Building academic coalitions onclimate and sustainability in Japan
Matthew Hengesbaugh, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies;
Hooman Farzaneh, Kyushu University;
Eric Zusman, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies

BackgroundLessons Learned

With growing recognition of the signs of a global climate
emergency, a unique window of opportunity has opened toraise ambitions to mitigate and build resilience to climatechange while addressing other sustainability challenges
across the Asia-Pacific region, especially in Japan. A
potentially particularly important agent of change is youngpeople. The emergence of student-led global movement
for climate justice seen in many parts of the world isalready beginning to push decision-makers to do more toprotect the climate and achieve a sustainable future.
There is nonetheless more that can be done to equip
students with knowledge and skills needed fortransformative changes.

Although this was run initially as a pilot course, some general
lessons can be distilled for the design and implementation ofsimilar initiatives in the future. First, there appears to be astrong demand for academic programs addressing climate
and sustainable development from students of variousbackgrounds and disciplines. Secondly, universities are well
positioned to become important contributors to global dialogue
on topics related to evidence based policymaking andgovernance research in context of the SDGs. Lastly, higher
academic institutions can play a catalysing role in building
cooperation towards these ends.
Universities are strategically placed to lead discussions on SDGs
Universities

Objectives
Against this background, a new multidisciplinary course,
entitled "Sustainable Development and Climate Change
Mitigation" was launched during the 2022 Spring term atKyushu University, Japan and was renewed again in
2023. The course aims to enhance student capacities for
civic engagement on climate issues and theirinterrelationships with other areas of sustainable
development. One longer-term aim of the course is tobuild bridges between academe and civil society, helping
to inform the design of a core curriculum on similar topics
for students across the Asia Pacific region.

Results
A cross-section of undergraduate and postgraduate
students from a diverse range of fields participated in an
omnibus program focused on key themes related toclimate and sustainability. Over the course of 8 weeks,
approximately 20 students were introduced to different
perspectives, approaches and solutions to global
environmental challenges guided by the 2030
Development Agenda and the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs).
Course content included a combination of lectures andhands- on exercises focused on different policy options
and initiatives designed to address climate change andsustainable development, structured around 3 main
pillars:
1.
Overview of climate change science and sustainabledevelopment
2.
International climate policy: targets, strategies, andimplementation
3.
Climate Change and the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable
Development
The course was well received both by students andfaculty and has been officially added to the school
syllabus to be conducted every April semester.

• Possibilities to market
university activities• Strengthened role insocioeconomic
development andinnovation• Educational services, bygovernment orcommunity officials, touniversities in the form ofsites for field experienceor adjunct faculty inacademic programs• Opportunities to work ontranslational research• Access to data andspecialized facilities• Access to legislations
and policies indevelopment, andabilities to inform theirdevelopment andimplementation• Placement opportunities
for faculty members ingovernment offices• Opportunities for new
funding streams

Governments andCommunities• Access to analyticalskills, research services,
topical area expertise andcapacity building
initiatives• Evidence-informed
policymaking andpractice and improved
service delivery• Placement opportunities
for government orcommunity officials in theform of adjunct faculty inacademic programs orpolicy fellowship
programs• New perspectives andfresh insights into policy
areas and priorities, andhow evidence and datacan support them
• Space to think in an
intellectually challenging
environment, enabling
creative, unconventional
problem-solving forpolicy issues not
indoctrinated in usual
government practices

Students• Opportunities to work ontranslational research• Career opportunities• Hands-on education• Networking withgovernment and otherresearchers engaged inpolicyAdapted from: El-Jardali, F., Ataya, N., & Fadlallah, R. (2018). Changing roles of universities in the era of SDGs: rising up to
the global challenge through institutionalising partnerships with governments and communities. Health research policy andsystems, 16, 1-5.

Future Work
Contributing partners are now working to replicate the coursewith the involvement of additional academic institutions
across the Asia-Pacific, and welcome further collaborationand knowledge sharing on efforts to develop a corecurriculum on similar topics at the regional and internationallevels.
Interested parties affiliated with academic institutions in theAsian region are invited to contact hengesbaugh@iges.or.jp
for more information.

Bibliography
El-Jardali, F., Ataya, N., & Fadlallah, R. (2018). Changing
roles of universities in the era of SDGs: rising up to the global
challenge through institutionalising partnerships withgovernments and communities. Health research policy andsystems, 16(1), 38. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-018-03189