RIHN News
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
Number 4, July 2012

Photo: Park, Hong

Contents	  	  Page	  1	  What	  is	  New?	  
RIHN	  at	  Rio+20	  GEC-­‐Japan	  Platform	  Corner	  Page	  2	  Volume	  Special	   	  11th	  RIHN	  Regional	  Seminar	  Call	  for	  2013	  Visiting	  Fellowships	  Upcoming	  Events	  RIHN	  at	  Rio+20	  	   	   RIHN	  	   participated	   various	   events	   that	   took	  	   	   	   	  place	   around	   the	   official	   UN	   Conference	   on	  Sustainable	   Development	   during	   June	   20-­‐22,	   2012	  in	   Rio	   de	   Janeiro.	   We	   especially	   put	   special	  emphasis	  on	  our	  mission	  to	  convey	  and	  discuss	  the	  agenda	  of	  GEC-­‐Japan	  Platform	  and	  transdisciplinarity	   networks	   with	   delegates	   from	  the	   events	   of	   the	   Scientific	   and	   Technological	  Community.	   We	   participated	   the	   events	   of	   Forum	  on	   Scientific,	   Technology	   and	   Innovation	   for	   Sustainable	   Development	   and	   Fair	   Ideas:	  Sharing	   Solutions	   for	   a	   Sustainable	   Planet.	   Most	   of	   the	   discussions	   during	   these	  conferences	  underlined	  the	  need	  for	  promotion	  of	  inter-­‐sectoral,	  interdisciplinary	  as	  well	  as	   transdisciplinary	   approaches	   and	   building	   new	   visions	   to	   go	   beyond	   political,	  economic	  and	  societal	  limitations	  of	  the	  decision-­‐making	  bodies.	  And	  the	  main	  question	  was	  constantly	  repeated:	  How	  to	  sustain	  development	  with	  aware,	  fair	  and	  timely	  social,	  economic	   and	   environmental	   policies	   and	   actions?	   RIHN	   is	   committed	   to	   contribute	   to	  the	  post-­‐Rio+20	  academic	  and	  transdisciplinary	  discussions	  from	  now	  on	  too.	  

Recent	  Events	  Notice	  Board	  Recent	  Publications	  	  You	  can	  visit	  our	  homepage	  for	  further	  	  information	  on	  events	  and	  news	  (http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/index_e.html)	  You	  can	  also	  send	  us	  your	  feedback	  about	  our	  RIHN	  News	  and	  also	  share	  your	  questions,	  comments,	   	  E-­‐mail:	  rihn-­‐news[at]chikyu.ac.jp	  ([at]=@)	  Tel:	  +81-­‐75-­‐7072100	  	  	   	   	   We	   drafted	   a	   new	   poster	   of	   the	  GEC-­‐Japan	   (Global	   Environmental	   Change-­‐	  Japan)	   platform	   to	   present	   the	   link	   and	  our	   position	   with	   Japanese	   as	   well	   as	  global	  environmental	  change	  frameworks.	  
The	   chart	   also	   shows	   our	   mid-­‐term	   and	  long-­‐term	   agenda	   including	   which	  stakeholders	  and	  groups	  we	  would	  like	  to	  link	   with	   and	   share	   our	   network.	   You	   can	  follow	  the	  recent	  activities	  on	  our	  website.	   	  http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/gec-­‐jp/	  GEC-­‐Japan	  Platform	  Corner	  	   	   We	   organized	   the	   first	   GEC-­‐JP	   workshop	  on	   May	   17	   by	   focusing	   on	   Japan’s	   first	  Corner	  proposal	   for	   the	   Belmont	   Forum	   call	   for	   initiation	   of	   new	   collaborative	   research	  actions	   on	   the	   theme	   of	   “Social-­‐Ecological	  Innovation”	   with	   emphasis	   on	  	  !"#$%&

urban-­‐rural	  transition.	  We	  gathered	  senior	  and	  young	  researchers	  from	  natural	  and	  social	   sciences	   as	   well	   as	   humanities	   to	   underline	   the	   fundamental	   necessity	   for	  more	   social	   science	   and	   humanities	   approaches	   and	   implementation	   in	   global	  environmental	   and	   sustainability	   change	   research.	   This	   time,	   each	   participant	   has	  presented	   his/her	   own	   experience	   about	   interdisciplinary	   research	   on	   global	  environmental	  change	  and	  we	  are	  now	  revising	  our	  new	  CRA	  initiative	  for	  the	  next	  workshop.	   	  RIHN News
Number 4, July 2012

Recent Events- Ecology Lecture Series,
May 17, 24, 31, June 7, 14, July 5(RIHN and Kyoto Seika University,Kyoto)- 47th RIHN Public Seminar,
June 22 (RIHN, Kyoto)“Environmental degradation inSoutheast Asia and future direction ofour dining”
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/archive/event/public-seminar/47/20120622_shiminseminar_47.pdf- Special Event,
July 7 (RIHN, Kyoto)“International Symposium on Protectionof Orangutans”(with Borneo Conservation Trust)- 10th RIHN Forum,
July 8 (KICC, Kyoto)“Creation of `Connection`”
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/archive/event/forum/11/forum_20120708.pdf- International Workshop,
July 25-26 (RIHN, Kyoto)“Subsurface Warming and Geothermal
Energy”(with Sumitomo Fund, RIHN
Initiatives, and RIHN China)	   Volume	  Special:	   	  	   11th	  RIHN	  Regional	  Seminar	  	   	   	   	   	   	   	   	   	   	   	   	   	   	   	  	  th	   	   	   The	   11 	   RIHN	   Regional	   Seminar	   took	  place	   in	   Fukuoka	   with	   institutional	  collaboration	   of	   the	   Kyushu	   University	  Research	   Institute	   for	   East	   Asia	  Environments	   (RIEAE)	   on	   June	   10,	   2012.	  
Main	   theme	   of	   the	   seminar	   was	   “East	  Asian	   Environmental	   Security:	   Calling	   for	  Transboundary	   Solutions”.	   As	   the	   theme	  was	  calling	  for	  regional	  and	  transboundary	  	  cooperation	   as	   well	   as	   discussions,	   we	  thought	   that	   it	   was	   best	   to	   gather	   the	   next	   generation	   of	   East	   Asia	   and	   ask	  them	  to	  share	  and	  discuss	  their	  opinions	  and	  search	  for	  possible	  solutions.	  For	  this	   aim,	   RIHN	   and	   RIEAE	   organized	   a	   joint	   workshop	   on	   East	   Asian	  environmental	  security	  by	  inviting	  about	  25	  international	  graduate	  students	  of	  Kyushu	  University.	  Students	  were	  selected	  among	  students	  from	  China,	  South	  Korea,	  Japan	  and	  ASEAN	  countries	  to	  join	  the	  workshop	  during	  May	  19	  and	  20,	  2012	   in	   Kasuya	   Forest	   Research	   Zone	   of	   Kyushu	   University.	   Participants	   were	  invited	   to	   openly	   discuss	   emerging	   environmental	   issues	   in	   their	   own	   countries,	  in	  Japan	  and	  in	  East	  Asia	  at	  regional	  level.	  We	  also	  asked	  them	  to	  examine	  the	  meaning	   of	   “international	   cooperation”	   given	   their	   own	   backgrounds	   and	   each	  sub-­‐group	   has	   come	   up	   with	   quite	   promising	   cooperation	   models	   and	   these	  impressive	   results	   were	   presented	   during	   the	   Regional	   Seminar	   of	   June	   10.	   This	  very	   first	   graduate	   student	   workshop	   and	   interaction	   of	   RIHN	   was	   very	  successful	   that	   we	   now	   plan	   to	   release	   the	   discussions	   and	   results	   of	   the	  workshop	  and	  the	  seminar	  in	  a	  book.	  

Open	  Call	  for	  2013	  Visiting	  Research	  Fellowship	  at	  RIHN	  Upcoming Events- 2012 RIHN Open House,
The third RIHN open day will takeplace on August 3 (Friday) at RIHN
facilities. We planned interesting
events like joint experiments, public
talks, exhibitions and games in orderto deepen our interaction withpublic. In case you are around onthat day, please come and join us.
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/rihn/openhouse2012/th- 18 RIHN China Workshop
August 2 (RIHN, Kyoto)“Report on the status of health carecoverage in rural Yunnan area, China”- 7th RIHN International
Symposium,
October 24-26 (RIHN, Kyoto)- The COMMONS
14th Global Conference of theInternational Association for the
Study of the Commons,June 3-7, 2013 (Mt. Fuji, JAPAN)
Call for proposals for IASC2013 Kita
Fuji Conference is open now:
http://iasc2013.org/en/index.html	   Call	   for	   Visiting	   Research	   Fellowship	   of	   RIHN	   has	   just	   started	   for	   those	   who	   have	   an	  interest	  in	  research	  projects	  of	  RIHN	  and	  would	  like	  to	  stay	  at	  RIHN	  as	  an	  affiliate	  of	  a	  research	   project	   in	   a	   given	   period	   from	   three	   months	   to	   one	   year	   during	   fiscal	   year	   of	  2013	  (April	  1,	  2013	  –	  March	  31,	  2014).	   	  	   Deadline	  for	  application	  is	  September	  20	  (Tuesday).	  For	  those	  who	  are	  interested	  in	  this	  application,	  please	  check	  further	  details	  of	  application	  guidelines	  at	  this	  link:	  http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/rihn_e/position/visiting_research_fellow_2012.html	  Notice	  Board	  • Project	  Applications	   	  -­‐	  If	  you	  are	  interested	  in	  initiating	  a	  research	  proposal	  at	  RIHN,	  you	  can	  first	  apply	  with	  your	  proposal	  to	  be	  evaluated	  for	  Incubation	  Study.	  
Deadline	  for	  this	  application	  is	  usually	  end	  of	  March	  or	  beginning	  of	  April.	  For	  further	  details	  on	  research	  project	  application	  procedures	  and	  exact	  deadlines,	  please	  contact	  our	  office.	  
Contact:	  RIHN	  Research	  Cooperation	  Section,	  kenkyou[at]chikyu.ac.jp	  ([at]=@)	  • Job	  Openings	  -­‐	  Please	  check	  our	  homepage	  for	  the	  recent	  and	  updated	  job	  openings.	  
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/index_e.html	  	  	   	  Recent Publications- (New)
RIHN Prospectus 2012-2013
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/archive/brochure/2012/index_e.html- RIHN News (back numbers)
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/archive/RIHN_News/index_e.html- RIHN Leaflet 2012
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/archive/documents/leaflet/index_e.html- RIHN Annual Report 2010
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/archive/annual_report/index_e.html- RIHN Book Series:
The Dilemma of Boundaries(Eds. Taniguchi and Shiraiwa,Springer, 2012)
http://www.springer.com/environment/book/978-4-431-54034-2