzawa: kanzawa@nagoya-u.jp

Members
Leader: Prof. Tetsuzo Yasunari3,1 (Meteorology & climatology)
Group 1: Diagnosis of Earth-Life Interactive System (ELIS)
Prof. Hiroshi Kanzawa1 (Meteorology & climate dynamics)
Prof. Yasufumi Iryu1 (Carbonate sedimentology)
Assoc. Prof. Simon Wallis1 (Geology)
Prof. Sei-ichiro Watanabe1 (Planetary science)Prof. Takeshi Ohta2 (Forest meteorology and hydrology)
Prof. Yutaka Matsumi4 (Atmospheric chemistry)
Group 2: Diagnosis of ELIS and Human SocietyProf. Takeshi Nakatsuka1 (Environmental dynamic analysis)
Prof. Chisato Takenaka2 (Forest environmental chemistry)
Prof. Yasushi Yamaguchi1 (Earth environmental science)
Assoc. Prof. Koji Fujita1 (Glaciology)
Prof. Joji Ishizaka3,1 (Biological oceanography)
Group 3: Treatment of ELIS and Human SocietyProf. Yoshitsugu Hayashi1 (Sustainable city planning)
Prof. Hiroyuki Shimizu1 (Architecture & city planning)
Prof. Norimi Mizutani5 (Coastal engineering)
Prof. Kohei Okamoto1 (Behavioral geography)
Prof. Kazuhiko Fukushima2 (Biomass science)Group 4: Treatment of Human SocietyProf. Hidefumi Imura1 (Environmental system engineering)
Prof. Tsuneo Takeuchi1 (Urban environmental policy)
Assoc. Prof. Masao Takano1 (Environmental studies)
Assoc. Prof. Hirokazu Kato1 (Urban transportation planning)
Assoc. Prof. Ippei Maruyama1 (Civil engineering materials)
Assoc. Prof. Makiko Nakano1 (Environmental economics)
1 Graduate School of Environmental Studies
2 Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences
3 Hydrospheric Atmospheric Research Center
4 Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory
5 Graduate School of Engineering-2-Outline【Rationale for establishing COE】

Current Status of Environmental Science
Global environmental problems are caused by changes in the way human activity interacts with nature.
Tackling these complex multifaceted interactions presents new challenges to conventional researchrequiring coordination of different knowledge-bases and approaches. The changes in the Earth-Lifeinteractive system brought about by human activity can be compared to pathological changes in thehuman body. In the same way, one of the essential roles of environmental studies can becompared to the role of medical science in confronting disease. However, environmental studies
have conventionally been conducted with fields such as earth sciences, ecology and geography
concerned with understanding how the Earth-Life system interacts with human society—the
diagnostic-aspect—and fields such as engineering, agricultural science and the social sciences
concerned with technological or regulatory solutions for environmental problems—thetreatment-aspect—in nearly complete isolation from each other. As a result, there has been a lack ofsystematic progress towards an environmental analogue to clinical medicine, in which there issynthesis of the two branches of diagnosis and treatment to provide care at the point where theproblem occurs.
The Proposed ProgramThis COE program aims to develop new practical approaches that incorporate both diagnosis of“sicknesses” that threaten the sustainability of human relations with nature and appropriate treatments
including anticipation and avoidance of harmful side effects. To achieve this goal requires a new look atconventional approaches to environmental studies. We propose to develop a field of “ClinicalEnvironmental Studies” to provide diagnosis and treatment of problems as and where they occur. At
the same time, we will remold existing programs in Basic Environmental Studies to complement our
proposed Clinical Studies and foster understanding of global-scale universal issues. This is essential forthe future development of the new Clinical Studies. Our Basic Studies will focus on two broad themes:a general assessment of first-order environmental problems that undermine the sustainability of-3-human society and identifying and evaluating strengths and weaknesses of technological and regulatory
approaches to their remedy. Clinical and Basic Environmental Studies thus represent the two“driving wheels” for our new proposed vehicle to tackle a wide range of fundamental environment
issues; this vehicle will provide the framework for a synthesis of previously independent areas ofenvironmental studies.
Relationship with our Past Achievements
The Graduate School of Environmental Studies has a proven track record of successfully setting up
and managing multidisciplinary programs. The proposed new program in Clinical Environmental
Studies will be closely linked to the established self-funded Sustainability Project, the Nagoya
University Global Environmental Leaders Program, and its Initiative for Attractive Educationin Graduate Schools—both funded by competitive grants from the central government. The successof these existing programs has shown the importance of using On-site Research Training (ORT) todevelop effective ways of collaborating with local populations, government administrations andNPOs. This experience and understanding of how to interleave education, research and collaboration
to identify local problems, frame their solutions, and predict the solution impacts will be invaluable
to the success of our new more ambitious Clinical Environmental Studies program. The aim will be totrain personnel able to assume responsibilities not only in academia but also in local administration,international organizations and regional businesses.
The goal of the Basic Environmental Studies program will be to nurture a broad understandingof the Earth-Life system. This will expand on the highly successful 21st Century COE program“Dynamics of the Sun-Earth-Life Interactive System” (SELIS COE) hosted by earth scientists of
the Graduate School of Environmental Studies (FY2003-2007) and which earned a „superlative‟
end-of-project evaluation. In addition to earth sciences, the program in Basic Environmental Studies
will incorporate knowledge from the fields of engineering, agriculture and the social sciences withthe aim of promoting a systematic understanding of interrelations between human activity and thenatural world. Graduates of this program will be trained as researchers of the future capable of acting
as project leaders to tackle environmental problems.
【Outline of plan for establishing COE】
1) An Integrated Environmental Studies Course will be established by the two Graduate Schools ofEnvironmental Studies and Bioagricultural Sciences. This course will consist of a training program in
Clinical Environmental Studies as well as classes and research instruction in Basic Environmental
Studies; participation in both will be compulsory. The aim is to provide a systematic education thattrains students both in practical skills needed to operate in a particular area of environmental studies
and the ability to think globally.
2) A Training Program in Clinical Environment Studies will be structured with teams of research
students led by faculty members from diverse fields. These teams will conduct On-site ResearchTraining (ORT) in various geographical regions to evaluate environmental threats to thesustainability of the local natural and social systems. To seek truly effective measures and assess
possible negative impacts of their implementation, we will include collaboration with the local-4-population and government. Students will be encouraged to select research topics of close
personal interest that are also intimately connected with a particular region. Through discussions withteam leaders and students from other disciplines, the team members will experience theimportance of cross-disciplinary knowledge and gain a wider perspective on the significance of
their own individual research.
3) Classes and Research Instruction in Basic Environmental Studies will also be based aroundteams of students and faculty members from different disciplines. These teams will review andanalyze universal topics of global significance (e.g. global warming or water resources). The
results of this work will be made public on the COE website in the form of jointly composed andedited reports. These reports will form the basis of a new Japanese-English bilingual textbook.
4) Interdisciplinary Research with potential to expand the base of Basic and Clinical Environmental
Studies will be actively promoted through competitively awarded research funds. A large part ofthese funds will be earmarked for proposals from young researchers including students,
postdoctoral researchers, and junior research staff.
5) Construction and Consolidation of an International Collaboration Platform will be acornerstone of our program. Firstly, we plan to develop the Nagoya University Center for
Global Environmental Leaders, created in 2008. With this development we aim to consolidate
existing networks with universities and research organizations; to promote the international
development of ORTs; to bring structure to the present ad hoc region-based approaches to issues
such as climate change or urban planning and global warming; and to assist in international
dissemination of research results. Secondly, the Study Consortium for Earth-Life Interactive
System (SELIS)—established in 2008 as an outcome of the SELIS COE program—will become
the centre for coordinating the new COE research activities including collaboration with otherinternational research programs and the invitation of leading overseas academics.
6) Career Path Support is an important part of our vision for the COE. We will promote a wide rangeof career paths leading not only to jobs in academia but also in NPO‟s, local government etc. The
opportunities for networking presented by the ORT program will be the key in this endeavor.
Support will also be given to graduates who wish to set up independent consulting firms.

Objectives, significance and prospective impacts
Environmental studies can be divided into diagnostic-type sciences that study mechanisms of the
Earth-Life system and their relations with human society—broadly covered by traditional fields of earthsciences, ecology, and geography, etc. —and treatment-type sciences that consider technological or
regulatory measures to tackle environment problems—covered by traditional fields of engineering,
agricultural science, the social sciences, etc. Until now, there has been little systematic effort tosynthesize these two approaches. We intend to meet this need by establishing a field of ClinicalEnvironmental Studies. This new field will incorporate the outcome of diagnosis of environmental-5-

problems into the treatments of individual cases. An important aspect of this synthesis will be to ensurethat new problems arising from the treatments are reflected back into higher-level diagnosis. To
maintain a set of core-competencies to support this new field, there is also need to develop acomplementary systematic approach to Basic Environmental Studies, which will allow the diagnosis
of individual cases to be placed in the context of more global issues and universal concepts.
Multidisciplinary collaboration and integration lie at the heart of our proposed COE program. We
propose not only a new synthesis but also a restructuring of research and education in subjects thatare at present the remit of natural sciences, the humanities, engineering, agriculture, and economics.
This program, therefore, meets the three criteria of “interdisciplinary,” “combined fields” and “newdisciplines.”【Concept of how COE program will be formed】
There can be few who doubt the central importance of environmental issues to the wellbeing and future
prosperity of human society. Examples of such problems are global warming, expanding demands for
fresh water and problems related to biodiversity, urbanization and population concentration—these are allareas where Nagoya University has already made significant contributions in both education andresearch. Tackling these problems requires „diagnosis‟—careful analysis of causes—and„treatment‟—identification of solutions and action on these solutions. Until now, the effectiveness ofscientific responses to environmental problems has been limited by the lack of integration of these
diagnostic and treatment aspects. For example, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has
set up three working groups to study the problem of Global Warming. Important steps have been taken to
marshal a global response, but these remain limited due to limited joint action and collaboration
between the groups. For most other first-rank environmental problems, progress is even more
restricted. We believe our proposed field of Clinical Environmental Studies will provide aframework to overcome such limitations. At the same time, we recognize a need to develop acomplementary program in Basic Environmental Studies. This program should be concerned with
universal issues that transcend regional differences. The foundations for this program have already beenlaid in the 21st Century COE „SELIS‟.
【COE as an International Hub】
The COE research activities related to Basic Environmental Studies will be intermeshed with the existing
Study Consortium for Earth-Life Interactive System (SELIS) organization, which is an active forum
for promoting collaboration with international research programs such as ESSP (Earth System Science
Partnership) including Asian regional research project “Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Studies”(MAIRS). Many of the study areas that have been selected for Clinical Environmental Studies lie
in Asia and basing the COE in Nagoya University will allow us to take full advantage of a range ofwell-established academic networks to promote the On-site Research Training (ORT). In education,
we aim to create a doctoral program that has a clear developmental link with the Master‟s course
curriculum; the Global Environmental Leaders Program of Nagoya University is a successful
blueprint for this type of graduate education. After completing the doctoral program, our goal is thatall students should have a good understanding of both basic research and practical applications. They
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should also have competence not only in basic and clinical approaches but also in diagnosis andtreatment. With these tools, graduates of our program should be equipped to assess the stability ofhuman interactions with the Earth-Life system on a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. They
should also have the knowledge to respond to and alleviate or solve environmental problems.
It will be important for our COE to attract students from Asian and other nations where aworsening of problems related to the environment is foreseen, and to train them as future leaders
responsible for their countries‟ environmental research and policy making. Nagoya University hosts
Academic Consortium 21 (AC21), the only Japanese led international academic consortium, which
includes links with research institutes important to this proposal in Laos, Indonesia, Thailand andChina. In addition, the international science profile of Nagoya University has been raised recently by
the awarding of Nobel Prizes in 2008 to three graduates of our University. This will assist greatly inattracting foreign students of the highest caliber.
【Necessity of establishing the COE program】
Since its establishment in 2001, a central role of the Graduate School of Environmental Studies
has been to foster interdisciplinary collaboration among its faculty members who are drawn from awide range of diverse specialties. Our proposed COE takes this collaboration a major step further by
including the Biosphere Resources Department of the Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences.
This expansion allows us to benefit from the input of many additional researchers with expertise in
the fields of ecology and agriculture. These fields are indispensable for our proposed development ofenvironmental studies, and their inclusion will be key in forming a vibrant and productive hub ofeducation and research. Throughout the world there are numerous organizations actively engaged inenvironmental studies, but none that incorporates a broad enough range of expertise to conduct
education in both diagnosis and treatment and nowhere that offers integration of Basic andClinical Environmental Studies. There is a clear but as yet unfulfilled need for this integrated
approach. We believe, therefore, that our proposed COE is of the highest global significance.
Hosting this COE at the Graduate School of Environmental Studies of Nagoya University is key
to its success, because we can take full advantage of an already existent environmental studies
research network, which is Asia-centered but global in scope.
【Importance and development potential of COE】
One of the most compelling reasons for establishing this COE at Nagoya University is that the
researchers with the skills needed to make this proposal a success are already at hand and, despite
their diverse backgrounds in science, engineering and humanities, nearly all are already engaged ininterdisciplinary work under the umbrella of a single faculty, that is, Nagoya University Graduate
School of Environmental Studies (NUGSES). Two concrete examples of interdisciplinary projects
hosted by NUGSES are “Sustainability”, and “Safety and Security”. The broad-based
interdisciplinary nature of NUGSES and its established programs are, we believe, unique in theworld and make NUGSES ideally suited to hosting the proposed COE. NUGSES already provides an
outstanding platform for cooperation between science-based Earth and Environmental Studies,engineering-based Environmental Engineering and Architecture, and humanities-based Social and-7-

Human Environment. In this COE we propose to expand this range of fields to encompass the
agriculture-based Biosphere Resources Department of the Graduate School of Bioagricultural
Sciences. This expansion is vital to achieve our goal of forging a new path for education and researchleading to a new combined field of Basic and Clinical Environmental Studies. A vital role of our
COE is to act as a counterbalance to the tendency in existing environmental studies programs,
throughout the world, to emphasize either the diagnostic or the treatment approach but not theirinteractions. The foundations for success in our endeavor have already been laid by the achievementsof the 21st Century COE program “Dynamics of the Sun-Earth-Life Interactive System” (SELIS
COE) and the Initiative for Low Carbon Cities, both based at NUGSES.

Research activities
The process of tackling environmental problems has strong analogies with the ways in which
medical science tackles disease. However, development of environmental studies lags behind thefield of medicine. In this COE program we aim to develop a new field of Clinical Environmental
Studies; this is needed to integrate the traditionally separate diagnostic and treatment aspects ofenvironmental studies. The second related objective is to recast the field of Basic Environmental
Studies as a complementary partner to the Clinical Studies. This is needed to ensure members have agood understanding of a common set of universal scientific and environmental concepts not limited toa particular geographic region.
We believe that appropriate diagnosis and treatment of environmental problems is mosteffectively achieved through area-specific On-site Research Training (ORT). We have selected three
key regions for detailed study. These regions are in different stages of economic and social
development and each faces its own set of linked environmental problems. The originality of thisprogram is not only in the research themes, but also in the approach that we take to tackle them.
Below, examples are given of research plans that are suitable for carrying out in these regions.
1) Ise Bay Basin Zone: The declining ability of the rapidly aging society in rural parts of this region to
manage the surrounding environment has resulted in the demise of farming villages and deterioration of
biodiversity in forested mountainous areas. These changes strongly influence the living environment in
the lower-lying cities and natural conditions of the Ise Bay area. To understand how these problems canbe alleviated, students and researchers will collaborate with local administrators and NPOs to study how
to forge new relations between cities and villages, the creation of a theory to coordinate design ofmanmade structures with the burden of environmental maintenance and policy measures, and measures
to minimize waste of natural energy sources including woody biomass.

-8-2) Northeast and East Asia: Extremely rapid urbanization in China has led to a severe shortage of water
resources and an increase in air and water pollution. As a result, China has initiated the North-South
Water Transfer Project. To understand the full environmental implications of this gargantuan
construction project requires interweaving
the diagnosis and treatment aspects. As afirst step, we have established annual
research forums with Shanghai Jiao Tong
University. Another aspect of theurbanization is rapidly increasing energy
use. The resulting problems are being
researched in collaboration with Tsinghua
and Tongji Universities.
3) Southeast and South Asia: Recent
development in Laos has led to a situation inwhich a market economy coexists with aself-sufficient subsistence one. The
implications of these recent changes are as
yet unclear. The focus of research in thisregion will be farming villages on the
periphery of the capital Vientiane with the objective of investigating the effects of the ongoing clearanceof forests and introduction of modern agriculture on the social system in the region. Topics for study areloss of traditional ways of life and changes in forest biodiversity, water and particulate matter cycles.
Collaborative research has already been initiated with the National University of Laos and the National
Research Institute for Agriculture and Forestry. An important and related research theme is regional
climate change associated with collapse of glacier lakes in the Himalayan region.

【Method of realizing the international COE program】
On-site Research Training (ORT) lies at the core of our plans for developing Clinical Environmental
Studies. Three study regions have been selected with significant environmental problems that match the goalsof our COE and the expertise of our research teams: the Ise Bay Basin Zone, Northeast and East Asia, andSoutheast and South Asia. Details of research plans for each region will be decided by competitive selectionof proposals. Our extensive use of ORT will include numerous opportunities for international travel. And
collaboration with foreign counterparts including academic institutions, local government and NPOs will
provide ample opportunities for networking and gaining understanding of local experiences.
The ORT programs will also enrich Basic Environmental Studies, where importance will beplaced not only on knowledge of conventional disciplines, but also on innovative field-developing
research concerned with the systems of mutual interaction between human beings and nature and theirsustainability. To clarify the key processes and phenomena with potential to shed new light on unresolved
environmental problems, we also plan research that includes broader cross-disciplinary research. Examples of
the research include the impact of change in aerosols on change in Asian monsoon climate through the-9-interaction between the atmosphere and land use. In addition, SELIS will act as an intermediary to promoteinternational collaboration with international environmental research programs or with institutions with which
Nagoya University already has academic agreements.
To tackle global environmental problems requires a global perspective. Internationalization is key.
We use this expression to signify having an international aspect to all our activities. We have begun theprocess through use of the NUGSES guest professor scheme to invite eminent researchers in environmental
studies from around the world. We also consider it important to attract talented young researchers. Nagoya
University is very well provided with a wide range of different types of accommodation for foreign guests.
We also plan to take full advantage of existing multilateral and bilateral exchange agreements with otheracademic institutions. One example is AC21 whose members include many institutions in the regions selected
for ORT. Shanghai Jiao Tong University will be an important partner in our COE both for the high level ofrelated research and its location. NUGSES has strong bilateral links with this institution including an annual
joint research forum.
【Participation system for researchers】
Through our proposed ORT program, members will have more opportunity for free and fullcooperation than in conventional joint education programs and these will have a central role to playin ensuring effective collaboration. In the three field regions listed above, the following faculty members
already have numerous research achievements: Region 1) M. Takano, K. Fukushima; Region 2) H. Imura, Y.
Hayashi; Region 3) C. Takenaka, K. Okamoto, K. Fujita. These researchers will take responsibility to ensure
integration of other staff responsible for promoting the program, while at the same time participating as
specialists in the work of the various research teams and assisting with the work of setting up new fields. To
provide coordination for the education and research in the regions for Clinical Environmental Studies and toensure their smooth running, special teaching staff will be employed from the research or administrative
institution, NPO, or other local bodies partnering the program.
For training in Basic Environmental Studies, the central roles will be played by S. Watanabe andY. Yamaguchi. These workers will have the task of overseeing the interdisciplinary research centered on the
Basic Environmental Studies classes and research instruction. They will work in cooperation with the staff
responsible for leading the program activities in the various specialty areas.
The top page of this document shows how the COE team will be divided into the four divisions:
1) Diagnosis of Earth-Life Interactive System —ELIS, 2) Diagnosis of ELIS and Human Society, 3)Treatment of ELIS and Human Society, 4) Treatment of Human Society. As is clear from their titles,
divisions 2 and 3 have a central role to play in helping to mesh the two aspects of diagnosis and treatment
linking ELIS with Human Society.

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