Message from the Director-General
The Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN)

in fiscal year 2015 we reformed the ways in which wewas established in April 2001 to conduct integrated

conduct and promote research projects in order to enhanceresearch in the field of global environmental studies. In

coordination and integration of the projects for achieving

2004, RIHN became one of the original members of thethe goals of the RIHN mission. As part of this reform, inNational Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU), an Inter-April of 2016 (beginning of fiscal year 2016), we launched

University Research Institute Corporation.

a new research initiative to achieve “TransformationTowards Sustainable Futures in Complex Human-Nature

Environmental degradation can be understood as an

Systems in Asia.” For this purpose, we started a set ofimbalance in interactions between human beings andResearch Programs, a Core Program, and the RIHN Center.

natural systems. Our mission is, therefore, to conduct

With a new structure in place, we are now pursuing oursolution-oriented research aimed at exploring how these

initiative through enhanced collaboration within ourinteractions between humanity and nature ought to be.

institute, across the diverse research community, and withTo achieve this mission, RIHN has been conducting

society in general.

interdisciplinary research spanning the natural sciences,humanities, and social sciences, and in recent years, has

To enhance international activities of RIHN, we are also

developed towards transdisciplinary research that involves

collaborating with the international research platform

collaboration with various stakeholders in society.

Future Earth, which aims to integrate global environmental
change research for achieving global sustainability.

Since its establishment, RIHN researchers have formulated
creative projects to address social needs in diverse fields

In fiscal year 2018 we are fully implementing these newof environmental interaction. Following an external

research initiatives.

review of research activities and organizational structures,

YASUNARI Tetsuzo
Director-General
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature2

3

Above: WADE Shin-ichi, Short summer,
Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Bottom: OSHIUMI Keiichi, Old market, Siem
Reap, Cambodia

RIHN Philosophy and Approach
For several decades, researchers have attempted tothe role of science in society, improve dialogue between

find solutions to the environmental problems that nowdifferent traditions of knowledge, and stimulate new multi-confront human communities at all scales, but despite

actor local, national and international collaborations. Thisextensive research in individual disciplines, many

approach needs to draw on multiple, diverse perspectives

environmental problems have remained unresolved.

from a range of disciplines including the natural and social

There is therefore a need to go beyond partial

sciences, arts and humanities, and engineering and design.

descriptions of discrete environmental problems towards
holistic understandings of the underlying causes ofScience cannot be uniformly applied to the world but

these problems and for integrated approaches to theirshould instead enable solutions to social-environmentalsolutions.

problems that are informed by lived social practices andcommunal values. RIHN research is developed globally,

The Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

but with Asia as a core focus area. Not only is Asia’s impact

is a national research institute established by theon global development increasingly conspicuous, but at theGovernment of Japan in 2001 and it is part of thesame time it is also home to many examples of long-term

National Institutes for the Humanities. RIHN research

cultural-ecological continuity that need to be understood instarts from the premise that environmental problems areterms of their own significance to regional dynamics. RIHN

rooted in human society, culture, and values. The goal

research crucially depends on long-established networks inof RIHN is to seek concepts, theories and mechanisms

Asia and contributes to transdisciplinary initiatives in thecapable of describing and enabling transformation ofregion, among others by hosting the Regional Centre forhuman-environment interactions. This implies thatFuture Earth in Asia.

RIHN research involves a normative dimension, driven
by questions such as what the relationship between

RIHN research is guided by the following three objectives:

humanity and nature ought to be like. To this end,

・Conduct research that analyzes the interaction between

RIHN solicits, funds, and hosts integrative researchhumanity and nature and critically examines theprojects investigating environmental change problems

sustainability of human societies, based on past RIHN

in specific settings. Research projects are undertaken byresearch and international literature and experiencesinterdisciplinary teams at RIHN, partner institutions, and・Apply research results to solve real-world sustainability

societal stakeholders in Japan and abroad.

problems
・Promote solution-oriented research on environmental

We at RIHN believe that research ought to contributechallenges that is co-designed and co-produced in close

to the search for solutions to real-world problems and,collaboration with societal stakeholders

therefore, we promote a co-design and co-production

While other regions are not excluded, the primary

approach where researchers and societal actors join

geographical focus of RIHN research is on Asia. Morehands in exploring problems and developing new

broadly, RIHN strives to deploy an Asian perspective in its

framings and possible solutions. RIHN research isresearch on global environmental change

increasingly transdisciplinary in that it seeks to redefine5