Contents
Message from the Director-General

2

RIHN Philosophy and Approach4

Organizational Structure

5-7

Project Index

8-9

Research Programs and Projects

10-29Core Program and Projects

30-32

Completed Research

34-37

Current Feasibility Studies

38-41

Coordination

42

RIHN Invited Scholar Program & RIHN Visiting
Research Fellow Program

43

Science Communication

44-45

Environmental Isotope Study / Future Earth46

Environmental Education / RIHN Open House

47

Ecohealth / Interactive Communication Initiative48

Collaboration

49

Institutional Research Unit/Public Relations Unit/
International Publications Unit

50

Facilities

52-53

Administrative Structure

54-56

A Brief History of RIHN

57

National Institutes for the Humanities
Access

58-59
60

1

Message from the Director-GeneralIn the past 40 years or so, as a climate scientist, I haveTo effectively promote interdisciplinary anddevoted myself to research on the Asian monsoon

transdisciplinary research, in April of 2016 we establishedclimate, including ecosystem-climate interaction,a new research structure by introducing three Research

and anthropogenic impacts on climate. As part of myPrograms, one Core Program, and the RIHN Center. With

international activities, I have also been involved in thethese new structures in place, we are now pursuing ourInter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

research through enhanced collaboration within our

Through these academic experiences, I can confidently

institute, across the diverse research community, and withsay that we human beings have been drastically changing

society in general. To enhance international activities ofour planet by inducing “global warming” of the climate

RIHN, we are also collaborating with the internationaland by degrading eco-systems. Particularly since theresearch platform Future Earth, which aims to integrate

late 20th century, the impact of human activities has

global environmental change research for achieving global

overwhelmed the entire earth, ushering in a new geologic

sustainability including contributing to the United Nations

era called “the Anthropocene”.

Sustainable Development Goals. As part of this, we are
hosting Future Earth Asian Regional Centre to strengthen

Obviously, an essential and urgent challenge for humanity

research collaboration and capacity building across thetoday is how to achieve a harmonious relationshipAsian countries.

with nature on earth. Since its establishment in 2001,
RIHN has been committed to this monumental issue by

We are excited to implement these new research initiatives

conducting diverse solution-oriented research under theand make progress on solutions to the many environmental

overarching question of how human-nature interaction

challenges we face, including various new issues related toand relations ought to be. To achieve this mission, RIHN

the current COVID-19 pandemic.

undertakes interdisciplinary research spanning the naturalsciences, humanities, and social sciences, and in recent
years, has evolved towards transdisciplinary researchthat involves collaboration with various stakeholders insociety.

YASUNARI Tetsuzo
Director-General
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

2

3

RIHN Philosophy and Approach
For several decades, researchers have attempted to

the role of science in society, improve dialogue between

find solutions to the environmental problems that now

different 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 of

Science cannot be uniformly applied to the world but

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

solutions.

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 that

Future 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 the

projects 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 redefine4Organizational Structure
RIHN is fundamentally a project-based institute, with projects alternating through a
5-7-year cycle. Identification of ideas for projects happens through public solicitation.
Through a process of evaluation and selection that includes “incubation” and“feasibility” stages, these ideas are gradually developed into fully-fledged projects
and only get officially underway after evaluation by an international external review
committee. At this point, the proponent joins the RIHN community by becoming a staff
member of the Institute. In most cases projects run for five years. They include a coreteam of researchers based at RIHN and a much larger network of partners at research
institutions throughout Japan and abroad.

RIHN Programs
RIHN research is organized into Programs and Projects rather than pre-existing
academic disciplines or domains. Three Research Programs and one Core Program
are each home to multiple projects that carry out research in line with the Program’s
broad direction. The bundling and integration of Projects within the Programs facilitates
synthesis of research results and allows for strategic planning of research. Programs are
subject to annual review by the External Research-Evaluation Committee (see RIHN
Project Trajectory on pages 6 & 7). RIHN endeavors to improve its research by making
good use of the review results while also respecting the independence of each Program.

5

Research Programs

Program 2: Fair use and management of diverse resources

Research Programs are organized around three themes

Taking tradeoffs into account, this program provides

identified in the Phase III Medium-Term Plan. In

multifaceted options to stakeholders involved inaddressing environmental problems, technological andproduction, distribution, and consumption of resources,

institutional developments are important, but RIHN

in order to realize fair use, optimal management, andrecognizes that these need to build on the foundation

wise governance of diverse natural resources includingof people’s awareness, value systems and culture. Theenergy, water and ecological resources.

programs collaborate closely with society in developing
and proposing options that contribute to the transition of

Program 3: Designing lifeworlds of sustainability andsociety.

wellbeing

Our “lifeworlds” are composed of the physical spaces
Program 1: Societal transformation under environmental

and socio-cultural spheres of our everyday lives. Theychangeare continually reproduced, reimagined, and evolving

This program aims at providing realistic perspectives

through an interactive and reflexive relationship withand options to facilitate the transition to a society thatsociety, culture, and nature. Program 3 proposes research

can flexibly respond to environmental changes caused

aimed at illuminating reciprocal linkages between

by human activities such as global warming and air

diverse rural and urban lifeworlds and contributing

pollution, as well as to natural disasters.

to the solution of sustainability problems by working
with various societal partners such as governments,
companies, and citizen groups. Special emphasis isplaced on envisioning sustainable futures that improve
wellbeing and gauging their feasibility.

RIHN Project

Incubation Studies (IS) are proposed by individual researchers to the RIHN Project Review Task Committee. If approved,
the researcher is granted seed money to prepare a proposal for Feasibility Study.
Feasibility Studies (FS) allow the study leader a period to develop a proposal for Full Research.
In the transitional Pre-Research (PR) period, the project leader formally assembles the team, establishes MOUs necessary
for collaboration with other institutions and makes other preparations to enable Full Research.
Full Research (FR) lasts from three to five years. It typically involves a research team at RIHN and concurrent activity
with collaborators overseas, several periods of field study, workshops and presentations, and outreach or communication
to relevant communities. FR projects are evaluated by the External Research Evaluation Committee at the beginning(selection) , mid-term and the end (final evaluation).

6

Core Program
Based on the mission of RIHN and in order to realize the strategies
and policies formulated by the Council for Research Strategy, the Core
Program undertakes research on an ongoing basis. During Phase III, theCore Program will develop concepts and methodologies to solve global
environmental problems in collaboration with society.

Core Project

RIHN Center
The RIHN Center provides the foundations for collaborative research
and activities at RIHN. Its five Divisions manage and operate thelaboratories and the information systems of the Institute, and facilitatecommunication, networking and capacity building. Center faculty also
engage in research in pursuing the goals of the Center. Collaboration isfundamental to the operation of the RIHN Center: it works closely with
the Core Program and Research Programs by providing tools, facilities
and methods. It also collaborates with the wider academic community
in support of RIHN’s role as a joint-use Inter-University Research Instituteand engages a broad range of societal stakeholders in problem-solving
research processes.
The RIHN Center consists of five divisions. The Laboratory and Analysis
Division develops and maintains the laboratory facilities necessary for
research and fieldwork. The Information Resources Division maintains
the RIHN research databases and archive. The Communication Divisiondevelops a variety of communication strategies linking RIHN research toacademic and public communities. The Collaboration Division facilitatesinternal and external research networking. The Future Earth Division
engages with the international Future Earth initiative and hosts theRegional Center for Future Earth in Asia.

7

Project Index

8

Full Research

FR

Research Program 1: Societal Transformation under Environmental Change

SUGIHARA Kaoru

10-11

Toward the Regeneration of Tropical Peatland Societies:
Building International Research Network on Paludiculture
and Sustainable Peatland Management

KOZAN Osamu

12-13

YOSHIDA Takehito

14-15

HAYASHIDA Sachiko

16-17

Research Program 2: Fair Use and Management of Diverse Resources

Hein MALLEE

18-19

Mapping the Environmental Impact Footprint of Cities,
Companies, and Households

KANEMOTO Keiichiro 20-21

Research Fields : Indonesia, Malaysia

Research and Social Implementation of Ecosystem-based
Disaster Risk Reduction as Climate Change Adaptation in
Shrinking Societies
Research Field : Japan

An Interdisciplinary Study toward Clean Air, Public Healthand Sustainable Agriculture: The Case of Crop Residue
Burning in North India
Research Fields : North India

Research Fields : World

Research Program 3: Designing Lifeworlds of Sustainability and Wellbeing

SAIJO Tatsuyoshi

22-23

Lifeworlds of Sustainable Food Consumption and Production:
Agrifood Systems in Transition

Steven R. McGREEVY

24-25

YAMAUCHI Taro

26-27

Research Fields : Japan, Thailand, Bhutan, China

The Sanitation Value Chain: Designing Sanitation Systems as
Eco-Community-Value System
Research Fields : Zambia, Burkina Faso, Indonesia, Japan

Co-creation of Sustainable Regional Innovation for Reducing
Risk of High-impact Environmental Pollution

SAKAKIBARA Masayuki 28-29

Research Fields : Sulawesi Island in Indonesia, ASEAN countries

Core Program

TANIGUCHI Makoto

30

Information Asymmetry Reduction in Open Team Science forSocio-environmental Cases

KONDO Yasuhisa

31

ONISHI Yuko

32

Research Field : Japan

Methods and Tactics to Foster Knowledge Co-creation: A
Practical Framework for Implementing Transdisciplinary
ResearchResearch Field : Global

9Research Program 1

Societal Transformation under
Environmental ChangeThis program aims at providing realistic perspectives and options to facilitate the transformation
towards a society that can flexibly respond to environmental changes caused by human activities
such as global warming and air pollution, as well as to natural disasters.
To demonstrate the fundamental significance of global environmental sustainability for humansociety, we need to make intellectually explicit the links between environmental change and natural
disasters on the one hand, and social issues such as livelihood, inequality, social security andconflict on the other, and reinforce understanding of these links in the real world. RIHN’s Societal
Transformation under Environmental Change research program contributes to this task.
The Program follows two lines of inquiry. The first conducts research on Asia’s long-term
paths of social and economic development in relation to climate change and environmental
history. Such studies offer historical understandings of the human-nature interface. For example,
postwar development of the industrial complex along Asia’s Pacific coast was made possible by
the combination of imported fossil fuels and utilization of rich local resources of land, water andbiomass. Urban and industrial development in the region produced both rapid economic growth
and at times severe environmental pollution and degradation. It is important to recognize the causes
and consequences of these historical processes in their own light, as well as for their significance tofuture societal change and policy deliberations.
The Program’s second line of inquiry examines the kinds of motivations that affect peoples’
livelihoods and seeks social transformation of norms and institutions by working closely withvarious stakeholders in local society. The project on Sumatra’s tropical peatlands identified four
principal kinds of motivations—local livelihood, profit of local farmers and agricultural and industrial
enterprises, local and centrally-based governance, and conservation measures implemented bygovernments, NGOs and international institutions—and examines how they can be best coordinatedto promote sustainability at the village level. Another project on Punjab, India, studies how toprevent stubble burning accompanying the introduction of a compressed double cropping calendar
after the Green Revolution, causing pressure on water and land, as well as air pollution and healthhazards. Meanwhile, the ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction project investigates the potentialof various ecosystem services to address natural disaster risks in Japan, where population decline
creates additional dimensions to this issue, which is or could become relevant in many other Asian
countries.

10‘Hyakken-tsutsumi’, located at Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture. An approximately 180m-long stone-built prevention wall, which was constructed in the Tokugawa period, taking five years and eight months.

International Workshop on Resource Nexus and Asia’s Great Transformation, 11th March 2019

Program Director

SUGIHARA Kaoru RIHN

Trained in Japan (Doctorate at the University of Tokyo), I have held positions at the Faculty of Economics of Osaka
City University, the History Department of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, theGraduate School of Economics of Osaka University, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, theGraduate School of Economics of the University of Tokyo, and the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies(Japan). My research concerns the history of intra-Asian trade and labor-intensive industrialization in the lasttwo centuries. I am currently working on the economic and environmental history of Monsoon Asia in long-term
perspective. I also act as Vice-Chair of the Future Earth Committee of the Science Council of Japan.

Researchers
MASUHARA Naoki

Senior Researcher

YAMAMOTO Aya

Research Associate

IWASAKI Yumiko

Research Associate

11Tropical Peatland Society Project

Toward the Regeneration of Tropical Peatland Societies:
Building International Research Network on Paludiculture andSustainable Peatland Management
Project Leader

KOZAN Osamu RIHN/Kyoto University

Progra m 1

Osamu Kozan has conducted hydro-meteorological observation and hydrological modelling in Asia. Based on field observation data,
he developed hydrological land surface models considering actual water management in the Huai River basin in China and the Aral Sea
Basin in Central Asia and developed a forecasting model of snowmelt-flood in Lake Biwa basin. He has been promoting an integrated
natural and social science study on peatland society in Riau province and conducting action research on peatland rehabilitation since2008. He is continuing research on the effects of peatland fires and the accompanying air pollution on the local community.

Necessity of the study

solutions to the current crisis of peat degradation andrelated fire and haze in tropical regions through action
research. The project seeks to identify and implement
alternative practices in collaboration with local people,
academics, governmental offices and officials, NGOs, andinternational organizations.
The project conducts multidisciplinary research in orderto clarify the entire process of peatland degradation. We
are especially focusing on the three topics: A) History ofdevelopment, B) Peat environment, and C) Climate change.
Each topic sheds light on the cyclical series of socialand environmental phenomena related to the processof peatland degradation. We study vulnerability andtransformability of each topic in order to bring innovative
peatland restoration activities to tropical peatland societies.

Peat swamp forests are found throughout Southeast Asia,
especially Indonesia, and contain massive stores of carbon
and water. Over the last two decades, these swamps havebeen intensively exploited in order to create commercial
acacia and oil palm plantations. As these tree species
cannot grow in swamps, peatlands have been drained,creating extensive areas of dried peatlands that are
extremely vulnerable to fire.
In 2015, peatland fires burned 2.1 million hectares offorest in Indonesia, affecting 45 million people. A half
million people suffered from upper respiratory tract
infections, and thousands of people, especially children,were afflicted with asthma. The government responded tothis disaster by mobilizing the army, punishing people who
set fires, and refusing to issue new peatland development
permits. These measures were urgently needed, but
provided only short-term relief. The public has demanded
longer-term and more sustainable measures, such as
rewetting and reforestation of peatlands, activities also
promoted by this project since 2012.
The government of Indonesia established the Peatland
Restoration Agency in January 2016, and declared that two
million hectares of degraded peatlands would be restored
by 2019. The objective of this research project is to generate

Research methods and objectives
Peatland ecosystems are vulnerable. We explore theirvulnerability with scientific methods, analyzing thesocio-economic history of peatland societies, monitoring
greenhouse-gas emissions in various types of peatlands,
and tracking historical change in the amount of rainfall andsignificance of haze. Damage from human disturbance is
not completely reversible, however, and it is also necessary
to consider sustainable development of the local economy.

Total burnt area in Indonesia in 2019. Source: Ministry of Environment and Forestry website (SiPongi–KLHK). Data retrieved on 7 January 2020.

12https://www.chikyu.ac.jp/peatlands/eng/

FS①

FS②

PR

FR①

FR②

FR③

FR④
2020

FR⑤

Weather radar installation (Bengkalis District, 12 February 2020)

Questionnaire survey on peatland use and awareness in Lantau Baru village(Pelalawan District, 18 November 2019)

In order to address this dilemma, we also use transdisciplinary approaches to explore the transformabilityof peatland societies. We promote village participationin peatland restoration activities and suggest effective
policies to administrators, arrange effective applications of
paludiculture and social forestry, and use weather radar to
identify potential fire outbreaks.
This research thus supports the future potential ofpeatland-based societies, the phasing out of monoculture
production activity, the development of paludiculture, andthe enlargement of protected peatland areas.

Achievements to date
Project researchers introduced the practice of rewetting
and reforestation in peatland areas in Bengkalis District,
Riau Province in 2010. This experimental site has attracted
significant attention especially since 2015, when fireand haze became very serious. Along with project-led
international seminars, the site has significantly enhanced
public awareness of the potential for rewetting andforestation to regenerate peatland.
We signed Memoranda of Understanding with thePeatland Restoration Agency of Indonesia and Riau
University to conduct action research to restore degradedpeatland. Our project has created action plans based onthese MOUs and has accordingly begun to implement a
restoration program, in which we started social forestry
programs designed to strengthen the land rights of people
on degraded state lands.
In addition, as a result of the continuous monitoring ofgreen-house-gas emissions from peatlands, the influence

Researchers at RIHNYAMANAKA Manabu
KAJITA Ryosuke
OSAWA Takamasa
Main Members
MIZUNO Kosuke
OKAMOTO Masaaki
ITOH Masayuki
SHIMAMURA Tetsuya
NAITO Daisuke

Senior Researcher/Kobe University/JAMSTEC
Researcher

Cooperation in shooting for NKH TV program “Magafire” at the Giam Siak KecilBukit Batu Bioreserve (Bengkalis District, 14 October 2019)of haze on atmosphere, and seasonal changes of local
rainfall, we are clarifying the influences on and processes ofpeatland degradation.

Publications
Catastrophe and Regeneration in Indonesia’s Peatlands:
Ecology, Economy and Society was published by the
National University of Singapore Press in 2016. This
volume provides inter-disciplinary field-based andhistorical analyses of peatland degradation throughexamination of the survival motives of local people, theprofit motives of companies, and the conservation motivesof Government and NGOs. The book showcases thepotential solution of rewetting and reforesting “the people’s
forest”. The book has been reviewed in various media,
including leading international academic journals. Our
project will continue to build on this research in order todevelop new insights on tropical peatland management.

SHIODERA Satomi
KATSURA Tomomi

Researcher/Kyoto University

KAWASAKI Masahiro
SATO Yuri
GUNAWAN, Haris
SABIHAM, Supiandi
DHENY, Trie Wahyu Sampurno

RIHN

Research Associate

Researcher/Kyoto University

University of Indonesia
Kyoto University
University of Hyogo
Ehime University
Kyoto University

Institute of Developing Economies, JETRO
Peatland Restoration Agency, Indonesia
Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia
Indonesian Agency of Geospatial Information, Indonesia

13

Eco-DRR Project

Research and Social Implementation of Ecosystembased Disaster Risk Reduction as Climate Change
Adaptation in Shrinking Societies
Project Leader

YOSHIDA Takehito RIHN/The University of Tokyo

Progra m 1

Takehito Yoshida is an ecologist and limnologist who studies diversity and complexity of organisms and ecosystems from theviewpoints of adaptation and system dynamics, and explores human-nature interactions and sustainability in local communities inJapan. Trained in Kyoto University (PhD) and Cornell University (postdoc), he was a member of the faculty at the University of Tokyo at
Komaba before assuming joint appointments at RIHN and the University of Tokyo

Outline of the project
Globally, the rate of natural disaster occurrence has been
increasing, partly due to contemporary climate change,
and adaptation to natural disaster risks is increasingly
important to the sustainability of human societies. At thesame time, many societies are experiencing shrinking
populations. Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction(Eco-DRR) takes advantage of the multi-functionalityof ecosystems and biodiversity, including their capacity
to mitigate natural disasters while providing multiple
ecosystem services, and population decline provides ample
opportunity for implementing Eco-DRR. Our projectwill develop practical solutions for implementation of
Eco-DRR by visualizing natural disaster risks, evaluating
multi-functionality of Eco-DRR solutions, conducting
transdisciplinary scenario analysis, examining traditional
and local knowledge of disaster risk reduction, andcollaborating with the insurance industry and othersectors.

Background and goals
Climate change impacts natural and human systems, andis projected to intensify in the future. Our project focuses
on reducing risk and developing management strategies
related to natural disasters. The risk of natural disasters

results from the interaction between a climate-related
hazard, and the exposure and vulnerability of humanactivities (Fig. 1), so that adaptation to natural disaster risk
can be realized by reducing exposure (e.g. by improving
land use) and vulnerability to hazards.
Hard-engineering natural disaster countermeasures havetarget safety levels, below which natural disasters can beprevented. Although these countermeasures are effective if
the hazard level of natural disaster is below the target safetylevel, societies increasingly face situations in which hazard
levels exceed safety levels, resulting in devastating
natural disasters. Eco-DRR approaches focus on lowering
the exposure of human activities to natural hazards, so
reducing, if not preventing, associated losses and damages.
Eco-DRR approaches, meanwhile, take advantage of themulti-functionality of ecosystems, so complementing
conventional approaches to natural disaster management,
although the effectiveness and multi-functionality of EcoDRR is not yet clearly and quantitatively understood.
Japan’s population is aging and shrinking, leading to theabandonment of farmlands, houses and decreases inother intensive land uses, a challenging circumstance thatnevertheless provides an opportunity for improving landuse. The population of Japan increased substantially overthe last century, increasing the risk of and public exposure
to natural disasters. Evaluating past natural disaster risks

Hazard × Exposure × Vulnerability = Risk of natural disaster(e.g. river flood) (e.g. land use) (e.g. building structure)

Eco‐DRR
land useRiver

Floodplain
WetlandPark & Garden
Agriculture

Residence
Business
SchoolHospital

Hazard HighLow

Exposure/
Low
Vulnerability

High

Risk Low

Low

Figure 1 Ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction not only lowers disaster risks but also enhances benefitsof ecosystem services by reducing the exposure of human activities in high-hazard locations andsupporting human activities in low-hazard locations.

14
https://www.chikyu.ac.jp/rihn_e/project/2018-01.html

FS①

FS/PR

FR①

FR②

FR③
2020

FR④

FR⑤

therefore provides valuable information of adaptation
strategies considered in Japan as well as in other countries.
Given this background, the ECO-DRR project sets two
main goals: first, it develops methodologies to evaluate
Eco-DRR multi-functionality and assess Eco-DRR
by comparing multi-functionality in the past, present
and future. Secondly, the project supports Eco-DRR
implementation through transdisciplinary collaborations
with local communities, governments, insurance industry
and other stakeholders.

Research objectives
Three research components contribute to achieve theabove two goals.
(1) V isualizing risks of natural disasters in present andpast
The exposure and vulnerability associated withdifferent natural disasters will be analyzed, and the risks
evaluated and visualized as risk maps of the present andpast. Modeling risk for the different exposure scenarios
will contribute to future Eco-DRR assessments andplans.
(2) E valuating and modeling multi-functionality of
Eco-DRR
Provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystemservices will be evaluated, and their spatial distribution
will be modeled in relation to population and landuse. The model will be used to evaluate the ecosystemservices for different land use scenarios.
(3) T ransdisciplinary approaches for implementing EcoDRR in society
Together with local stakeholders, transdisciplinary
platforms will be formed at each of the local researchsites by taking advantage of existing platforms.
This transdisciplinary platform will deepen mutual
understanding, promote discussion of future options,and build consensus regarding the use of Eco-DRR.
Multi-functionality of Eco-DRR at each local site will
be evaluated and research outcomes will be shared with

Photo 1 Mikatagoko area in Fukui Prefecture, one of the research sites.

Sub Leader
AIBA Masahiro
Researchers at RIHN
HUANG, Wanhui
ITO Takafumi
NAKAI Minami
Main Members
AKIYAMA Yuki
FUKAMACHI Katsue
FURUTA Naoya
HASHIMOTO Shizuka
ICHINOSE Tomohiro
MIYOSHI Iwao
NISHIDA Takaaki

local stakeholders using our transdisciplinary platform.
In addition, traditional and local knowledge of Eco-DRR
will be inventoried and evaluated for the multifunctionality so that the benefits of the traditional andlocal knowledge can be shared with the general public.
In collaboration with insurance industry, a researchforum will be formed to discuss the possibility andfeasibility of insurance industry contributions toeconomic incentives of Eco-DRR. Various laws andinstitutions in national and local governments related todisaster risk reduction and land use will be assessed in
the research forum as well.

Recent results
At several local research sites, the traditional and local
knowledge of Eco-DRR,
including the history of land
use management, flood andlandslide control measuresbuilt during the Edo period,
management of shelter woods
around houses, etc. have beencollected. This traditional andlocal knowledge of Eco-DRR
will be made accessible to thegeneral public by publishing aseries of booklets
in Japanese. The
first of the series
was publishedin the summerof 2019 inprint as well as
e-book which isfreely available
at the RIHN
Figure 2 The first book of the series “Traditional
website, and an
and local knowledge of Eco-DRR in Japan”,
English version isavailable for free from the RIHN website(in Japanese).
forthcoming.

Photo 2 Hira mountains and their base area in Shiga Prefecture, one of theresearch sites. Photo courtesy of MATSUI Kimiaki.

Specially Appointed Assistant Professor

Researcher
Research Associate

SENDA Masako
SHIMAUCHI Risa

Research Associate
Research Associate

Research AssociateTokyo City University
Kyoto University
Taisho University / IUCNThe University of Tokyo
Keio University
Kyoto Prefectural University
Kyoto Sangyo University

NISHIHIRO Jun
SAITO Osamu
SHIBASAKI Ryosuke
SHOUJI Tarou
TAKI Kentaro
UEHARA Misato
URASHIMA Hiroko

National Institute for Environmental Studies
The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
The University of Tokyo
Pacific Consultants Co., Ltd.
The University of Shiga Prefecture
Shinshu University
MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc.

15

Aakash Project

An Interdisciplinary Study toward Clean Air,
Public Health and Sustainable Agriculture:
The Case of Crop Residue Burning in North India
Project Leader

HAYASHIDA Sachiko RIHN/Nara Women’s University

Progra m 1

Dr. Sachiko Hayashida is an atmospheric scientist who has long history of research on stratospheric ozone depletion, air pollution andgreenhouse gases. She received the Horiuchi Award from the Japan Meteorological Society in 2002. From 2005-2008 she was a memberof the Science Steering Group of the Stratospheric Processes And their Role in Climate (SPARC) within the World Climate Research
Programme (WCRP). From 2010-2018 she was a committee member of the International Commission on Atmospheric Chemistry
and Global Pollution (iCACGP), a special commission within the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences(IAMAS). She is currently a president of the Remote Sensing Society Japan (RSSJ).

ProblemThis study addresses air pollution caused by large-scale
post-harvest burning of rice-straw in October andNovember in the states of Punjab and Haryana in NorthWest India. The burning causes severe air pollution in thesurrounding areas, most notably in the Delhi-National
Capital Region. Some evidence suggests that crop-residue
burning negatively affects air quality over the entire IndoGangetic Plain (IGP), demonstrating the potential negative
impact of changing agricultural practices on regional air
quality, affecting public health and well-being of hundredsof millions of people.

Background
Historically the Indian Punjab region, a semi-arid zone
with insufficient precipitation, was not suitable forintensive cultivation. Traditional agriculture in the region
consisted of a combination of cultivating wheat and raising
livestock (cattle). Development of irrigation canals during
the British colonial period transformed the region intoa granary. In the 1960s, the area became the seat of theso-called “Green Revolution”, and played a central rolein producing food for the populous nation. In the 1970s,
most of the region adopted a double-cropping systemof wheat and rice. However, this cultivation practicerequired farmers to sow wheat seeds immediately after
the rice harvest. While traditional hand-harvest allowed
cropping of rice stalks near ground-level, increasing useof combine harvesters leaves large quantities of stubble infield. Farmers are forced to quickly burn this crop residue(stubble and stalk) in order to prepare for wheat seeding inthe short period between late October and early November.

Winds in this season shift to the northwest, often blowing
smoke from stubble burning to Delhi-NCR, markedly
affecting air quality in Delhi. Actually, however, the cause
and effect relationship between stubble burning in the
Punjab region and worsening air pollution in Delhi has not
yet been established quantitatively. This lack of definitive
quantitative evaluation is due to the poor state of the air
pollution monitoring network in India compared to thosein developed nations. Unfortunately, many farmers of the
Punjab region are reluctant to acknowledge their own
actions as the cause of air pollution in Delhi, and there isalso some disagreement among academic researchers as
well.

Project Structure & Research Plan
This project will utilize observation data and model
simulations in order to provide a scientific examinationof the connection between stubble burning in Punjab
and severe air pollution in Delhi. Based on this scientificunderstanding, we will pursue a pathway of socialtransformation toward clean air, public health andsustainable agriculture. We will organize three working
groups to approach stakeholders; all working groups will
examine various measures to raise awareness regarding
farmer/community behavior, and as well as that ofstakeholders and government (Figure 1).
Working Group 1: Agro-Economics, Human Geography,
Cultural Anthropology, and Agricultural
Science
Working Group 1 will examine incentives promoting
farmers’ behavioral changes and various alternative uses

Figure 1 Structure of the project16
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of straw. In the first year of the project, we will conduct asurvey across the entire state of Punjab based on voter lists.
The results of the survey will allow to conduct intensive
interviews assessing the traditional cultural backgroundof farming, labor availability and impact of subsidies
on farmer and community decision making. In parallel,
we will examine both technical and socioeconomic
advantages/disadvantages for straw management. We will
examine several options for use of straw and suggest how
they may lead to new agricultural practices, products andmarkets.
Working Group 2: Atmospheric Science and Remote
Sensing
The mission of Working Group 2 is to utilize observations
and model simulations in order to quantify the effects of
stubble burning in Punjab on air quality of Delhi-NCR.
As monitoring data are sparse in Punjab, we will set up

a network of several hundred compact instruments tomonitor ambient PM2.5 and prepare refined estimate
of inventory emissions from stubble burning. Thisdata, combined with satellite measurements covering
wider part of the IGP, will allow model simulations forextended analysis. In the later years of the project, PM2.5
distribution will be transmitted on smartphones via newly
developed apps.
Working Group 3: Epidemiology and Public HealthWorking Group 3 will conduct a health education class on“Air and Health” to increase awareness of local residents’
health. In parallel, members will examine children andwomen’s symptoms and test their pulmonary function.
The advantage of our research plan is that we can estimate
individual PM2.5 exposure using compact PM2.5
monitoring instruments. Figure 2 is an example of PM2.5
exposure taken in Punjab on Nov. 2, 2018.

Figure 2 Time series of PM2.5 values that were exposed to the project PI when visiting Punjab on November 2, 2018. The sudden increase of PM2.5 at 14:00 iscorresponding to her encounter with a straw burning shown in the figure. Note that the WHO guideline of 24-hours average criterion is 25 μg/m3.

Sub Leader
SUDO Shigeto

Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, The National Agriculture and Food Research Organization

Researchers at RIHNMISRA, Prakhar
ARAKI Hikaru

Research Associate

Main Members
ASADA Haruhisa
PATRA, Prabir
UEDA KayoResearcher

Nara Women’s University
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
Kyoto University

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Research Program 2

Fair Use and Management ofDiverse Resources
Global environmental problems are inter-related. Studies concentrating on single issues are
therefore often not effective and consideration of the links between multiple resources involving
stakeholders is essential. Recently, the nexus structure linking energy, water and food production
has become a prominent area of study, but truly sustainable societies require more comprehensive
understandings of the ecological resources that provide ecosystem services and cultural resources.
The production, circulation and consumption of resources should be discussed in relation to arange of spatial scales, and stakeholders should be involved in these discussions. Sustainable use ofresources requires fair and wise management systems as well as indices capable of managing theseprocesses.
Many existing socio-economic or human behavioral systems must be converted or transformed
into new systems capable of addressing the special qualities of renewable natural resources, as thesequalities have sometimes been externalized from conventional economics. Asia is experiencing
rapid change in economy, urbanization and population, though traditional techniques for sustainable
resource management, associated with the relatively rich human sphere and cultural backgroundin this region also survive. Study of this long-standing Asian experience of resource use may offer
important observations about sustainability in general.
RIHN research projects have accumulated information and suggestions necessary to thistransformation in resource management, though gaps remain. Program Two therefore explores wiseand fair management systems capable of addressing multiple resource-uses by multiple stakeholders,in multi-spatial scales. We encourage new project proposals including those by innovative young
scientists addressing such novel and under-examined subjects. Program research should also address
the social conditions that support transformation of values and human behavior, as they should also
inform new indices and institutions for fair resource management.
In 2019, we enlarged our database of resource supply and demand in Japan to the municipality
level, with particular emphasis on ecosystem services. The database could be utilized to assist
comparative and integrative analyses of research sites. One initial analysis of this database indicatedthat prefectural sustainability is related to population density. It is also useful to consider the interlinkages among the resource use sustainability, which could be developed to address SDG targets.

18
Traditional agricultural landscape in Hanamaki, Iwate Prefecture, Japan

Land-use pattern in mountain area in Thailand

Water flow in upstream of Iwaki River, Japan

Solar power generation in Chiba Prefecture, Japan

Environmental water
Run-off water

Water

Ecosystem services
Provisioning
services

EnergyFood
Cultural
service

Carbon sequestration

BiofuelRegulating
service

Nexus structure among water, energy, food, and ecosystem services

Acting Program Director

Hein MALLEE RIHN

Hein MALLEE is a social scientist with a Ph.D. from Leiden University, the Netherlands. His work was initiallyconcerned with migration and related policies in China, but as he started working in international development, hebecame involved in projects on rural development, natural resources management and poverty alleviation both inChina and in Southeast Asia. The dominant theme in this was local people’s involvement in and rights to resources.
He has been a Professor at RIHN since March 2013 and a Deputy Director- General since April 2018. He is also the
Director of the Regional Center for Future Earth in Asia.
Researchers
KOBAYASHI Kunihiko

Researcher

KARATSU Fukiko

Research Associate

19Supply Chain Project

Mapping the Environmental Impact Footprint ofCities, Companies, and Households
Project Leader

KANEMOTO Keiichiro RIHN

Progra m 2

I was a Lecturer of Institute of Decision Science for a Sustainable Society at Kyushu University and Faculty of Economics and Law at
Shinshu University. From 2009-2011, I was a Visiting Research Fellow at Integrated Sustainability Analysis, the University of Sydney. I
received my Ph.D. in 2014 from Tohoku University. My main research interests are in Industrial Ecology, Environmental Economics, InputOutput Economics (multi-region, environment), and Networks. I developed Eora multi-region input-output database with Manfred
Lenzen, Daniel Moran, and Arne Geschke. I am a member of the editorial board of Journal of Economic Structures. In 2018 and 2019, I
was named a Highly Cited Researcher in the field of Cross-Field by Clarivate Analytics.

A recent study in Nature showed that up to a thirdof biodiversity loss is driven by trade, and a body ofother studies have identified the same pattern for GHG
emissions, air pollution, and other environmental ills.
Many environmental impacts worldwide are ultimately
driven by consumption in developed countries.
Considerations of remote responsibility, ecologicalfootprint, and scope 3 emissions are now a standard part ofthe environmental policy discussion at many levels, fromthe UNFCC to individual businesses and households.
Providing better information to buyers anddecisionmakers can be a powerful way to reduce
environmental pressures worldwide. The life-cycle analysis(LCA) and supply chain analysis tools (multi-regional
input-output (MRIO) models) used to analyze theseremote effects in detail have benefited from significant
advances in the past years, with improving models and,more recently, the link of economic models to spatial (GIS)
maps that locate more precisely how global supply chainslink to particular emissions and biodiversity hotspots.
However, while existing work sketches out the broad
picture, it still falls short of being detailed enough to
help with many specific decisions. Existing supply chain
analyses operate at the resolution of countries andbroad economic sectors. In practice decision-makers atthese levels often only have limited effective economic
and judicial power. Many individuals, businesses, andlocal governments are seeking to reduce their total
environmental footprint, but existing models are either toocoarse resolution to be truly useful or require expensive
and time-consuming modifications to be useful for
informing specific decisions.
Unlike most studies, which focus on environmental
emissions and international trade, this is the first study toclarify the effect of global supply chains on environmental
impacts. Further, in addition to countries and regions,
we will estimate the environmental footprint of cities,
companies, and households. The proposed project would
be a major contribution and can be expected to be of highinterest to businesses, policymakers, NGOs, sustainability
consultants, and researchers around the world. The project
team has deep experience in supply chain analysis andenvironmental impact assessment.

Carbon footprint of cities

Key findings are the following:• Globally, carbon footprints are highly concentrated
in a small number of dense, high-income cities andaffluent suburbs• 100 cities drive 18% of global emissions• In most countries (98 of 187 assessed), the top threeurban areas are responsible for more than one-quarterof national emissions• We define cities as population clusters, but in practice
mapping footprints to local jurisdictional bounds iscomplex• 41 of the top 200 carbon-intensive cities are incountries where total and per capita emissions are low(e.g. Dhaka, Cairo, Lima). In these cities, population
and affluence combine to drive footprints at a similar
scale as the highest income cities• For large and high-income cities, their total Scope
3 footprint is much larger than the city’s directemissions• Radical decarbonization measures (limiting
nonelectric vehicles; requiring 100% renewableelectricity) can induce substantial emissions
reductions beyond city boundaries. In wealthy,
high-consumption, high-footprint localities suchmeasures may require only a small investment relative
to median income, yet accomplish large reductions in
total footprint emissions• Local action at the city and state level canmeaningfully affect national and global emissions

Carbon footprint of households:
The case of food diet
We identified five key results. First, differences inhousehold demographics (age and sex) do not explain
variation in household food CF. Second, regional
differences in food-related CF exist, but these are not themain explanatory factor of household differences. Third,
household income and savings are weakly correlated withfood-related CF. Fourth, there is 1.9 times higher in food
CF between the mean household in the lowest and highest
quartile. Finally, meat consumption is almost identicalacross the four quartiles, and it is rather consumption offish, vegetables, confectionary, alcohol, and restaurants thatdifferentiates high and low CF households.

In 2018, we estimated the carbon footprint of 13,000 cities.

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A map shows species-threat hot spots linked to consumption in Japan.

The carbon footprint of Asian cities.

Researchers at RIHNNGUYEN, Tien Hoang
FRY, Jacob Redman
TAHERZADEH, Oliver Ahrash
FARABI-ASL, Hadi
Main Members
NANSAI Keisuke
CHATANI Satoru
NAKAOKA Masahiro
MATSUBAE Kazuyo
OHNO Hajime
MURAKAMI Shinsuke
SUGIHARA Soh
OKUOKA Keijiro
KAGAWA Shigemi
FUJII Hidemichi
SHIGETOMI Yosuke
ITSUBO Norihiro

Senior Researcher
Senior Researcher
Senior Researcher
Researcher

National Institute for Environmental Studies
National Institute for Environmental Studies
Hokkaido University
Tohoku University
Tohoku University
The University of Tokyo
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
Gifu University
Kyushu University
Kyushu University
Nagasaki University
Tokyo City University

LEE, Jemyung
YAMADA Taiki
KATAFUCHI Yuya
TAKATA Shoko
KONDO Yasushi
ASAYAMA Shinichiro
YAMAMOTO Yuki
OITA Azusa
SUH, Sangwon
ODA Tomohiro
HERTWICH, Edgar
MORAN, Daniel
LENZEN, Manfred
VERONES, Francesca
GESCHKE, Arne

Researcher
Researcher
Researcher
Research Associate

Waseda University
Waseda University
Nagasaki University
The National Agriculture and Food Research Organization
University of California, Santa Barbara
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
The University of Sydney
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
The University of Sydney21Research Program 3

Designing Lifeworlds of Sustainability
and Wellbeing
More than 60% of the world’s population resides in Asia and over a third of global economic
activity occurs there. Asia is comprised of an incredible diversity of cultures, histories, societies,
economies, livelihoods, and ecologies. Asia is also affected by myriad global and local
environmental issues, such as population increase, air, water, soil, and coastal pollution, increasing
greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity loss. The region is also affected by growing wealthdisparity, social isolation, rising levels of poverty, and the disappearance of traditional cultures andknowledge. The combination of migration between the countryside and cities, rural depopulation,and urban concentration is accompanied by rapid socio-cultural change, over-exploitationof resources, and deterioration of natural environments. Both urban and rural lifeworlds are
disintegrating rapidly.
As a consequence, in reconstructing the lifeworld concept and highlighting the reciprocal
linkages between rural and urban spaces, Program 3 designs lifeworlds of sustainability andwellbeing and co-creates concrete pathways for their realization. Program research is based on thediverse world-views and accumulation of experience of human-nature co-existence. These latentsocio-cultural elements, such as livelihood styles, lay knowledge, conflict resolution strategies, andthe vitality of the people themselves, can be called upon to address contemporary problems andto help chart a course toward possible future societies. Program 3 builds upon these experiences
and knowledges of human-nature interaction to propose concrete changes needed to achieve asustainable society.
The transformations and frameworks leading to sustainable urban and rural lifeworld design will
also entail fundamental shifts in existing economic systems, markets, and political decision-making
systems. Rather than investigating top-down approaches to system change, Program 3 will work withlocal residents, government officials, companies, citizen groups and other stakeholders to propose
sustainable alternatives and gauge their feasibility. In order to avoid the risk of developing proposals
that are only applicable to specific regions or sites, Program 3 will aim for research results that are
generalizable while also retain the diversity at the heart of local lifeworlds and wellbeing.
How we engage with our stakeholders is very important in promoting transdisciplinary research.
It seems that there are many abstract principles, but when applying them to the field, it is difficult
to connect them to a concrete way of doing things. For this reason, we have started the "How toEngage Citizens in Practice Discussion” Meeting with people who have relations with stakeholders.
This discussion has allowed us to slowly see the "rules" of concrete practices. One of the goals of
our practice is to shift the way citizens think about and live towards sustainability, and we are slowly
learning how to design such systems. At the same time, we are conducting an ecological footprintproject to measure energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in our research buildings andtravel.

22
The diversity of fruits and vegetables for sale at the market in Kanchanaburi reflect Thailand’s changing societyAn activities of transdisciplinary community of practice in Hayahaya village of Gorontalo Province, Indonesia

Action research in Zambia: The Vice-President of Zambia has visited the Sanitation project's booth of the Zambia Water Forum and Exhibition (ZAWAFE) 2018.
(Photo by NYMBE, Sikopo P.)

Program Director SAIJO Tatsuyoshi RIHN
Tatsuyoshi Saijo specializes in designing social systems that promote sustainability and equity without inhibiting
individual incentive. His interest is in developing the field of “Future Design”, one that links the happiness andwellbeing of current generation to that of future generations.

Researchers
SHAHIRIER, Shibly

Researcher

23

FEAST Project

Lifeworlds of Sustainable Food Consumption
and Production: Agrifood Systems in Transition
Project Leader

Steven R. McGREEVY RIHN

Steven R. McGreevy is an environmental sociologist (Kyoto University Ph.D. 2012) and associate professor at RIHN. He has a backgroundin agriculture, rural sustainable development, and environmental education. His research focuses on novel approaches to rural

Progra m 3

revitalization that utilize local natural resources, sustainable knowledge dynamics, sustainable agrifood and energy transition, and therelinking of patterns of food consumption and production in local communities

Research Backgroundreorients consumers to consider themselves as citizens andco-producers of the foodscapes on which they depend.
Finally, FEAST seeks knowledge and mechanisms thatcan redefine the notion of long-term food security at theregional scale.
FEAST Working Groups will produce four types ofknowledge relevant to catalyzing agrifood transitions(Figure 1). These are: 1) contextual knowledge ofcontemporary national, regional, and local food systems(production, distribution, and consumption); 2)
co-produced visions of alternative food consumption
and production practices and corresponding municipal
level transition plans identifying research, education,and policy needs; 3) modeling- and scenario-basedknowledge supporting deliberation and planning
processes; and 4) and knowledge related to intervention
strategies— such as niche incubation, social learning andmarket transparency— on the execution and effectivenessof workshop-based consensus building toward collective
action and market-oriented information- providing tools(eco-labels, food LCA smartphone app)

Agrifood systems in Asia face a myriad of sustainability
challenges related to declining environmental health,loss of food diversity, and the deterioration of small-scale
farming. On the consumption side, over-reliance on
globalized food flows limits consumer agency, decreases
food security, and impacts health. How do we respondto these challenges? Rather than furthering efforts tomaintain existing food systems, FEAST research is linewith complete food system transformation, and aims
for re-imagining and re-creating regional, small-scale
food systems designed for a post-growth world and food
lifeworlds that re-value food as a commons.

Research Overview and Objectives
The FEAST project takes a transdisciplinary approach
to explicate the reality of, and potential for, sustainableagrifood transition in Asia. Individual field sites arelocated in Japan, Thailand, Bhutan, and China. Taking
a lifeworld perspective, we analyze patterns of foodconsumption, the socio-cultural significance of foodpractices, and the potential of consumer-based agency
to change deeply held cultural notions and regional foodsystems. We also develop structural descriptions of thefood system, by mapping national, regional, and local
production, distribution, and consumption contexts. In
combining socio-cultural and structural descriptions of therelationships between production and consumption, weare able to conduct visioning workshops with stakeholders
and initiate food citizenship-oriented experiments andactions. In engaging the public in structured debate ofsocietal relationships with food and nature, our project

Progress to Date
Over the past year, FEAST has made progress on several
areas of research.
FEAST partnered with WWF Japan and the Global
Footprint Network to feature research on prefecturaland municipal level Ecological Footprints in Japan—aninformational booklet aimed at municipal officers showsthat urban cities and prefectures have a much larger
footprint than their rural counterparts. Imported animal
feed and ingredients for processed foods comprised

Comparison of regional ecological footprint
for food consumption (Japan)
Othercereals
Fish
Meat

global hectare / capita

1.

Imported food & feedvegetables, fruit, nuts
Dairy

0.75

0.5

https://www.feastproject.org/en/

Kyoto

Hokkaido

Akita

NaganoTokyo

Okinawa

Small cities

Towns/villages

Tokyo-ku

Middle cities

Major cities

Figure 2 WWF Japan and Global Footprint Network booklet
https://www.wwf.or.jp/activities/data/20190726sustinable01.pdf(left). Comparison of regional ecological footprints for foodconsumption in Japan. Imported food and animal feed is mostimpactful, while regional differences in overall impact are evident(right).

Figure 1 Diagram detailing how each FEAST working group is organizedaround the question of “What knowledge is necessary to catalyze
sustainable agrifood transition?” Four kinds of knowledge arelisted: 1) Current system and contextual knowledge; 2) Visions ofsustainable future systems knowledge; 3) Future system scenario
knowledge; and 4) Knowledge associated with intervention andtransition strategies.

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a significant portion of the overall impact, further
strengthening the need for region-based production andmunicipal level interventions and policies that address
food system sustainability (Figure 2).
Expanding sustainable food production will requirescaling up successful models and new farmers. The
potential for scaling up agroecological production in
Japan was investigated with colleagues from UC-Berkeley
to evaluate how “lighthouse farms” act as models for
territorial development (Photo 1). An assessment tool isbeing developed for wide-spread use.
Over 20 meetings, workshops, and events were heldin Kyoto, Kameoka, and Nagano to catalyze civic food
networking and co-design food policy measures. In Kyoto,
a new food policy council is active through these efforts.
In Nagano, ideal future school lunches were envisioned
in Obuse Town and plans are being made to input resultsfrom the visioning process into the general policy planning
process. The need for culturally-specific approaches to civic
food policy development that center on concepts of social

expectation and “side-to-side” pressure are unique to Japan(Photo 2).
FEAST is also investigating informal food practices(hobby gardening, seed sharing, urban foraging, gathering
edible wild plants, etc.), how they form informal foodsystems and their relationship with well-being andsustainable lifestyles. This work will be featured in a bookscheduled to be released next year (Figure 3).
In Thailand, urban food futures are being exploredthrough envisioning future food practices withstakeholders in Bangkok. Ideal ways of eating out, homecooking, and purchasing food were developed and policyaction plans were created in backcasting workshops (Photo
3).
FEAST maintains research partnerships with theCopernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at
Utrecht University, University of California- Berkeley,
Royal University of Bhutan, Mahidol University, Shanghai
Academy of Agricultural Science, as well as Kameoka andNoshiro Cities (Japan).
Food science & management
recognized

Mainstream
Food Practices

Traditional & Rediscovered
Food Practices

recapturing
wellbeing

New & Evolving
Food Practices

visibleFormal Food System“food as a commodity”

Food Security, Policy & Planning

Cultural Food
Studies

Wellbeing & Sustainability Science

outsourcing

Informal Food System“co-production, conviviality”

unrecognizedinvisible
unknown

New research space

Figure 3 Conceptual framework to investigate the definition and interactionof formal and informal food system and practices represented as an
iceberg.
Photo 1 Fieldwork with Prof. Miguel Altieri and Dr. Clara Nicholls from
UC-Berkeley.

Food Policy
Council Kyoto

School lunch vision

Food practice scenarios
Visioning
phase
2017

Scenariodevelopment
phase 2018

Evaluation andbackcasting workshop
Scenario
evaluation
phase 2019

Transition
phase
2019

Photo 3 Urban food future workshops held in Bangkok, December 2019.
Six future scenarios were evaluated and policy & action plans were
backcasted as a means to initiate transitions.

Visioning workshop “Ideal future school lunch”
Photo 2 Visioning workshops with farmers, consumers, NPO, and government
officials held in Obuse Town, March 2019 (bottom), school lunch visiongraphic recording (upper left), and Food Policy Council Kyoto logo
(upper right).

Sub Leader
TAMURA Norie
Researchers at RIHNOTA Kazuhiko
RUPPRECHT, Christoph D. D.
KOBAYASHI Mai
ODA Kimisato
Main Members
TSUCHIYA Kazuaki
HARA Yuji
AKITSU Motoki
TACHIKAWA Masashi
TANIGUCHI Yoshimitsu

Photo 4 FEAST Project Annual Assembly held at RIHN January 12-13, 2020.

Senior Researcher

Assistant Professor
Senior Researcher
Researcher
Researcher

The University of Tokyo
Wakayama University
Kyoto University
Nagoya University
Akita Prefectural University

SHINKAI Rika
SPIEGELBERG, Maximilian
MATSUOKA Yuko
KOBAYASHI Yuko
NAKAMURA MariTANAKA KeikoSUDO Shigeto
SHIBATA Akira
KISHIMOTO-MO Ayaka

Researcher
Researcher
Research Associate
Research Associate

Nagoya Bunri University
University of Kentucky, USA
National Agriculture and Food Research Organization
Ritsumeikan University
National Agriculture and Food Research Organization

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Sanitation Project

The Sanitation Value Chain: Designing
Sanitation Systems as Eco-Community-Value
SystemProject Leader

YAMAUCHI Taro RIHN/Hokkaido University

Progra m 3

Prof. Taro Yamauchi is a professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University. He has a B.S., a M.S. and a Ph.D. in healthsciences from the University of Tokyo. He does intensive fieldwork in hunter-gatherer society, rural villages, and urban slums indeveloping counties to understand the lifestyle and health of local populations and adaptation to living environments. His researchinterests also include sanitation and participatory action research involving local children, youth and adults. He is Vice-President of theInternational Association of Physiological Anthropology (IAPA) and an executive member of the International Society for the Study of
Human Growth and Clinical Auxology (ISGA).

Sanitation generally refers to the provision of facilities
and services for the safe disposal of human urine and feces.
UN Millennium Development Goals Report 2015
reported that 2.4 billion people are still using unimproved
sanitation facilities, including 946 million people who arestill practicing open defecation. The developing world
still has high under-five mortality and poverty rates. The
world’s population is estimated to reach approximately
10 billion in 2050, and this population growth will
happen mostly in developing countries. At the sametime, depopulation and aging are increasing, especially inthe rural areas of the developed world, and the financial
capability of many local governments—which are key
agents in the management of sanitation systems—is getting
weaker.
Sanitation systems are essential for promoting publichealth, preventing environmental pollution, conserving
ecosystem functions, and recycling resources. The questionof how to handle the waste of 10 billion people is therefore
highly relevant to the global environment.

Working hypotheses of the research
The project investigates the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: Current sanitation problems are caused bya dissociation between the value which is provided by thesanitation system and the values of the individual people
and/or the community of the people.
Hypothesis 2: Sanitation technologies cannot work wellwithout a social and institutional support system. The
mismatch between prerequisites of technologies and local
characteristics additionally complicates sanitation issues.

Key concept — Sanitation Value chain as a solution
The project proposes a new concept, the Sanitation Value
Chain, which has the following dimensions:
1) Places the values of people and community in thecenter of discussion, and prepares the sanitation system tocorrespond to this value chain; 2) Designs the sanitation
system by focusing on direct incentives for individual
users and communities; 3) Recognizes a sanitation
system as an integrated system with social and technicalunits; 4) Designs the sanitation system by making a good
match between social characteristics and prerequisites oftechnologies.

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Goals of the project
The goals of this research project are to: 1) Propose theconcept of Sanitation Value Chain in relation to bothdeveloping and developed countries; 2) Design several
pilot studies demonstrating the significance of societal,
academic, and professional involvement in the co-creationof this value chain; and 3) Contribute to the establishmentof a new interdisciplinary academic foundation on
sanitation.

Research topics for achieving the goals
Topic–1 Life: By field survey, we learn about the valuesof people and the norm for human excreta, andreevaluate the sanitation system in relation to theresidents lives.
Topic–2 Technology: We identify prerequisites ofsanitation technologies and reevaluate the valuethat sanitation will give us. In addition, we develop
new sanitization technology to make use of thevalue chain by understanding the values of people
and local conditions.
Topic–3 Co-creation: We identify stakeholders anddescribe the value structures of people andcommunities, and analyze the hierarchy andstructure of stakeholders’ value chain and evaluate
their affinities. We demonstrate the co-creation
process of the sanitation value chain.
Topic–4 Visualization: In order to co-create thevalue chain, it is necessary to make efforts tocommunicate research results to actors andstakeholders. Utilizing resources and institutional
collaborations of RIHN, we will develop a method
to express and transmit outcomes using various
media.

Research sites
The project is performing field studies at four sites: 1)
Rural areas in Ishikari River Basin, Hokkaido; 2) Rural
areas of Burkina Faso; 3) Urban areas in Indonesia; and 4)
Periurban areas in Zambia.

How we think about sanitation
We involved multidisciplinary experts and have createda framework of understanding to capture sanitation
problems as not only material cycling, but as a whole of the
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2020

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value of sanitation in health and wellbeing, materials, andsocio-culture (Figure1). Based on the framework, we will
uncover values embedded in societies and cultures, andco-create the Sanitation Value Chain by cooperating withvarious actors related to the sanitation system. We envisagethat Sanitation Value Chain system will improve the healthand wellbeing within the community.

Achievements in FR studies(1) Toilet for recycling resources. We have developed
functioning toilet technologies necessary for thesanitation value chain by making urine in the urban
area valuable as fertilizer. These are the “Toilet thatcan concentrate urine” and “Toilet that can makephosphorus fertilizer”.
(2) T racking propagation of pathogens. Pathogenic bacteria
propagate through various routes. We have developed
a molecular biological method of tracking thispropagation. In the case of Bangladesh, we found thatthe most important route of pollution is bathing, andthe contamination of drinking cups is more important
than of the water itself (Figure 2).
(3) D etecting the risk factors relating to WASH. We
surveyed the handwashing and health of the elementary
school students in the “slum” area of ​​Bandung,Indonesia. Risk factors of stunting and diarrhea areboy’s behavior, drinking tap water rather than tankwater, using an open storage container of drinking
water, low household income, and not using towels after
hand washing. The risk factors for fecal E.coli attached
to children’s hands are boy’s behavior, inadequate
hand-washing and using soap, and the practice basedon inadequate hygiene knowledge.

The notable achievements (New achievements in
FY2018, special remarks)
1.	We published the third and fourthvolumes of the international
journal Sanitation Value Chain(Figure 3).
2.	In Zambia, we organized twoworkshops with local children
and youth groups to promote
good sanitation and hygiene.
First, group members measured
fecal contamination around their
Figure 3 International
living environments. In creating
academic Journal
visualizations of this invisible
Sanitation Value
Chain, 3(1).
contamination they becameaware of the problem and were able to discuss ways for
its improvement (Photo 1). Second, they took picturesof the places thought to be a problem for community
sanitation. These images were recomposed into videos
that facilitated community communication.
3.	Meta-studies of our project were conducted. We
published a paper describing and analyzing theembarrassment and trial of a cultural anthropologist
who entered our inter-disciplinary project. We
also recorded and analyzed how interdisciplinary
communication is performed at the fusion of humanities
and sciences, such as the discussions of the meetingsof our project. We use these recordings for promotinginterdisciplinary communication in our project.

Figure 1 The concept of three values from the point of Co-creation (figure by
KATAOKA Yoshimi)
15.8%
Drinking water

27.7%

Surface of cup

72.3%

84.2%

Outdoorplay, 5.4%

Hand before wash and eating
Outdoor soil

Others,
4.4%

Drinking,
15.4%

Bathing in
pond, 74.8%

Coverage of total daily exposure amount by
each pathway, %Figure 2 E. coli exposure pathways. Example of measurement in Bangladesh
from Harada et al. (2017) Fecal exposure analysis and E. colipathotyping: a case study of a Bangladeshi slum, International
Symposium on Green Technology for Value Chains 23-24 October,
2017, Balai Kartini, Jakarta.

Sub Leader
FUNAMIZU Naoyuki
Researchers at RIHN
NAKAO Seiji
HAYASHI Koji
SHIRAI Yuko
Main Members
USHIJIMA Ken
IKEMI Mayu
KATAOKA Yoshimi
SANO Daisuke
NABESHIMA Takako
FUJIWARA Taku

Photo 1 Workshop in Zambia: Collecting samples and processing (photo by
KATAOKA Yoshimi)

Muroran Institute of Technology

Specially Appointed Assistant Professor
Researcher

KIMURA Ayako
HONMA Saki

Research Associate
Research Associate

Researcher

Hokkaido Research Organization
Sapporo International University
Hokkaido University
Tohoku University
Hokkaido University
Kochi University

HARADA Hidenori
INOUE Takashi
SHIMIZU Takao
SINTAWARDANI, Neni
NYAMBE, Imasiku Anayawa
LOPEZ ZAVALA, Miguel Angel

Kyoto University
Hokkaido University
Kyoto Seika University
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Indonesia
University of Zambia, Zambia
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico

27

SRIREP Project

Co-creation of Sustainable Regional Innovation
for Reducing Risk of High-impact Environmental
Pollution
Project Leader

SAKAKIBARA Masayuki RIHN/Ehime University

Progra m 3

Professor Masayuki Sakakibara is an earth scientist with multidisciplinary backgrounds of Geology, Petrology, Astrobiology,
Geochemistry, Medical Geology, Geoengineering, and Remediation Engineering. He currently works at the Faculty of Collaborative
Regional Innovation and Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ehime University. His interest in environmental pollution led
him to intensive fieldwork and activities to reduce mercury pollution and poverty problems in artisanal and small-scale gold mining(ASGM) areas in Indonesia for over eight years, work conducted with students, scientists, researchers, and various stakeholders fromIndonesia, ASEAN countries, and Japan. Professor Sakakibara is also responsible for international conferences and seminars such
as Transdisciplinary Research on Environmental Problems in Southeast Asia (TREPSEA) and Transdisciplinary Research and Practicefor Reducing Environmental Problems (TRPNEP), which focus on transdisciplinary approaches to research and practice, as well as
development of various regional innovations for the reduction of environmental pollutions in ASEAN countries.

Research Background
Mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that seriously threatens
human embryonic and early-childhood development, andis extremely toxic to the human body. Mercury pollution
is a serious environmental issue requiring global action.
Recent investigation by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) has highlighted the enormity of
Hg pollution in developing countries and the associatedharmful effects on human health and ecosystems. One of
the main causes of Hg pollution is ASGM, in which Hg isused as the traditional method of amalgamation to extract
gold from the ore rock. This activity is responsible for 37%
of global anthropogenic Hg environmental emissions. Thismethod of amalgamation is quicker, simpler, and morecost effective than alternative methods, and is widely usedin many ASGM communities. According to data from theUNEP, ASGM produces 15-20 % of the global gold market.
Almost 15 million people, including about 4-5 million
women and children, participate in ASGM activities inmore than 70 countries. The Hg pollution generated during
ASGM indirectly affects more than 100 million people
worldwide. ASGM activities are also sources of social
problems, such as land tenure issues, social instability suchas migration, and conflict between residents. The vicious
cycle related to poverty and environmental degradationin developing countries is well known. Even though the
Minamata Convention was established to protect humanhealth and the environment from the adverse effects of
Hg, mercury emissions are still increasing rather thandecreasing. The global mercury related environmental
pollution from ASGM, which is caused by poverty, cannot
be solved by ratification of international treaties or NGO
activities alone.

of public and private organizations and associations suchas senior officials and staff of local and central government,
key persons of companies, researchers of local universities,
members of NGO, NPO, and others. This work emphasizes:a) Case studies on reduction of Hg pollution using
a future scenario of ASGM in Indonesia and
Myanmar which includes: (1) environmental impact
assessments; (2) studies of living conditions, culture,
history, and regional sociology; (3) cultivation ororganization of transdisciplinary communities
of practice (TDCOPs) used by transdisciplinary
boundary object (TBO); (4) co-creation of futurescenarios; (5) co-design and co-production withTDCOP members and other stakeholders; and (6)evaluation of the progress of regional innovation
through social and economic studies.
b) Research on interregional networks that aim
to generate Hg-free societies in Indonesia and
Myanmar which include: (1) construction of an
exchange platform for information and collaborationon the management of Hg; (2) improvement oforganizational and communication capacities; and (3)strengthening the communication policy with local
and central governments.
c) Research on improvements in environmental
governance of ASEAN countries through theprinciples and processes used for multilayer andcooperative environmental governance for solving
global mercury pollution.
d) Theoretical and practical studies of the design,practical use, and evaluation of TBO, as well as thepromotion, development, and roles of TDCOP instudy areas. (Figure 1)

Research Objects
The objectives of our research project are to: 1)
understand the link between poverty reduction andenvironmental management in ASGM areas; 2) establish
a process for constructing sustainable societies throughregional innovations in ASGM areas; and 3) strengthen
environmental governance in ASEAN countries.

Methodology and research process
Our project members have been conducting
transdisciplinary research and practice in collaboration
with mining communities, local residents, key stakeholders
28
https://srirep.org/

Figure 1 Whole structure of SRIREP project

FS①

PR

FR①

FR②
2020

FR③

FR④

FR⑤

Expected goals of the project
Regional innovation will arise as a consequence ofenvironmental and industrial innovations introduced witha transdisciplinary approach, including the developmentof a future scenario for an Hg-free society, the co-creationand practical application of TBOs, and the mobilizationof TDCOPs. By strengthening environmental governance,
which consists of multiple layers of co-operative
organizations, we will also develop a route via which the
problem of global environmental Hg pollution can be
resolved.

Progress and Achievements
During FR1, members of SRIREP project carried out
several dialogs, fieldworks, and research activities withvarious stakeholders and key stakeholders in mining
communities, local universities, and public and privateorganizations in both Indonesia and Myanmar.
Case studies have been completed largely in Gorontalo
province. The resulting data show that air and water havebeen contaminated due to mercury exposure related towaste water from ASGM in the region. Further studies
regarding mining community livelihood and value-added
composite agriculture in non-polluted areas, as well asworkshops are being conducted as transdisciplinary
practice research for poverty reduction for the next fiscal
year, especially in both Gorontalo, Sulawesi and Bandung,West Java (Figure 2). Some villages of the southern
Bandung region of West Java have voluntarily discontinued
their ASGM activities as a result of two TBO-based
dialogues. (Photo 1)
In Indonesia, to study the establishment of interregional
networks for a mercury-free society, two medical seminars
on human health impact of heavy metals were held in
May 2019. They included approximately 210 participants,
including health care professionals, scientists, andresearchers, including medical scientists from Japan andlocal universities and medical-related associations of
Makassar City and Gorontalo City. Medical workshops
were conducted, including information on Minamata
disease, and the local experience of and concerns related
to the current challenges of heavy metals intoxication was
discussed.
In order to study improvements in environmental
governance in ASEAN countries, dialogs meetings
between SRIREP members and key stakeholders wereconducted in 2019. In December 2019, the UNEP Global
Environment Information Exhibition was co-organizedwith the Japan Association for UNEP in Yangon, Myanmar,in collaboration with some private sector actors. The
2nd ASEAN - Japan Meeting Point of Collaboration by
Stakeholders and Researchers for Reducing Environmental
Problems in ASEAN Countries was held in Nay Pyi Taw,

Researchers at RIHNKIMIJIMA Satomi
KUANG Xiaoxu
WIN THIRI KYAW
Main Members
MATSUDA Hiroyuki
KASAMATSU Hiroki
SHIMAGAMI Motoko
MIYAKITA Takashi
MATSUMOTO Yuichi
ISA, Ishak
JAHJA, Mohamad

Researcher
Researcher

Figure 2 Whole schedule of the case study in Gorontalo Province, Indonesia

Photo 1 Workshop and fieldwork activities with local researchers at some
ASGM areas

Photo 2 Attendees Union Minister of MONREC, officials, researchers andscientists, students, NGO and NPO members from Myanmar, Japan,
Nepal, and ASEAN countries at TRPNEP2019 Nay Pyi Taw Seminar.

the capital of Myanmar, in collaboration with universities
of Japan and six ASEAN countries (Brunei Darussalam,Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Nepal,
and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental
Conservation (MONREC). About 280 attendees, including
researchers and scientists, senior officials and key
stakeholders from Myanmar ministries, universities, NGO,and private companies attended the seminar. (Photo 2)
Dialog meetings, workshops, and stakeholder seminars
are intended to establish future collaborations, multi-tierenvironmental governance for making the future scenarioswith key-stakeholders based on the back-casting method,
creating TBOs, TDCOPs, and policies, strengthening ofenvironmental governance of ASEAN, and constructing
mercury-free society networks and sustainable societies
through regional innovations.

MYO HAN HTUN
TAKEHARA Mari

Research Associate
Research Associate

Researcher

Yokohama National University
Ehime University
Ehime University
Kumamoto Gakuen University
Kwansei Gakuin University
State University of Gorontalo

ABDURRACHMAN, Mirzam
KURNIAWAN, A. Idham
ARIFIN, Bustanul
ISOMONO, Hanung
BASRI
BOBBY

Institut Teknologi Bandung
Institut Teknologi Bandung
Lampung University
Lampung University
College of Health Sciences Makassar
Network Activities Groups

State University of Gorontalo

29Core Program

The Core Program develops concepts and methodologies for transdisciplinary research to solve
global environmental problems in collaboration with society. Core projects develop comprehensive
and systematic concepts and methodologies for transdisciplinary research, which are widely
applicable to global environmental issues, and accessible to related stakeholders.
Core projects produce conceptual and methodological frameworks together with RIHN Research
Projects, based on individual methods, techniques, and tools from the divisions in the RIHN Center.
Core projects collaborate with Research Projects, building on the case studies developed by theseprojects, and develop comprehensive and systematic methodologies beyond an individual Research
Program or Project. Core projects also deliver completed concepts and methodology to Research
Programs and Projects, the RIHN Center, and related stakeholders.

Core Program online meeting (Apr. 2, 2020)

Program Director

TANIGUCHI Makoto RIHN

Prof. Dr. Makoto Taniguchi is a hydrologist and a deputy Director-General at RIHN. He received a Ph.D. from Tsukuba
University, Japan, in 1987. He is currently the vice president of the International Association of Hydrogeologists
and a Steering Committee member of Future Earth Nexus KAN. He has been working on water-related projects
around the world, in particular Asia, authoring or co-authoring over 170 peer reviewed articles and 8 books
including “Groundwater and Subsurface Environment”, “The Dilemma of Boundaries” and “Groundwater as a Key for
Adaptation to the Changing Climate and Society”.

Researcher
LEE, Sanghyun

30

Assistant Professor

Core Progra mOpen Team Science Project

Information Asymmetry Reduction in OpenTeam Science for Socio-environmental Cases
Project Leader

KONDO Yasuhisa RIHN

Yasuhisa Kondo has worked for six years as an associate professor at the Information Resources Division of the RIHN Center. His
academic background is archaeology and geographical information sciences (Ph.D. 2010 The University of Tokyo). He is currently
interested in open science, participatory action research, and transdisciplinary research promotion for environmental archaeology andsocioenvironmental cases. He is also coordinating an archaeological mission to Oman.

Backgrounds and Objectives
Social issues caused by environmental deterioration present
complex and multidimensional problems for science.
To address such wicked problems, solution-oriented
research has involved research experts from different
domains (interdisciplinarity) and also practitioners such as
governments, funders, industries, non-profit organizations,and civil members (transdisciplinarity). However, suchteam science is often disrupted by asymmetric information,knowledge, wisdom, value, socio-economic status, andpower among above-mentioned actors. This Core Project
develops a methodology to reduce (rather than dissolve)
such socio-psychological asymmetry for the sake of more
efficient transdisciplinary (TD) collaboration.

Methodology
To develop the methodology, this project interlinks theconcept of open science, as an open scientific knowledge
production system, with a TD approach to boundary
spanning by transforming in-between spaces into “our”
epistemic living spaces. Technically, boundary spanningcan be achieved by a combination of (1) considering ethicalequity with special attention to empowering marginalized(or “small voice”) actors; (2) building trust by securingtransparency in the research process, by applying the
FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable)

Graphic recording during the workshop in Otsu, Shiga (February 2020).

Researcher at RIHN
NAKAHARA Satoe
Main Members
KANO Kei
KUMAZAWA Terukazu
NAKASHIMA Ken’ichiroŌNISHI Hideyuki
OSAWA Takeshi

https://openteamscience.jp/en/

Principles for research data and information for instance;(3) facilitating dialogue; and (4) discovering and sharing
the goals that actors with different interests can tackle
together (transcend) where necessary. Civic Tech can beapplied as a holistic approach, in which civic engineersdevelop a solution to local issues by using disclosed dataand information and communication technologies. This
proposed methodology is cyclically assessed and improved
through practical case studies, with special interest in
developing a method to measure participants’ perceptual
transformation through interventions.

Expected results
At the completion of the project, we expect to establish
the OpenTS methodology by successfully interlinking
open science and TD theories, with new knowledge about
effective (and ineffective) combinations of visualizationand dialogue tools such as graphic recording, and withqualitative and quantitative methods to measure the effectof boundary spanning.
The project has two major interfaces of social outputs.
The Research Group will make suggestions for national
and international open science policies, while the PracticeGroup will contribute to community-based policymaking
and social startups for the sustainable waterweed recyclingin Lake Biwa and built heritage management in Oman.

On-site experiment of the Biwapoint local electric acknowledgement
system at the occasion of waterweed cleaning on the shore of Lake Biwa.

Researcher

SUETSUGU Satoko

Shiga University/Social Dialogue Skills Laboratory

MIYATA Akihiro
OKUDA Noboru
OTA Kazuhiko
SHIMIZU Junko
VIENNI BAPTISTA, Bianca

RIHN
Hiroshima University
Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts
Tokyo Metropolitan University

Research Associate

The University of Tokyo
Kyoto University
RIHN
Tama Art University
ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Core FS Core FR① Core FR② Core FR③
2020

31

Co-creation Project

Methods and Tactics to Foster Knowledge
Co-creation: A Practical Framework for
Implementing Transdisciplinary Research
Project Leader

ONISHI Yuko RIHN

Core Progra m

Yuko Onishi holds a Ph.D. in environmental science from the University of Oxford (UK). Before joining RIHN, she worked for the Food andAgricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and later worked for the National Institute for Environmental Studies (Japan). She
is a member of the Regional Centre for Future Earth Asia.

It is increasingly acknowledged that transdisciplinary
research methods (TD) are useful in research projects
on global environmental problems for which sciencealone cannot provide a definite solution. However,many researchers have pointed out that the theoreticalconcepts on ideal TD processes are extremely difficult toapply in practice. This project aims to identify a practicalframework for TD research. The practical framework
consists of methods and tactics for fostering knowledge
co-creation, identified from the current TD practices
implemented throughout the world, as well as fromknowledge and perspectives of experienced TD researchersand stakeholders. In order to make sure that the proposed
framework is useful, the project uses the above results
for capacity building and will revise our framework as
necessary.
The project consists of the following four components:
1) Research design2) Tips and tactics (Researcher experiences)
3) Project Reflection (Stakeholder experiences)
4) Capacity building

Under a component of research design, this project
analyses the international research landscape surrounding
TD research. It examines similar research approaches, suchas participatory approach and action research, and seeks
to establish a new definition of TD research and project
design (methods, tools and approaches) for fosteringknowledge co-creation in relation to different types ofenvironmental issues.
In addition to this survey of international TD literature,
the project carries out in-depth studies with researchersand stakeholders in TD projects at RIHN and otherinstitutes. The project carries out in-house workshops aswell as interviews and workshops at existing project fieldsites. Focused study with researchers seeks to develop anovel and unique methodology for knowledge generation
based on personal experiences and to identify tips andtactics to enhance stakeholder engagement in TD research.
Investigation with stakeholders seeks to reveal the effectsof TD projects on stakeholders and communities, which
are the premise of TD projects, but largely overlooked incurrent project evaluation. With this combination of global
and focused investigations, the project seeks to synthesize
RIHN’s TD research experiences and describe its relation
to international trends.

TERRA School 2019 (TD School Co-organized by RIHN and Regional Centre for Future Earth in Asia)

Researcher at RIHN
OKAMOTO Takako
Main Members
KIKUCHI Naoki
OH Tomohiro
NISHIMURA Takeshi

Research Associate

Kanazawa University
Sanyo Gakuen University

32
https://www.chikyu.ac.jp/rihn_e/project/2020-Core-01.html

LAMBINO, Ria
RAMPISELA, Agnes
GASPARATOS, Alexandros

RIHN
Faculty of Agriculture, Hasanuddin University
The University of Tokyo

Core FS Core FR① Core FR② Core FR③
2020

KIMIJIMA Satomi, Clove Spice Garden, Indonesia

33Completed
Research

When a project moves to Completed Research (CR) status,
the contract with RIHN is concluded. Research teams
disperse to university research, teaching, and other duties.
Project publications and other communications andcontributions may follow for several years. At RIHN, eachproject forms part of the institute's heritage; project results
and data are entered into the RIHN archives upon which
future RIHN projects may be formulated.

34

Fiscal Year
Completed

LeaderResearch Project

HAYASAKA Tadahiro

Emissions of Greenhouse Gases and Aerosols, and Human Activities in East Asia

KANAE Shinjiro

Global Water Cycle Variation and the Current World Water Resources Issues and Their Perspectives

WATANABE Tsugihiro

Impact of Climate Changes on Agricultural Production System in the Arid Areas

NAKAWO Masayoshi

Historical Evolution of the Adaptability in an Oasis Region to Water Resource Changes

YACHI Shigeo

Multi-Disciplinary Research for Understanding Interactions between Humans and Naturein the Lake Biwa-Yodo River Watershed

FUKUSHIMA Yoshihiro

Recent Rapid Change of Water Circulation in the Yellow River and Its Effects on Environment

ICHIKAWA Masahiro

Sustainability and Biodiversity Assessment on Forest Utilization Options

AKIMICHI Tomoya

A Trans-Disciplinary Study on Regional Eco-History in Tropical Monsoon Asia: 1945-2005

SEKINO Tatsuki

Interaction between Environmental Quality of the Watershed and Environmental Consciousness

TAKASO Tokushiro

Interactions between Natural Environment and Human Social Systems in Subtropical Islands

2009

SHIRAIWA Takayuki

Human Activities in Northeastern Asia and their Impact on Biological Productivity in the North Pacific Ocean

2010

TANIGUCHI Makoto

Human Impacts on Urban Subsurface Environments

YUMOTO Takakazu

A New Cultural and Historical Exploration into Human-Nature Relationships in the Japanese Archipelago

SATO Yo-Ichiro

Agriculture and Environment Interactions in Eurasia: Past, Present and Future

2006

2007

2008

2011

KAWABATA Zen'ichiro

Effects of Environmental Change on the Interactions between Pathogens and Humans

KUBOTA Jumpei

Historical Interactions between Multi-Cultural Societies and the Natural Environment
in a Semi-Arid Region in Central Eurasia

OSADA Toshiki

Environmental Change and the Indus Civilization

UCHIYAMA Junzo

Neolithisation and Modernisation: Landscape History on East Asian Inland Seas

UMETSU Chieko

Vulnerability and Resilience of Social-Ecological Systems

OKUMIYA Kiyohito

Human Life, Aging and Disease in High-Altitude Environments: Physio-Medical,
Ecological and Cultural Adaptation in “Highland Civilizations”

SAKAI Shoko

Collapse and Restoration of Ecosystem Networks with Human Activity

MOJI Kazuhiko

Environmental Change and Infectious Disease in Tropical Asia

HIYAMA Tetsuya

Global Warming and the Human-Nature Dimension in Siberia: Social Adaptation to
the Changes of the Terrestrial Ecosystem, with an Emphasis on Water Environments

NAWATA Hiroshi

A Study of Human Subsistence Ecosystems in Arab Societies: To Combat Livelihood
Degradation for the Post-oil Era

KADA Ryohei

Managing Environmental Risks to Food and Health Security in Asian Watersheds

2014

MURAMATSU Shin

Megacities and the Global Environment

2015

KUBOTA Jumpei

Designing Local Frameworks for Integrated Water Resources Management

2016

HABU Junko

Long-term Sustainability through Place-Based, Small-Scale Economies: Approaches from Historical Ecology

SATO Tetsu
KIKUCHI Naoki

Creation and Sustainable Governance of New Commons through Formation of Integrated
Local Environmental Knowledge

ISHIKAWA Satoshi

Coastal Area-capability Enhancement in Southeast Asia

TANAKA Ueru

Desertification and Livelihood in Semi-Arid Afro-Eurasia

2017

ENDO Aiko

Human-Environmental Security in Asia-Pacific Ring of Fire: Water-Energy-Food Nexus

2018

NAKATSUKA Takeshi

Societal Adaptation to Climate Change: Integrating Palaeoclimatological Data with Historical andArchaeological Evidences

2019

OKUDA Noboru

Biodiversity-driven Nutrient Cycling and Human Well-being in Social-Ecological Systems

TAYASU Ichiro

Proposal and Verification of the Validity of Isotope Environmental Traceability Methodology in Environmental
Studies

2012

2013

35

e-REC Project

Biodiversity-driven Nutrient Cycling and Human Well-being in
Social-Ecological Systems
Project Leader

OKUDA Noboru Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University

A watershed is a basic unit of water and nutrient cycling
with hierarchical structure, in which a variety of local
communities are embedded. While nutrient imbalances
cause environmental issues at the watershed level, at thecommunity level there may be many urgent local issues
such as aging and lack of successors. Our basic idea ofwatershed governance is that both local and watershedissues can be solved through cross-level interactions
mediated by biodiversity, leading to enhancement of socialecological health of watershed systems (Fig. 1).
In the Yasu River sub-watershed of Lake Biwa, wefound that local communities are revitalized throughconservation of familiar nature, which provides ecosystemservices in the social-cultural context. Style and stage ofsuch community activities depend on social-historicalbackground and ecosystem types. Some case studies
revealed that these activities can have positive effects
on biodiversity and nutrient cycling at the local level,
and enhance community well-being. At least in thissub-watershed, our research suggests that biodiversity has
the potential to facilitate cross-level interactions, thoughdiffusion of such activities to the whole watershed remainsa challenge.
In the Silang-Santa Rosa sub-watershed of Laguna deBay, by contrast, biodiversity is critically endangered andmost residents have lost interest in aquatic environments.
Through interviews and stakeholder workshops, however,
we found that groundwater can be a shared object ofinterest among diverse stakeholders in the watershed.
Sharing knowledge on groundwater research directly
related to familiar nature meaningful for local peoples’ lives
and livelihoods facilitated active discussions in a watershed

forum as a platform for watershed governance.
Using social and natural scientific approaches, such as
action research and phosphate oxygen isotope analysis, tocompare different watersheds, we summarized key socialecological characteristics affecting governance processes.
Even when there is less explicit interest in biodiversity,
as in the case of Silang-Santa Rosa sub-watershed, there
is indication that stakeholder communication relevant
to familiar nature can be facilitated if a boundary object,such as groundwater, is taken as a key focus point.
Ultimately, since all lands around the planet can be seen
as parts of diverse watersheds, we believe that our basic
approach to watershed governance—adapted to individual
social-ecological contexts—can address many global
environmental issues.
As to social outcomes of our research project, in the
Yasu River sub-watershed, knowledge and experience ofcommunity activities have been shared between up- anddown-stream communities, enhancing discussionof watershed sustainability. In the Silang-Santa Rosa
sub-watershed, a Memorandum of Agreement was
concluded between the Laguna Lake Development
Authority (national government) and Santa Rosa City
(local government) in relation to installation of a water
quality monitoring facility at the watershed level, while
the women’s group was transformed from a mandatory“women’s desk” engagement to an environmentallyconscious group through conservation of sacred springas familiar nature. A textbook on watershed governancewill be published in FY2020, aiding the diffusion oftransdisciplinary approaches developed by our project todiverse stakeholders in other watersheds.

Social-ecologicalhealthEnhancement of
biodiversity &nutrient recycling

Enhancement of
human well-being
Integration ofknowledge

Assessment

Sharing of cultural values

Learning from local knowledge
Nutrient
Community
Biodiversity
Well-being
cycling
activity
Empowerment
Scientist
Learning from scientific knowledge

Local community
Institutional support

Forest

Urban
Lake

River
CroplandFigure 1 A conceptual schema of adaptive watershed governance36
https://www.chikyu.ac.jp/e-rec/index_eng.html

Government

Environmental Traceability Project

Proposal and Verification of the Validity of Isotope Environmental
Traceability Methodology in Environmental Studies
Project Leader

TAYASU Ichiro RIHN

This project investigated environmental traceability as a
key concept for solution of environmental problems. Stable
isotope ratios of elements, together with concentrationsof elements, can trace the flow of matter and chemicals
through the environment, better describe ecosystem
structure and conditions, and appraise the chemical
profiles of food products. Spatio-temporal variation ofmultiple isotope ratios can be used to study Earth systems
operating at local to global scales. This information canserve as an important decision-making tool for local
people considering water, food and environmental security,
all of which are fundamental for the sustainability ofhuman society.
We conducted two studies to evaluate the validityof “environmental traceability methodology” forenvironmental studies: 1) effectiveness of theenvironmental traceability concept, and 2) applicability
to the food traceability. For question 1, we asked of theeffective points of the methodology to solve environmental
problems using a survey by questionnaire and a workshop
among stakeholders. Field research took place in Japan
at sites in Ono City, Fukui; Otsuchi Town, Iwate; Saijo
City, Ehime; Oshino Village, Yamanashi; the Chikusa
river watershed, Hyogo; Lake Biwa and surrounding
watershed in Shiga; as well as in the Laguna de Bay andsurrounding watershed in the Philippines. Questionnaire
results indicated that certain types of stakeholder showed
special appreciation for the information obtained
from the environmental traceability methodology:a) people who are generally involved in the object ofconservation (groundwater or river depending on the
study sites); b) people who have high concern about the
information obtained from the environmental traceability
methodology; and c) people who showed high level ofunderstanding about the explanation of the environmental
traceability methodology in the symposium at each studysite.
For question 2), we tested if the “environmental

traceability” authentication by multi-isotope methods weremore effective in communicating production conditions
and building trust. We focused on food labels and madea web-based questionnaire online survey (N=10,000)
of consumers in Japan, the USA, Germany, China andThailand. We selected four food items that were previously
detected by isotopic analysis to be falsely labeled. We
set the sources of label information assured by farmer’s
photograph, by government institutions, by producer
association, by scientific experts (including in isotopic
methods), and by consumer reputation. Results showedthat the expert labels based on scientific analysis werehighly trusted regardless of food type or country andsuggested that expert labels might play an important role astrusted sources of information in the global food system.
Although causal relationships are complicated in global
environmental issues, we consider the environmental
traceability methodology is valid to tackle environmental
issues by sharing scientific information obtained from themethodology with various stakeholders. To disseminate
the knowledge and experience, we established an internet
website to serve as a platform that shares and develops
the environmental traceability methodology. As atransdisciplinary context, we use the results obtained fromour project research, and all the finding of Laboratory
and Analysis Division in RIHN, including the cooperative
research on “Environmental Isotope Study”. The website
will continue to connect providers of the environmental
traceability methodology with potential users.

Co-design of research
Verification of the validity of
isotope environmental
traceability methodology
Survey by questionnaire

Co-production of data
Presentation of the results
in a symposium

A schematic flow of the project in Oshino Village, Japan

The internet website we established to serve as a platformthat shares and develops the environmental traceability
methodology (a case in Oshino Village).

37
https://www.chikyu.ac.jp/rihn_e/project/2017-03.html

Current Feasibility Studies
Feasibility Studies are based on proposals solicited annually by RIHN from the researchcommunity at-large. If approved by the Project Review Task Committee, lead researchers
are granted seed funding in order to develop their proposal for Full Research. FS status
can be maintained for no longer than two years.

FS/PR

Fair for whom? Politics, Power and Precarity in Transformations of Tropical Forestagriculture FrontiersGrace WONG, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University
Area : Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia (Sabah & Sarawak)
In many parts of the tropics, forest-agriculture
frontiers dominated by diverse swidden
landscapes are rapidly being converted toincreasingly homogenous landscapes ofcommodified agriculture. Often labeled as“development”, these transformations have notgenerated desired social-ecological outcomes andoften do not fairly benefit smallholders in theselandscapes. Our research thus aims to examine
the power relations, politics of forest and land use,
and local agency underlying transformations inforest-agriculture frontiers, and assess options formore sustainable and equitable development.

Forest-agriculture frontier in Laos

38

FS

An Ecology of Care Approach to Neurological Disorders: Toward a Comprehensive
Model for Care Embedded in a Biosocial Milieu
NISHI Makoto, Kyoto University
Area : Cameroon, Japan, Sri Lanka, Uganda“Ecology of care” is a framework for multidisciplinary research and practice to address healthissues closely related simultaneously to biologicaland social milieus. This research project focuseson epilepsy and dementia as two common neurological diseases. It aims to understand knowledge,
technologies, and values as factors that determine
the quality of life of individuals and families affected by these diseases in various ecological andsocial settings. Livelihood, disease burden, carerelationships, and social conflicts are among the
major areas of concern.

Farmers engaged in farming activity in a village in northern Uganda which was recently affected byan epidemic of epilepsy.

FS

Metacognitive Interventions on Social Actors to Enable the Transition Towarda Sustainable Society
NAKAGAWA Yoshinori, Kochi University of Technology
Area : Pokhara City, Kathmandu
Due to financial difficulties, many developing
countries are poorly managing wastes, and thisis causing environmental degradation and publichealth problems. By taking the perspective of the
future generation, the present society may regret
this prioritization and the lack of creativity inaddressing waste management and other policy
goals. The present study aims to investigate whether
and why a metacognitive strategy may improve
waste management in Nepal.

One scene of a picture-story developed by this project to share the reality of environmental
degradation in Sisdol landfill site, Kathmandu City, Nepal.

39

Current Feasibility Studies

FS

Developing Inclusive Wealth with Clarifying Mechanism of Social Value Formation
and Application to Sustainable Policy Design
MANAGI Shunsuke, Kyushu University
Area : Japan and other countries
In the arena of global environmental policy, the past
several decades have seen some major accomplishments
in setting goals. At the onset of 2016, the United
Nations ushered in a very ambitious list of goals to beachieved by 2030. The 17 Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) include the elimination of poverty andhunger, realization of gender equality and reductionof social inequalities, as well as peace, justice, and
new institutions and partnerships. The 13th goal of
SDGs is devoted to “Take urgent action to combat
climate change and its impacts.” Accordingly, the Paris
Agreement was reached at the COP21 on 12 December
2015, and entered into force in the next year. In
particular, the Agreement determines that all countries
put an effort to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees
Celsius at most.
This ambitious target-oriented approach to tacklingenvironment and development challenges iscommendable in many ways. It serves to share theFSstatus of the topic with a wide audience on the globe.
Moreover, the goals may facilitate local regions in the“downscaling” of global goals, leading to local initiatives
to complement global solutions. We build on the pastachievements of Inclusive Wealth Report (IWR), but
extend the analysis both in depth and breadth. In
particular, our target is to develop a theory of how theidea of inclusive wealth can be put into general practice.
Application came already introducing increase in IW
to be the target of Hisayama city at Fukuoka, Japan. We
provide national reports to other countries and intend tocooperate with other region too.

Inclusive wealth concept: physical capital + human capital + natural capital = inclusive wealth

Adaptive Governance of Multi-Resource based on Land-Sea Linkage of Water Cycle:
Application to Coral Reef Island System
SHINJO Ryuichi, University of the Ryukyus
Area : Japan, Palau, Indonesia
People in tropical-subtropical small islands have
lived with limited environmental resources.
Recent increases in island populations, tourism,
and changes in land-use and social structure havemodified water and other environmental resources,
thereby affecting coastal ecosystems (e.g., coral
reef system). Small islands are also vulnerable toglobal climate change. For sustainable developmenton islands, our project aims to investigate multiresource adaptive governance based on land-sea
linkage of water cycle in coral reef island system.
Student participation in an action research event in Southern Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands.

40

CORE
FS

Tackling Wicked Problems: Co-creating Serious Games as Transdisciplinary Methods
to Solve Socio-Environmental Challenges
OTA Kazuhiko, RIHN
Area : Previous RIHN projects and sites
This proposal creates serious games for TD
research addressing environmental andsocial issues, and develops an underlying
methodology to this end. In addition tocollaborating with various practitioners using
games, the accumulated results of the projectwill be expressed in the form of a "serious gamenetwork." By the end of this Core Project, some of
the research results of RIHN will be turned into
games, and there will be attractive learning tools
for researchers participating in TD research andcitizens who want to collaborate.

Board game based on the theme of "Tragedy of the Commons". Created by citizens who participated ingame jam at RIHN.

CORE
FS

Development of Data-driven Decision Support Platform Based on Sustainable Life
Cycle Assessment of SDGs Nexus
Sanghyun LEE, RIHN
Area : Japan and Global
Stressors, including climate change,socio‐political, economic, and population pressures, challenge sustainable
resource management, which are in fact,
non-stationary, highly interlinked, andincreasingly unpredictable. Accordingly,
we need to understand the interaction
among resources, management, andmulti-scale interaction, in addition to theholistic impacts of stakeholder’s actions.
The aims of this study are to 1) study
new methodologies to analyze the multiscale impact assessment in the context ofcomplex trade-offs and synergy in SDGsNexus; 2) develop a data-driven decision support platform for assessing user
scenarios; and 3) assess the applicabilityof the platform through transboundary
and transdisciplinary case studies.

The data-driven decision support system comprising database, multi-scale analysis, and holistic impacts

41

Coordination
Knowledge Networks

RIHN maintains a wide national and international research network, and utilizes various modes of collaboration with national and international research institutions.
In addition to establishing the MOUs necessary to facilitate research collaborations, RIHN also provides opportunity for overseas researchers to contribute directly to the
RIHN research community as either Invited Scholar or
Visiting Research Fellow.

42

RIHN Invited Scholar Program & RIHN Visiting Research Fellow Program
Opportunities for Overseas Researchers to Spend Time at RIHN

RIHN has established two programs to enable overseas
researchers to spend several months at the Institute,engaging in research and interacting with other RIHN
researchers. The basic idea is that such visits benefit both
the researcher and the Institute. The programs are open to
researchers based outside of Japan (including those withJapanese nationality) and researchers based in Japan witha nationality other than Japanese. Candidates for bothschemes are selected competitively.

• The RIHN Invited Scholar Program enables overseas• The RIHN Visiting Research Fellow Program brings

researchers to spend between one and three months

overseas researchers to the Institute for periods of two to

at RIHN and to contribute to the development ofsix months to engage in specific research in the context

the Institute’s intellectual foundations and strategicof one of the RIHN Programs, Projects or RIHN Center

directions. Invited Scholars should be widely recognized

Divisions. Visiting Research Fellows are not employedin their fields and able to provide a strategic overview

by RIHN, but their travel, accommodation and dailyof the relevance of their disciplinary or interdisciplinary

expenses are covered by an allowance. Visiting Researchstudies to RIHN's engagement in global environmental

Fellows are selected based on applications from thestudies. Invited Scholars are selected based on

candidates themselves. RIHN faculty members act asnomination by RIHN faculty members who act as theirhosts during the stay and candidates are required tohost. Invited Scholars are employed by RIHN during

identify and consult with potential hosts before applying.

their stay and receive a stipend.

43

Science Communication
As a national research institute, RIHN is expected to conduct exemplary science. It also must communicate its research
agenda and results to the public and contribute to public awareness and discussion of contemporary environmentalism.
A number of public symposia, seminar series, and publications are designed to reach specialist and general audiences.
Recent activities and publications include:

The Earth Forum Kyoto and the Earth Hall of Fame Kyoto Award
The Earth Forum Kyoto invites world-renowned experts andactivists to discuss the environmental and cultural bases ofmore responsible human societies. The Earth Hall of Fame
Kyoto Award is given to those who have made exemplarycontributions to the protection of the global environment.
Organizers of the event are the International Institute forAdvanced Studies, the Kyoto International ConferenceCenter, and RIHN.
The 2019 recipients of the Earth Hall of Fame Kyoto Award
were Ms. Mary Robinson (Former President of Ireland,
Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights) and IPCC
(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

RIHN International Symposium
An annual symposium at RIHN exploring the key concepts
of RIHN Research Programs.

Fair Use of Multiple Resources in Cross-Scale Context
11-12 July 2019
Keynote Address
Steering toward Sustainability: Cross-scale Interactions,Behavioral Mechanisms, and the Idea of Optimality
Oran R. YOUNG (Bren School of Environmental Science &Management, University of California, Santa Barbara )Professor Oran R. Young, of Bren School of Environmental Science & Management,
University of California, Santa Barbara, giving the 2019 keynote speech.

44

RIHN Public Seminars

RIHN Regional Community Seminars

Public seminars are held throughout the year at RIHN or in thecity center.

RIHN Regional Community Seminars take place in, andaddress specific environmental issues pertaining to, a particularpart of Japan.

Bon Apetit, Afrique!
Life/Gastronomic Worlds of Mali and Burkina Faso Make us
Think About Future of Our Region and Globe
21 June 2019

RIHN Seminars
This seminar series is oriented towards researchers at RIHN,
inviting a wide range of visiting scholars to present their mostcurrent research. Seminars in 2019 included:
Establishing, Quantifying and Monitoring Connectivity in
Hydrological Systems Using Stable Isotope
J. BOWEN, Professor, University of Utah
30 May 2019

How to Develop Business Models for Sustainable Society
18 July 2019, Graduate School / Faculty of Engineering,
Hokkaido University
Regional Revitalization Through GIAHS: Dialogue Between
Generations
12 November 2019, Morotsuka Junior High School, Miyazaki
Linking Ecosystem Networks with Fun for Nature Conservationand Social Bonding
22 December 2019, Lake Biwa Museum, Shiga
Sustainable Food and Agriculture can Open a New Future for
Kameoka City
19 January 2020, Galleria Kameoka, Kyoto

Using Plurisecular Trajectories of the Hydrosystems to Improve
River Management
David ESCHBACH, JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow / METIS Laboratory,
Sorbonne University
13 November 2019

Waterweed in Lake Biwa: Towards a Civic Participatory
Environmental Governance
8 February 2020, Collabo Shiga 21

Other Events
要申込み・先着 300 名
申込期間 2019 年

特別講演

4 月 2 日（火）〜 22 日（月）安成 哲三

総合地球環境学研究所 所長

パネルディスカッション１

世界の動きと日本の脱炭素化に向けたゆくえ
ファシリテーター〜1.5 度特別報告書を受けて〜

石川 智子

地球環境戦略研究機関
ナレッジマネージメント・連携担当ディレクター

ＩＰＣＣ第４９回総会京都市開催記念シンポジウム

脱炭素社会の実現に向けてパネルディスカッション 2

京都の挑戦

ゼロ

〜プロジェクト”０”への道〜

アフリカ食文化の深淵に迫る〜世界の動向と京都の挑戦〜

ファシリテーター

新川 達郎

2019

京のアジェンダ２１フォーラム代表
同志社大学大学院教授

門川 大作
京都市長

会場

13:10-14:00 佐藤 靖明
大阪産業大学

14:00-14:50 清水 貴夫

総合地球環境学研究所

14:50-15:10

5月11日（土）10:30 18:00

秀行
15:10-16:00 ノ高野
ンフィクション作家〜

京都大学

16:15-16:30 横山

名古屋大学

会場へは公共交通機関で御来場ください。

後援 : 外務省，京都府，京都商工会議所（予定）智講演②「西アフリカのランドスケープと食文化」
休憩
講演③「幻のバオバブ納豆を追え」

17:20-17:30 藤本 武
富山大学

この印刷物が不要になれば「雑がみ」として古紙回収等へ！

主催
共催

平成 31 年 3 月発行 京都市印刷物第 303277 号
京都市環境政策局地球温暖化対策室

Urban Land Teleconnection and Sustainability
アーバン・ランド・テレコネクションとサステナビリティ

Urban life today depends on the resources from far, and it is not suﬃcient to look only at the city and its underlying
issues in order to explore urban sustainability. New concepts and methodologies are required to accurately understandthe resource dependency, and such concepts called “Teleconnection” and “Telecoupling” have been proposed in recent
years. “Urban Land Connection” in particular focuses on land resources.
The FEAST Project of the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature has so far addressed the issue of resource
dependency from the perspective of food and ecological footprints of the local municipalities in Japan such as Kyoto. In
this seminar we welcome a research team led by Prof. Shu-Li Huang from National Taipei University, who is employing
diverse, cutting-edge approaches including “emergy” . We look forward to seeing you there!
現代の都市は遠方の資源に依存しており、都市のサステナビリティを考えるためには都市の内側だけを見ていては不十分です。都市外部との資源の依存関係を正確に理解するためには、新しい考え方や方法論が必要です。そこで近年、Teleconnection や Telecoupling という概念が提唱されています。
Urban Land Teleconnection は、そのうち特に土地資源に着目した概念です。
総合地球環境学研究所 FEAST プロジェクトでは、これまで、京都市をはじめとする日本の自治体の食とエコロジカル・フットプリントの観点から、この問題に取り組んできました。今回は、Emergy（エマジー）をはじめ、多様な新しいアプローチを用いている台湾の Prof. Shu-Li Huang ( 国立台北大学、
National Taipei University) らの研究チームをお迎えしてセミナーを開催します。関心のある幅広い皆様の参加をお待ちしています。

Land teleconnection, governance andurban sustainability projectIntroduction: Land teleconnections, governance andurban sustainability
Shu-Li Huang (National Taipei University)

コメント②
ディスカッション

16:30-17:20

主催 : 京都市
共催 : 環境省，京都大学，大学共同利用機関法人人間文化研究機構 総合地球環境学研究所，一般財団法人イクレイ日本，
公益財団法人京都市環境保全活動推進協会，公益財団法人地球環境戦略研究機関

開場 12:30
開演 13:00

講演①「アフリカにおけるバナナの食文化を考える」

16:00-16:15 重田 眞義 コメント①

国立京都国際会館 アネックスホール
地下鉄烏丸線「国際会館駅」から徒歩 5 分

日sun

ビ サコ 開会の挨拶
13:00-13:10 ウス
京都精華大学学長

ほか

クロージング
セッション

2019年

日時

12.1

閉会の挨拶

京都精華大学本館 H-417

ACCESS
叡山電車「京都精華大前」駅下車徒歩 1 分または京都市営
地下鉄「国際会館」駅から京都バスに乗り換え「京都精華大学前」バス停下車徒歩 3 分

×××

お車での来場はご遠慮くださいスクールバスは当日運休です食堂・コンビニは当日休業です

京都精華大学 アフリカ・アジア現代文化研究センター
科学研究費補助金（基盤研究（B））
「アフリカ食文化の新展開：食料主権論のために」、
総合地球環境学研究所「サニテーション価値連鎖の提案」プロジェクト

Seeing the knowledge

Environmental experience and the humanities

21 October 9:00-18:00 // 22 October 9:30-13:00 // 2019
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
Kyoto, Japan
How to recognize, describe, and valorize
different forms of environmental
knowledge?

Organized by the RIHN Humanities for theEnvironment Feasibility Study, thisworkshop explores how humanistic
traditions of study can reveal the humanknowledge embedded and continually
recreated within material culture, cultural
practices, and landscapes.
The workshop asks of the descriptive forms
capable of conveying deep humanexperience of nature, and how these forms
can invigorate humanistic scholarship ofsustainable human-environmental
interactions for the future.

Land use, transportation and urban land
teleconnections

Yu-Hsin Tsai* (National Chengchi University), Shih-Liang Chan
(National Taipei University), and Shu-Li Huang

Urban sustainable economic development
considering land teleconnections

Tsung-Chen Lee*(National Taipei University) and Yessica C.Y.Chung(National Pingtung University of Science and Technology)

Material ﬂow analysis of agricultural products andurban land teleconnections

Ying-Chieh Lee*(Lee-Ming Institute of Technology), Shu-Li Huang,
and Chia-Tsung Yeh (National Taipei University)

2019 年 6 月 28 日（金）Friday, June 28, 2019

Ecological Footprint of Japanese city group and 47
prefectures
Katsunori Iha (Global Footprint Network)

Assessing impacts of sustainable consumption policy
on ecological footprint
Satoshi Kojima (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies)

Diversiﬁcation of urban diets and agricultural land
use changes through teleconnections
Kazuaki Tsuchiya (The University of Tokyo)

Land teleconnection, governance and urban sustainability project isunder a collaborative research initiative funded by the Ministry of Scienceand Technology of Taiwan, and explores the role of urban areas in global
systems and promote a sustainable future.
http://bit.ly/2WPrcI8
FEAST is an ongoing project of Research Institute for Humanity andNature, and takes a transdisciplinary approach to explicate the reality of,and potential for, sustainable agrifood transition.
https://feastproject.org/en/

13:00-16:30

日時 Date&Time

場所 Venue

総合地球環境学研究所
セミナー室 3＆4
Seminar Room 3&4,
Research Institutefor Humanity and Nature
英語 English

言語 Language
申込 Registration
問合せ Contact

参加申し込み不要

Invited speakers include:
Steven Hartman (Mälardalen U. Sweden)
Patrick Degeorges (U. of Lyon, France)
Yoann Moreau (Ecole des Mines, France)
Frederic Joulian (EHESS, France)
Masahiro Terada (RIHN, Japan)
Peter Matthews (Minpaku, Japan)
Anick Coudart (CNRS, France)

Guests welcome
RSVP: Daniel Niles

Organized with support of the Center for
Innovation in Traditional Industries, Seika
University; Kyoto University

No prior registration required.

FEAST プロジェクト / FEAST Project

feast@chikyu.ac.jp45

Environmental Isotope Study
As an Inter-University Research Institute Corporation, RIHN
maintains state-of-the-art laboratories, with a central emphasis
on stable-isotope analysis.
In 2012, RIHN established the “Environmental Isotope Study”
cooperative research program that promotes understandingof the utility of stable isotope analysis in contemporary
environmental studies and enables collaboration withresearchers from other universities and research institutes.
RIHN's laboratories are widely used by external researchersand students, and more than one hundred universities or

第9回

同位体環境学
シンポジウムresearch institutes within and outside of Japan have utilized
our up-to-date isotope research facilities so far. We hold an

9th Symposium on
Environmental Isotope Studyannual training course in August, and organize an annual

プログラム
9：30 - 9：35

受付 Registration
所長挨拶 Opening Remarks
安成 哲三（地球研）YASUNARI Tetsuzo（Director-General, RIHN）

9：35 - 9：45

「地球研における同位体環境学共同研究」

9：00 - 9：30

symposium on environmental isotope study in December

Current topics of Environmental Isotope Study in RIHN

陀安 一郎（地球研） TAYASU Ichiro（RIHN）

in order to create a national and international research

10：45 - 12：15

ポスター口頭発表 Poster flash talks（1）
ポスターセッション Poster session（1）12：15 - 13：15

昼食

13：15 - 13：45「リン循環を解明する新たなツール「リン酸 - 酸素安定同位体」：環境科学への応用と展望を探る」

9：45 - 10：45

network for the next generation and support environmental

2019

12/20

isotope studies around the world.

9：00 - 17：25

会場

From 2020, we started a follow-up project (Post Core Project)Fri

総合地球環境学研究所
主催

entitled “Applied research platform based on environmental

Lunch

Phosphate oxygen isotopes as a tool to trace P dynamics: perspectives inenvironmental sciences

奥田 昇（地球研） OKUDA Noboru（RIHN）
13：45 - 14：15「ダブルスパイク -TIMS 法を用いた Sr 安定同位体の高精度分析とその地球化学・考古科学への応用」
H i g h p re c i s i o n a n a l y s i s o f s t a b l e S r i s o t o p e s by DS -T I MS a n d i t sapplication to geochemical and archaeological sciences

若木 重行（海洋研究開発機構 高知コア研究所）

WAKAKI Shigeyuki（Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research, JAMSTEC）

14：30 - 15：30
15：45 - 17：15
17：15 - 17：25

ポスター口頭発表 Poster flash talks（2）ポスターセッション Poster session（2）
まとめ Summary

後援北海道大学 北方生物圏フィールド科学センター / 秋田大学 大学院国際資源学研究科 / 筑波大学下田臨海実験センター
東京大学総合研究博物館 / 名古屋大学 宇宙地球環境研究所 / 金沢大学 環日本海域環境研究センター
京都大学 生態学研究センター / 九州大学 農学部附属演習林 / 産業技術総合研究所 計量標準総合センター

お問い合わせ総合地球環境学研究所 研究基盤国際センター 計測・分析部門
Laboratory and Analysis Division of the RIHN Center, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

海洋研究開発機構 高知コア研究所 /日本環境衛生センター アジア大気汚染研究センター / 農林水産消費安全技術センター
静岡県環境衛生科学研究所 / 山梨県忍野村 / 福井県大野市 / 愛媛県西条市
日本長期生態学研究ネットワーク（JaLTER）/ 全国大学演習林協議会

traceability” to apply the methodology to environmental
research, collaborating with various stakeholders.

Future Earth
RIHN hosts the Future Earth Asia Regional Center (http://www.
futureearth.org/asiacentre), that supports development of
Future Earth in the region, helps connect researchers and otherstakeholders, and facilitates the formation of regionally relevant
and credible governance structures for the initiative. The Centerhas convened a Regional Advisory Committee to accelerate
the regional development of Future Earth and collaborated

TERRA School participants on fieldwork in an organic farm in Kameoka December 2019.

in launching various Future Earth programs focused in Asia:
Monsoon Asia Integrated Research for Sustainability – Future
Earth (MAIRS-FE), Sustainability Initiative in the Marginal Seasof South and East Asia (SIMSEA) and Health Investigation and
Air Sensing for Asian Pollution (Hi-ASAP). The Center supports
the Knowledge-Action Network on “Systems of Sustainable
Consumption and Production” (http://www.futureearth.org/
future-earth-sscp) and hosts the TERRA School, a course on
Transdisciplinarity for Early careeR Researchers in Asia.

46

Dynamic face-to-face interaction ofparticipants during the seminar on Why
Systems of Sustainable Consumption and
Production is essential to achieving the SDGs.
The session had virtual participation as well.
February 2020

Regional Centre for Future Earth in Asia Website
A map of the Future Earth Community in Asia
has been developed on the website.
This map shows people and institutions in theregion that are actively engaged in Future Earthactivities. (www.futureearth.org/asiacentre/)Environmental Education
This unit promotes environmental education for publicschool students from primary to secondary levels. It
coordinates school tours to RIHN, where students visit
laboratories and research project workspaces, and can speak
directly with lab technicians and scientists of many different
disciplines and specializations. It also conducts teachertraining activities in order to convey updated perspectives
and methods in environmental science.
The practice of environmental education also stimulates
RIHN to revisit its own practices in global environmental
science. Environmental education therefore plays animportant part in RIHN’s mission to work with different
social actors—from individual students and teachers, toentire schools and school districts, and beyond—to develop
knowledge that enhances public understanding of andengagement with the contemporary environment.

RIHN Open House
Each summer RIHN holds an annual Open House in which
RIHN research rooms and laboratories are opened to the
public. Research projects and Institute staff develop games
and exercises for both children and adults in order to invite
creative thought about contemporary environmental issues.
The RIHN Open House has proven particularly attractive tofamilies with young children, with up to 900 people fromthe surrounding community participating in an average
year.

47

Ecohealth
New Development of Ecohealth Research in Asia
This project is a collaboration with the National Museum of

Through historical examination of concepts of health inEthnology and the National Institute of Japanese Literature,

East Asia and contemporary fieldwork in communities insupported by the National Institutes for the Humanities. It

Laos, China and Japan experiencing rapid demographic

adopts an Ecohealth approach that places human health inchange, the project aims to move beyond disease-oriented

a wider ecosystem context and explores the linkages among

understandings to a holistic and positive appreciation of

livelihoods, food and subsistence, ecological environment

health in specific contexts and places.

and demographic and social change in Asia.

2nd Asia Forum on Ecohealth Research(Organized by NIHU Multidisciplinary Collaborative Project Ecohealth Resarch, Hainan
Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Eco-health & Human Ecology
Committee, the Ecological Society of China in Hainkou City, China, Nov 2019)

Interactive Communication Initiative
This initiative aims at developing a new methodology

Such diverse modes of communication increase theof environmental studies based on interactive methods

sophistication and accessibility of RIHN’s transdisciplinaryof research visualization. For this purpose, this initiative

research dedicated to the co-creation of regionally- andsupports the translation of RIHN project research activities

culturally-sensitive societies closely linked to nature.

and outcomes into graphical forms and exhibitions.

A self-reflection of the activities of 'Dziko Langa', a child-youth sanitation club in Zambia, bydigital storytelling with youth members and a local artist. (October 2019).

48

Serious Board Game Jam 2019 (September 2019), a two-day workshop to create board games
on dining with mixed teams of college students, creators, civic members, and researchers.

Collaboration
Research Areas

Inter-University
Research Institutes

Affiliate Organizations* Not incl. RIHN

*Not incl. RIHN

Humanities

Others57

15 2.1%8%Social Sciences

171
24%

85 12.1%

Foreign
Institutes

170

24.3%

Total

701

Total

701

NaturalSciences

peoplepeople473

67%

7 1.0%

PublicInstitutes

National
Universities

278

39.7%

PrivateUniversities

75

PrivateInstitutes

10.7%
Public Universities

41 5.8%30 4.3%*As of March 31st, 2020

Collaboration in Japan *As of April 1st, 2020
Research Institutions

Municipal Governments and Other Agencies

Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University

Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture

Doshisha University

Kyoto Municipal Science Center for Youth

Nagasaki University

Food and Agricultural Materials Inspection Center (FAMIC)

Kyoto Sangyo University

Ono City, Fukui Prefecture

Tottori University of Environmental Studies

Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture

Kyoto University

Kyoto Prefectural Hokuryo Senior High School

Center for Environmental Remote Sensing, Chiba University

Kyoto Prefectural Rakuhoku Senior High School

Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology, Kanazawa University

Miyazaki Prefecture

Faculty of Engineering, GI-CoRE, Faculty of Health Sciences, Research Faculty ofAgriculture, Hokkaido University

NHK Educational Corporation

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo

Kyoto City, ICLEI Japan, Kyoto Environmental Activities Association

Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University
Faculty of Collaborative Regional Innovation, Ehime University
Kyoto Seika University

Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture
Kyoto Institute, Library and Archives
Oshinomura, Yamanashi Prefecture

The Institute of Statistical Mathematics
Nara Women's University

International Collaboration*As of April 1st, 2020

AUSTRIAInternational Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

GERMANY
Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies

PHILIPPINES
University of the Philippines Diliman

BHUTAN
College of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan

INDONESIA
Indonesian Institute of Sciences
Institut Teknologi Bandung
Research Center for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences
The State University of Gorontalo
Universitas Riau
University of Lampung

SWEDENThe Sven Hedin Foundation

BURKINA FASO
l'Association des Jeunes pour la Protection de l'Environnement
et d’Elevage
CAMEROON
Association Tam-Tam Mobile
mutcareCHINA
East China Normal University
Eco-environmental Protection Institute, Shanghai Academy ofAgricultural Sciences
Hainan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Peking University

LAOS
Lao Tropical and Public Health Institute, Ministry of Health
NETHERLANDS
Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht
University

THAILAND
Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University
Rice Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
University of California, Berkeley
ZAMBIA
University of Zambia

OMAN
Sultan Qaboos University

49Institutional Research Unit
The Institutional Research (IR) Unit supports thedissemination. Based on this, the IR Unit develops decision

RIHN Council of Research Strategy in developing andsupport tools for RIHN, analyzing current research trends

coordinating RIHN’s research, education, and coordinationand methods, and developing new research evaluation

strategies. The IR Unit collects and analyzes a wide range

indicators tailored to the evaluation of interdisciplinary andof data relating to research results, research quality,transdisciplinary research.

research organization, education and capacity building,contribution to society and international collaboration andPublic Relations Unit
The Public Relations (PR) Unit supports the dissemination

Unit also issues a range of publications including theand sharing of RIHN research results and information

RIHN Prospectus, Newsletter, and two book series, one forabout the Institute’s approach to research. In collaboration

specialized audiences and one for the general public. By

with RIHN researchers, it reaches out to the general public

fostering a lively two-way communication with the researchthrough events such as the Citizens’ Seminars, Regional

community and the general public, the PR Unit strives toCollaborations Seminars, and the RIHN Open House;

contribute to the crystallization of a RIHN identity and to

through the RIHN website and social media; and by issuing

the maintenance of an open institute.

press releases and organizing press conferences. The PR

International Publications Unit

50

The International Publications Unit (IPU) supports planning

Editors in the journal Global Sustainability (Cambridgeand promoting RIHN non-Japanese language publications

University Press) and are responsible for the open-ended

that enhance RIHN's international presence and stature.

collection of “Humanities and Global Sustainability” in

RIHN has partnered with Springer Nature Publishers

the journal. The works of IPU bear out RIHN’s approachto establish the Global Environmental Studies bookto solution-oriented research, namely the transdisciplinary

series. Titles in the series reflect the full breadth of RIHN

study that helps transformation of human-environment

scholarship. IPU members are also involved as Section

interaction.

Above: OTANI Michitaka, Children in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Bottom: SHIMIZU Takao, Grain Warehouse, Burkina Faso

51

Facilities

Research rooms on the RIHN campus are designed to provide a senseof openness. The design concept is to allow implemented projects to beloosely interconnected as they occur in one large curved space 150 metersin length. The facilities help external researchers as well as RIHN researchstaff to meet one another, since they are designed with the maximizationof shared use in mind. At the center of the main building, a library andcomputer room are located for the convenience of many users, and threecommon rooms are provided for casual discussions. On the basement
floor, a cluster of fully functional laboratories has been designed withemphasis on convenience for shared use, as with the research rooms.
The separate RIHN House is a guesthouse. The assembly hall and adining lounge located to the left of the house entrance serve as meeting
spaces for the RIHN staff as well as for guests.
Appropriately for an institution researching the global environment,
RIHN is housed in a tile-roofed building suited to the Kyoto landscape,where as many as possible of the trees already on the site have beenretained. Lighting and air-conditioning also employ the latest designs tominimize the building's impact on the environment. The design has won
acclaim, receiving awards from the Illumination Engineering Institute ofJapan, the Japan Institute of Architects, the Green Building Award fromMIPIM Asia, and the Architectural Institute of Japan.

Management
RIHN researchers work across thebreadth of global environmental
studies. If the diverse knowledge
they produce is the warp, thenthe unifying weft is provided byfield measurement, laboratory
analysis, data and information
management, and academic andsocial communication of research
progress and results. In maintaining
and supporting RIHN research
capacity to collect and analyze data
and to communicate research innumerous professional and publicfora, the RIHN Center enhances ourcollaborative research around theworld and contributes the kind of
integrated knowledge that can solve
global environmental problems.

52

Laboratories
RIHN research projects are multidisciplinary and multimethod; incommon they share the need forhigh quality physical observationand chemical and biological analysisof the surface environments of theearth. As a national institute, RIHN
houses eighteen basement laboratories
designed to address this need. There
are state-of-the-art laboratories
dedicated to microscopic, DNA andstable isotope analysis. Additional
facilities include two fieldwork
preparation rooms for storage andmaintenance of observational andsampling equipment, three lowtemperature rooms for organism andice core storage, three incubatorrooms for storage of organisms
requiring specific temperatures, anda clean room in which samples canbe processed in a contamination-freeenvironment.

Instruments
RIHN research projects conduct
a variety of studies around theworld and collect a diverse rangeof samples that contain valuable
information that will help illuminate
human-nature interactions. Stable
isotope and DNA data in particular
can give very precise descriptions of
how materials and species interact,change, and move through time andspace. In addition to maintaining
state-of-the-art laboratories, theLaboratory and Analysis Divisionof the RIHN Center continues todevelop new methods of data analysis
and application. In conducting thisresearch in collaboration with RIHN
projects, universities and affiliatedinstitutions throughout Japan, thedivision enhances the sophisticationof experimental techniques andexchange of research information,and promotes the shared use of
facilities.

Exhibition Hall
Entrance Hall

Dining Hall

Lecture Hall

Seminar Rooms

Main building
Administrative Office

RIHN Center

Library
Research Rooms

Water Garden

Main entrance hall
Wooden Deckand Garden

Garden Covered with
Fallen Leaves

Detached “floating”
room

Low Temperature
Sample Storage

Project Rooms

Library(Two-Tier)

Laboratories

Biological
Laboratory
Isotope Analysis
Laboratory

Clean RoomExperimental Laboratories

The RIHN House with one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments
for guest researchers and their families.

2F
Main Entrance Hall
Administration
Lecture Hall
Seminar Rooms
Dining Hall

2F

1F
Employee Entrance
Research Project Rooms
RIHN Center
LibraryMedia Center

1F
B1F
Basement
Laboratories
Book Repository
Field Research Equipment and Facilities
Cold Storage

53

Administrative Structure
Board of Advisors
Deputy Director-General,
Planning and Coordination

Institutional Research Unit
Public Relations Unit
International Publications Unit
Director-General

Research Department

Deputy Director-General,

Research

Council for Research Strategy
External Research-Evaluation Committee

Financial Information
BudjetIncome(Fiscal Year 2020)

Category

Amount (Yen in thousands)

Subsidy for Operation
Self Revenue

1,436,463
19,379Total Earnings

1,455,842

External Sources of Funding(Fiscal Year 2019)
Category

Amount (Yen in thousands)

Fund for Promotion of Academic
and Industrial Collaboration
Grants-in-Aids
for Scientific ResearchDonations for Research

54

73,256
68,52010,210RIHN Center

Planning and Collaboration Section

Administrative Office

Accounting Section
Operation and Auditing Division

Boards and Committees*As of July 1st, 2020

Board of Advisors Oversees personnel, planning, administration and operation of the institute
ASAOKA Mie
IKEYA Kazunobu
KADA Yukiko
			
KOBAYASHI Tadashi
KONO Yasuyuki
			NAGAO Seiya
			
NIIKAWA Tatsuro
TAKENAKA Chisato
			

MALLEE, HeinTANIGUCHI Makoto
SAIJO Tatsuyoshi
SUGIHARA Kaoru
HAYASHIDA Sachiko
TAYASU Ichiro
OKADA Saeko

President, Kiko Network
Professor, National Museum of Ethnology
A Member of the House of Councilors
Former Governor of Shiga Prefecture
Professor Emeritus, Osaka University
Vice President, Kyoto University
Professor, Center for Southeast Asian Studies,Kyoto University
Director, Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology,
Kanazawa University
Professor, Graduate School, Doshisha Univesity
Professor, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences,
Nagoya University

External Research-Evaluation Committee

Deputy Director-General, RIHN
Deputy Director-General, RIHN
Specially Appointed Professor, RIHN
Specially Appointed Professor, RIHN
Professor, RIHN
Professor, RIHN
Associate Professor, RIHN

External review of research project proposals

Domestic
KAWABATA Zen'ichiro
Emeritus Professor, RIHN
KONDO Akihiko
Professor, Center for Environmental Remote Sensing / Department of Environmental Remote Sensing,
Division of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Chiba
University
SUMI Akimasa
Project Professor, The University of Tokyo Institute for Future Initiatives / Professor Emeritus, theUniversity of Tokyo / Former President, National Institute for Environmental Studies
TANAKA Masaru
Director, Moune Institute for Forest-Sato-Sea Studies / Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University
TODA Takao
Vice President for Human Security and Global Health, Japan International Cooperation Agency
UCHIBORI Motomitsu
Emeritus Professor, The Open University of Japan/ Emeritus Professor, Hitotsubashi University
YUMOTO Takakazu
Director, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University

Overseas
BAI, Xuemei
Professor, Urban Environment and Human Ecology, Fenner School of Environment and Society,
Australian National University, Australia
CHABAY, Ilan
Head of Strategic Science Initiatives and Programs; Scientific Project Leader of the Knowledge,
Learning, and Societal Change Alliance (KLASICA) and Global Sustainability Strategy Forum (GSSF)
Projects Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies e.V. (IASS) Potsdam, Germany / Adjunct
Professor, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, U.S.A.
LU, Yonglong
Research Professor and Co-Director, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, China
NAGENDRA, Harini
Professor of Sustainability / Member of Curriculum and Pedagogy Committee / Member of ResearchCouncil, Azim Premji University, India
ROMERO LANKAO, Patricia
Senior Research Scientist, Transportation and Hydrogen Systems Center, National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL), U.S.A. / Institute Research Fellow, Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation,
University of Chicago, U.S.A.
SHRIVASTAVA, Paul
Chief Sustainability Officer / Director, Sustainability Institute / Professor, Management andOrganization, Smeal College of Business, The Pennsylvania State University, U.S.A.
WONG, R. Bin
Distinguished Professor of History, Department of History, University of California, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
ZHANG, Shiqiu
Professor, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, China

Council for Research Strategy Oversees research strategy, personnel, project, and evaluation system
YASUNARI Tetsuzo
MALLEE, HeinTANIGUCHI Makoto

Director-General
Deputy Director-General
Deputy Director-General

SAIJO Tatsuyoshi
SUGIHARA Kaoru
HAYASHIDA SachikoSpecially Appointed Professor
Specially Appointed Professor
Professor

Senior Advisor

Emeritus Professors

TACHIMOTO Narifumi

NAKANISHI Masami
WADA Eitaro
HIDAKA Toshitaka
NAKAWO Masayoshi

Honorary Fellow
VAN DER LEEUW, Sander Ernst

RIHN Staff

Director-General		Deputy Director-General (Planning and Coordination)		
Deputy Director-General (Research)

Administrative Office

Administrative Director

HIGASHI Hideaki

General Affairs and Planning
Subsection
Head
ZENIZUKA Rie
Chief
NAKAOHJI Yu
Clerk
KOGISO Ayana
Clerk
KOHO Sayaka
Personnel Subsection
Head
TANINAKA Kiyohisa
Chief
MIMOTO Natsuko
Clerk
NAGATA Satoko
Clerk
NAKANISHI Keita
International Affairs Subsection
Head
FUJIKAWA Takeshi

Professor
Associate Professor
Administrative Director

TACHIMOTO Narifumi
SATO Yo-Ichiro
MOJI Kazuhiko
KADA Ryohei

NAKANO Takanori
SATO Tetsu
KUBOTA Jumpei
NAKASHIZUKA Tohru

YASUNARI Tetsuzo
MALLEE, HeinTANIGUCHI Makoto

MIZUI Yoshitake

Planning and Collaboration Section
Head

FUKUSHIMA Yoshihiro
AKIMICHI Tomoya
KAWABATA Zen’ichiro
OSADA Toshiaki

TAYSU Ichiro
OKADA Saeko
MIZUI Yoshitake

Collaboration Unit
Head
SAKAMOTO Kohei
Research Planning Subunit
Head
BIVONE Junko
Clerk
SAWAMURA Takahiro
Cooperative Research Support Subunit
Head
SAKAMOTO Kohei
Chief
YOSHINO Akiko
Information and Library Subunit
Chief
YAMASHITA Takayoshi

Accounting Section

Operation and Auditing Division

Head
SAITOU Hiroshi
Deputy Head SHIGEMITSU Kazuo
Specialist
SUNADA Akinobu
Financial Planning Subsection
Head
TSUJIMURA Hanako
Facility Management Subsection
Head
ISHII Hiroya
S.A.Specialist ZUI Zoujin
Accounting Subsection
Head
HONDA Takayuki
Procurement Subsection
Head
HARUOKA Junichiro
Clerk
KARIYA Midori

Head
KIMURA Makoto
Specialist
SUNADA Akinobu
Auditing Subunit
Head
TSUJIMURA Hanako

55

Research Department
Program Directors
MALLEE, Hein
SAIJO Tatsuyoshi
SUGIHARA Kaoru
TANIGUCHI Makoto

HABU Junko

Social Science
Future Design
Economic History,
Environmental History
Hydrology

HAYASHI Hiroaki

Professors
HAYASHIDA Sachiko Atmospheric Environmental Science,		
Remote Sensing
SAKAKIBARA Masayuki Earth and Environmental Sciences,		Transdisciplinary Research
YAMAUCHI Taro
Human Ecology
Industrial Ecology,
Environmental Economics
Archaeology, GIS, Open Science
Hydrology
Environmental Sociology
Ecology

Assistant Professors
ONISHI Yuko
OTA Kazuhiko
LEE, Sanghyun

Biogeography, Macroecology
Japanese Environmental Ethics
Agricultural Water Management

Specially Appointed Professors
SAIJO Tatsuyoshi
SUGIHARA Kaoru

Future Design
Economic History,
Environmental History
Forest Ecology
Historical Anthropology

Visiting Professors
FUJII Shigeo

YONEMOTO Shohei

Visiting Associate Professors
ENDO Aiko

Marine and Coastal Policy,
Fishery Economics
NAKAGAWA Yoshinori Qualitative Research, Future Design
Medical Anthropology
NISHI Makoto
OKUDA Noboru
Ecological Science
SHIMIZU Takao
Archaeology, Ethnology
TERADA Masahiro
Environmental Humanities,
History/Meta-history
WATANABE Kazuo
Area Studies
WONG, Grace
Forest and Natural Resource
Economics, Development Studies

Senior Researchers

Specially Appointed Assistant Professors
AIBA Masahiro
NAKAO Seiji

MIZUNO Kosuke
NAKATSUKA Takeshi
SHIBATA Akira
SHINJO Ryuichi

Associate Professors
KANEMOTO Keiichiro		
KONDO Yasuhisa
KOZAN Osamu
MCGREEVY, Steven R.
YOSHIDA Takehito

KANIE Norichika
KASUGA Fumiko
KAWASAKI Masahiro
KUSAGO Takayoshi
MANAGI Shunsuke

Environmental Anthropology,
Historical Ecology
Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer,
Sustainable Development Studies
Earth System GovernanceFood Safety Planning
Atmospheric Chemistry
Action-based Development Studies
Environmental Economics
Urban Engineering
Indonesian Area Research
Biogeochemistry, Paleoclimatology
Rural Development,
Biomass Carbonization
Petrology and Mineralogy,
Isotope Geochemistry
History and Philosophy of Science

Water Environment and Sanitation,
Micropollutants Contamination

FRY, Jacob Redman
		
MASUHARA Naoki

Computational Sustainability,
Environmental Economics
Public Administration Studies
and Energy Policy
NGUYEN, Tien Hoang Geoinformatics, Environmental		Modeling and Mapping
RUPPRECHT Christoph D. D. Geography

TAHERZADEH, Oliver Ahrash Environmental Economics,
		
Global Food System
TAMURA Norie
Natural Resource Management
YAMANAKA Manabu Atmosphere-Hydrosphere Sciences

Researchers
FARABI-ASL, Hadi
Energy System Anlysis
Ecological Anthropology
HAYASHI Koji
HUANG, Wan Hui
Regional Environmental Studies, GIS
Area Studies
KAJITA Ryosuke
KATAFUCHI Yuya
Econometrics, Applied Econometrics
KIMIJIMA Satomi
Area Studies
KOBAYASHI Kunihiko International Environmental Law
KOBAYASHI Mai
Environmental Sociology
KUANG Xiaoxu
Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
LEE, Jemyung
Regional Informatics, Rural Planning
MISRA, Prakhar
Environmental Remote Sensing,		Land Cover Change Modelling
NAKAHARA Satoe
Cultural Anthropology, Peace Studies
ODA Kimisato
Landscape Architecture,		Cultural Landscape
OSAWA Takamasa
Social Anthropology
SHAHRIER, Shibly
Future Design
SHINKAI Rika
Cultural Anthropology
SHIODERA Satomi
Forest Ecology
SHIRAI Yuko
Human Ecology,		Livelihood Systems StudySPIEGELBERG, Maximilian Environmental Management
WIN THIRI KYAW
Neurology and Clinical Pharmacology
YAMADA Taiki
Graph Theory,		Optimal Transport Theory

Research Associates
ARAKI Hikaru
HONMA SakiITO Takafumi
IWASAKI Yumiko
KARATSU Fukiko
KATSURA Tomomi

KIMURA Ayako
KOBAYASHI Yuko
MATSUOKA Yuko
MYO HAN HTUNNAKAI Minami
SENDA Masako

SHIMAUCHI Risa
SUETSUGU Satoko
TAKATA Naoko
TAKEHARA Mari
YAMAMOTO Aya

RIHN Center
Director		
MALLEE, Hein
Deputy Director		 TAYASU Ichiro
Heads of Divisions
Laboratory and Analysis Division
Information Resources Division		
Collaboration Division		
Communication Division		
Future Earth Division 		Specially Appointed Associate Professor
LAMBINO, Ria

Research Fellow, NIHU Center for Transdisciplinary Innovation (Ecohealth)/
Specially Appointed Assistant Professor

TAYASU Ichiro
KUMAZAWA Terukazu
ISHII Reiichiro
ABE Ken-ichi
MALLEE, HeinJIANG Hong-Wei

KIM, Satbyul
Ecological Anthropology
Social Science
Hydrology
Isotope Ecology, Isotope Environmental Science

Associate Professors
ISHII Reiichiro
KONDO Yasuhisa
KUMAZAWA Terukazu
MATSUMOTO TaeNILES, Daniel
SHIN Ki-Cheol

Theoretical Ecology
Archaeology, GIS, Open Science
Environmental Planning, Regional Informatics
Educational Technology
Geography
Petrology, Geochemistry, Isotope Geology

Assistant Professor
ONISHI Yuko

Biogeography, Macroecology

Institutional Research Unit
Head
Members of UnitTAYASU Ichiro
YAMAUCHI Taro
KANEMOTO Keiichiro
KONDO Yasuhisa

TANIGUCHI Makoto
KUMAZAWA Terukazu
OKADA Saeko
NAKAO Seiji

Specially Appointed Assistant Professor
WAKAMATSU Hisanori

56

Human Ecology

Research Fellow, NIHU Center for Information and Public Relations/ . . . .
. Specially Appointed Assistant Professor

Professors
ABE Ken-ichi
MALLEE, HeinTANIGUCHI Makoto
TAYASU Ichiro

Environmental Governance

FUJIYOSHI Lei
MIMURA Yutaka
SHIMADA Nahoko
SODA Katsuya
YABUSAKI Shiho
YOSHIMIZU Chikage

Isotope Environmental Science
Architectural History, Urban History, Historical GIS
Study of Ecological Thought
Forced Migration Studies
Isotope Hydrology
Biogeochemistry

Research Associates
KURATA Junko
NISHIWAKI Aki
OKA Masami
OKAMOTO Takako

Public Relations Unit
Head
Deptuty HeadMembers of Unit

Cultual Anthropology

Researchers

OTANI Michitaka
UEDA Sachiko
YASUDA Akiko
YUZEN Natsuko

International Publications Unit

MALLEE, HeinHIGASHI Hideaki

HeadMembers of Unit

SUGIHARA Kaoru

YASUNARI Tetsuzo
MALLEE, Hein
ABE Ken-ichi
NILES, Daniel

ABE Ken-ichi
MCGREEVY, Steven R.
YOSHIDA Takehito
KIM, Satbyul
KUMAZAWA Terukazu

Associate Professor 		

OKADA Saeko

Chief 			NAKAOHJI Yu

Specially Appointed Specialist

TERAMOTO Shun

Research Associate 		

KIMURA Aoi

Research Associate

SUGIMOTO Hayato

A Brief History of RIHN
1993 - Prime minister’s advisory panel on the Global Environment in 21st Century launched1995 - “On the Promotion of Global Environmental Studies” published by The Science Council of Japan
1997 - Report “On the core research institute for Global Environmental Studies”

published by MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)

2001 - RIHN Established on the Kyoto University campus- HIDAKA Toshitaka, Director-General
2002 - RIHN relocated to the former Kasuga Primary School- The 1st RIHN Forum2004 - RIHN becomes a member of the National Institutes for the Humanities- The 1st RIHN Public Seminar2005 - The 1st RIHN Area Seminar
2006 - RIHN relocates to current facilities in northern Kyoto- The 1st RIHN International Symposium2007 - TACHIMOTO Narifumi appointed as the second Director-General- The Center for Coordination, Promotion and Communication established- First research projects concluded
2008 - The 1st Collaborative Symposium with the International Research Center for Japanese Studies
2009 - The Earth Forum Kyoto and Earth Hall of Fame Kyoto Award established2010 - Core Research Hub established- The RIHN Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Studies published2011 - RIHN 10 year anniversary and publication- GEC-Japan network established2013 - YASUNARI Tetsuzo appointed as the third Director-General- The Center for Coordination, Promotion and Communication reorganized into the Center for
Research Development and the Center for Research Promotion

2014 - Selected as Regional Center for Future Earth in Asia
2016 - 3 Research Programs and Core Program established and RIHN Center reorganized57

Inter-University Research Institute Corporation
National Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU)

https://www.nihu.jp/en

NIHU carries out research on the human sciences and aims to create new value systems that will genuinely enrich our lives.
NIHU is one of the four inter-university research institute corporations in Japan. It consists of six inter-university research
institutes that specialize in humanities research. Each of the institutes is deeply involved in foundational research in their field asboth domestic and international research centers. The six institutes interact in a complementary fashion and carry out researchthat transcends the frameworks of traditional disciplines. They also cooperate with other research organizations domesticallyand internationally in their attempt to identify and solve modern day issues.

Research and Communications
In 2016, two new centers, the Center for Transdisciplinary Innovation (CTI) and the Center for Information and Public
Relations (CIP) were established to improve governance at NIHU.
The two Centers promote international collaborative research by building a research network around the six institutes. At thesame time, the Centers communicate their research globally and are committed to developing next generation scholars.

Center for Transdisciplinary Innovation (CTI)
CTI strengthens mutual cooperation between the six institutes and leads NIHU’s Transdisciplinary Projects that collaborate with
universities and research institutions in Japan and overseas.

NIHU Transdisciplinary Projects
Institute-based Projects
REKIHAKU: Constructing Integrated Studies of Cultural and Research Resources, and Renovating Sharing Infrastructures of		 Research Resources in Japanese History and Cultures
NIJL: Project to Build an International Collaborative Research Network for Pre-modern Japanese Texts
NINJAL: A New Integration of Japanese Language Studies based on Diverse Language Resources
NICHIBUNKEN: Historical and International Research into Popular Culture to Pursue New Images of Japan
RIHN: Transformation towards Sustainable Futures in Complex Human-Nature Systems in Asia
MINPAKU: Info-Forum Museum for Cultural Resources of the World
Multidisciplinary Collaborative Projects
Change of Local Communities and Reconstruction of Community Cultures after Disasters in Japanese Archipelago
Rethinking Eco-health in Asia
Development of a Field of Comprehensive Bibliographical Studies from an Interdisciplinary Perspective
Network-based Projects
NIHU Area Studies
		 Northeast Asia Modern Middle East South Asia
Japan-related Documents and Artifacts Held Overseas: NIHU International Collaborative Research and Utilization
		 Insights into Japan-related Overseas Artifacts and Documents from 19th-century Europe, Research and Use: Developing the		 Foundation for International Collaboration in Transmitting Japanese Culture		 Research, Conservation and Utilization of the Marega Collection Preserved in the Vatican Library		
A Survey, Study and Use of the Japan-related Documents and Artifacts in North America: Socio-historical Approach to		 ‘Modern Overseas Material Informatics’		 Coordination between Projects to Make Effective Use of Research Results

58Four inter-university research institute corporations, and six inter-university research institutes specializing in humanities.

Center for Information and Public Relations (CIP)
CIP consolidates data related to human cultures by gathering information and research results from researchers affiliated with
NIHU, and important documents and materials from the archives of the six institutes. The materials are made available to the
public.
Advanced Collaboration Systems
nihuINT https://int.nihu.jp/?lang=en&
Comprehensive search engine for databases operated by the six NIHU institutes as well as other organizations.
Research Resource Databases and Publications
NIHU Repository
		 Cloud-based NIHU repository giving users comprehensive access to research papers from the six NIHU institutes.
Researcher's Profile

https://nrd.nihu.jp/search?m=home&l=en

		 Comprehensive database containing information on researchers throughout NIHU.
Portal site for Japanese Studies

https://guides.nihu.jp/japan_links

		 English Resource Guide for Japanese Studies and Humanities in Japan.
NIHU Magazine

https://www.nihu.jp/ja/publication/nihu_magazine

		 A bilingual (Japanese and English-language) publication that covers topics such as the latest research trends, results and activities at NIHU.
NIHU Symposiums
NIHU organizes symposiums for the general public in order to share the comprehensive human culture related research resources and results it has
accumulated.
36th: “Exhibiting Japan Abroad: Exploring the Significance of the ‘KIZUNA: Japan | Wales | Design Exhibition,’” Oct, 2019
37th: “Boundaries of the ‘natural’ and ‘supernatural’” Nov, 2019
38th: “Worlds of History Opened Up by Computers: Considering the Digital Humanities,” Jan, 2020
Industry-Academia Collaborations
NIHU collaborates with industry and other partners to give back its fruits of research to society.
		 Joint symposium with Ajinomoto Foundation for Dietary Culture
		 Joint lecture with Otemachi Academia

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Access
By City Subway
From Kyoto Station, take the Karasuma Line to
Kokusaikaikan Station (the last station), andtransfer to Kyoto Bus.

RIHN

By Kyoto Bus
From Kokusaikaikan Station, take bus No. 40, 50 or 52
to Chikyuken-mae.
RIHN is at the base of the hill on your left.

By Eizan Railway
From Demachiyanagi Station in Kyoto City,
take the Kurama Line.
Get off at Kyoto-Seikadai-mae Station.
RIHN is a 10-minute walk from the station.

RIHN

RIHN Prospectus 2020-2021

Front Cover photo:

Back Cover photo:

Manual Drying Process of Paddy Grain,

Bountiful Sea, Sumatra, Indonesia

Managing Editor: MALLEE, Hein

Pegu Region, Myanmar

Photo by ABE Ken-ichi

Designed by OKAZAWA Rina

Photo by MYO HAN HTUN
Flying over RIHN in the autumn sky
Photo by WATANABE Kazuo

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ISSN 2185-8055
August 2020