●Messages from Departments and Centers of NILIM

Research on Response to Diverse
Environmental Needs
YAMAMOTO Satoru
Director of the Environment Department(Keyword) environment, global environment, biodiversity
1. Introduction
A review of the history of environmental researchby the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport andTourism shows that the Environment Division wasestablished in the former Public Works ResearchInstitute of the former Ministry of Construction in1993, about 20 years ago. Soon thereafter, theFundamental Environmental Principles were enactedin 1994, clearly stipulating that creating a high-quality
environment is a core mission of construction
administration, in other words, that it is an internalized
goal. Since then, improvements and policies have been
implemented to create national land with ahigh-quality environment as specified by this policy.
However, the purposes of providing public
infrastructure are changing as investment capacity
declines and the emphasis shifts from provision tomanagement. Through this process, the environmenthas become increasingly important in providing higher
quality social infrastructure.
As Japan’s social and economic conditions change,people’s lives have changed accordingly. Lifestyles
have been transformed through information
communication and rapid progress of contents, andpeople’s views of the environment have diversified as
their values have become more diverse. Under suchcircumstances, the future direction of public
infrastructure and the environment is debated. The
challenges related to these discussions are described
below.
2. Target directions of environmental research
Various factors related to the provision of public
infrastructure have created challenges to achieving thegoals needed to form environments. Typical examples
are outlined below.
[1] Response to the changing environment andevaluation criteria
Between 1965 and 1975, the target ofenvironmental concepts was improving the familiar
issues of health or the living environment such as theatmosphere, noise, and water contamination, centeredon pollution policies. Later, emphasis shifted to
improving the formation of natural environments, etc.
in and around cities. Today, the priority is on
resolving global-scale environmental challenges,including climate change. The range of environmental
concerns is not only expanding, but also encompassing

smaller scale issues such as environmental hormones,
viruses, etc., and so the environmental scope to beconsidered has increased dramatically. It is necessary
to follow the expanding range and complexity ofenvironmental issues, by considering problems withcomplex systems, such as the challenge of preserving
biodiversity.
[2] Establishment of methods of evaluating theenvironment
The foundation of environmental research isevaluation, such as quantifying the state of theenvironment to be conserved. Just as digital methods
for measuring water quality, atmosphere, noise, etc.
have been established, some related causal factors
cannot be objectively evaluated, because the analysis
of factors related to biodiversity has not been
completed.
Regardingtheeffectivenessof
implementing environmental projects, it is necessary
to quantitatively evaluate their cost-benefits andeffects on improving the environment. It is also
necessary to quantify the state of the environment inmonetary terms.
[3] Accurate calculation of impact and response
A big step in environmental research is objectively
predicting the load on the environment of actions suchas providing public infrastructure (impact) and theeffects of the response (response). Accurately
evaluating this impact and response is the next step. It
is necessary to predict environmental problems before
they occur in order to respond appropriately. This is an
important challenge to forming national land which issustainable and in harmony with nature.
[4] Publishing accurate information concerning theenvironment
Because environmental problems change as newproblems emerge, it is difficult for scientific reasoning
and quantitative analysis to keep pace with thesechanges. As a result, various discussions tend to leadto rumors and hearsay based on inference.
Quantitative judgments concerning a matter which isqualitatively correct may appear to be incorrect. To
make appropriate judgments and take countermeasures,
people need a correct understanding of the principles.
3. Future research
In environmental research, we wish to aim at thefollowing three points.
[1] Resolving diverse environmental problems

●Messages from Departments and Centers of NILIM
We set research themes in order to resolve andpredict environmental problems which are related tothe provision of public infrastructure. In addition tocontinuing
existing
long-term
researchonenvironmental problems such as the atmosphere, waterquality, noise, vibration, etc., we are tackling two
research themes: those intended to improve the living
environment, and those concerning the global
challenges of global warming, sustainability, andbiodiversity, as well as familiar challenges summed up
as, “beautiful, abundant, and lively daily life”. The“DevelopmentofEnvironmentalEvaluation
Technology for the Life Cycle of Public
Infrastructure”, which aims to lower carbon dioxide
emissions during the provision of public infrastructure,
is an important research theme for the global
environment and sustainability. We therefore intend to
conduct new technology development permitting more
people to participate in this field.
[2] Publishing correct environment related information
Various troubles often arise because of a lack ofenvironment-related information. For this reason, it isimportant to survey the environment, which is ourparticular concern, using public funds in public areas,
and to distribute and correctly control information to
gain understanding. The primary requirement is tocollect information by appropriate methods, comment
appropriately on this information, and release it to thepublic.
Regarding river environments in particular, a
database has begun to be built, and it has been
designed so that data concerning river environments iscollected and can be browsed and used to analyze
impacts and responses, etc. These efforts will ensure
the release of accurate environmental information.
[3] Ensuring interdisciplinary collection ofintelligence from various fields
In order to conduct research on the environment, wemust establish a research system allowing aninterdisciplinary approach by including not only civilengineering, but also the natural sciences and social
sciences as necessary, because such research involvesresolving problems in complex systems.
Resolving research problems with researchers inother academic fields also causes difficulties due todifferences in histories and values. Nevertheless, it isnecessary to do so by connecting independentadministrative agencies, the private sector, universities
and research institutes inside and outside Japan andcoordinating them in various ways.
4. Conclusions
Concern with safety and security increased
dramatically following last year’s Great East Japan
Earthquake, but concern about the environment seems
to have weakened. Even among environment related
measures, climate change was a dominant issue before
the earthquake, but as a result of the Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, public concern

about pollution by radioactive substances and energy
conservation has rapidly increased.
Accordingly, in order to practice national land
management based on the natural and social
characteristics of Japan, it remains important toharmonize the provision and management of public
infrastructure with the environment. In order to create
splendid national land and urban environments which
are in harmony with nature for future generations, wewish to perform research and development concerning
conservation, reuse, and creation.