Current
FeasibilityStudies

Feasibility Studies are based on proposals solicited annually by RIHN from theresearch community 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.

Above: UEHARA Yoshitoshi, Promising young researchers, Silang, Phillippines
Bottom: OKUDA Noboru, Conducting a biological survey in paddy fields with the local residents, Koga, Shiga, Japan

FS/PR

Mapping the Environmental Impact Footprint of Cities, Companies, and Household
KANEMOTO Keiichiro, Shinshu University
Area : World

Economic growth in China and otherdeveloping countries is associated withsevere global environmental problems, suchas climate change and loss of biodiversity.
Studies have shown that consumption indeveloped countries drives environmental
emissions in developing countries. For
example, we found that international trade
is responsible for one third of the threats
to biodiversity, mainly in developing
countries. Furthermore, we demonstrated
a link between geographical environmental
emissions information and global supply
chains. Unlike most studies, which focus on environmental emissions and international trade, this is the first study
clarify the effect of global supply chains on environmental impacts. Further, in addition to countries and regions, wewill estimate the environmental footprint of cities, companies and households.

FS/PR

Co-Creation of Sustainable Regional Innovation for Reducing Risk of High-impact
Environmental Pollution
SAKAKIBARA Masayuki, Ehime University
Area : Sulawesi Island in Indonesia, ASEAN countries

The Minamata Convention on Mercury (Hg) is a global
treaty established to protect human health and theenvironment from the adverse effects of Hg. Recent
investigations by the United Nation Environment
Programme (UNEP) have highlighted the continuing
significance of Hg pollution in developing countries and its
harmful effects on human health and ecosystems. One of
the main causes of Hg pollution is artisanal and small-scale
gold mining (ASGM), in which Hg is used in the traditional
method of amalgamation to extract gold from the orerock. Recent investigations by UNEP have highlighted
the enormity of Hg pollution in developing countries andits harmful effects on human health and ecosystems. The
Whole structure of FS project
purpose of our FR is to understand the link between poverty
reduction and environmental management, and to establish develop a process for constructing sustainable societies
through regional innovations in ASGM areas and to strengthen related environmental governance in developing
countries. In our FS, we will conduct, within the scope of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries:a) case studies of reductions in Hg pollution using a future scenario of ASGM; b) a study of regional networks that
aim to generate Hg-free societies communities in Indonesia; c) a study of improvements in environmental governancein ASEAN countries; and d) a study of the design, practical use, and evaluation of transformative boundary objects(TBOs), based on a transdisciplinary approach.

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Current Feasibility Studies

FS

Fair and Equitable Benefit Sharing of Biological and Genetic Resources in the Era ofDigital Information: Improving Livelihoods and Agrobiodiversity Conservation byIntellectual Property and Storylines
KOHSAKA Ryo, Tohoku University
Area : Thailand, Japan, Philippines, Myanmar, South Korea, China, Indonesia
This project addresses fundamental national and local
issues of the Access to Genetic Resources and theFair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising fromtheir Utilization (ABS) including (1) the high resource
transaction costs caused by lack of relevant information,and (2) lack of incentives for local people. To address
the first issue we introduce clearing-house systems
to efficiently share relevant scientific and cultural
information with stakeholders. To tackle the second
issue we develop branding and benefit-sharing schemes
using clearing-house systems and scientific methods
to evaluate genetic and functional characteristics ofthe resources. Finally, the appropriate meso-scale level
schemes are developed in order to link international,
national, and local ABS activities and institutions in theera of digital information.

FS

Proposed meso-scale scheme based on co-design and co-production

Transformation and Reconstruction of Agri-Cultural Diversity in Southeast Asia
MATSUDA Hirotaka, Tokyo University of Agriculture
Area : South East Asia

Environmental degradation associated withmodern societies has been based on culture andinstitutions that reflect the incentives of thesesocieties. Naturally, culture and institutions havebeen dynamically transformed. The purposeof this research is to examine the East Asian
historical experience of poverty, disparity of health,and utilization of natural resources, including
agriculture, in order to reveal the significance ofchange in Asian institutions and cultural diversity
and contribute to the construction of sustainable
East Asian societies.

Research framework of the research

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FS

Developing Interactive Rural-Urban Systems to Improve Human Well-being:
Migration for Humanity and Nature
MORI Koichiro, Shiga University
Area : Jakarta and Medan in Indonesia, Sabae, Umajimura, Kurihara, Noto and Toyooka in Japan

The purpose of this research is todevelop interactive urban-ruralsystems that can address global
environmental problems and enhance
human well-being within global
environmental limits. The project
investigates our hypotheses that theincomplete geographical divisionof labour between urban and rural
areas and flexible and adaptable(yurui) migrations between urban
and rural areas can provide strategies
to abate problems related to urban
overcrowding. The project will conductsocial practical experiments.

FS

Two key concepts, incomplete geographical division of labour and yurui migrations, can address environmental,
economic and social problems through interactions of people between urban and rural areas.

Future Image of Living Sphere by Restructuring Sustainable Relation between
Humans and Land
OKABE Akiko, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the University of Tokyo
Area : Informal settlements in Latin American countries
Slums have emerged as a consequence of socioeconomic globalization and are frequently associated with land informality.
By requestioning the land property as individual‘right’, this project attempts to propose how toincrease tenure security at neighborhood level
through introducing the land possession as collective ‘responsibility’ to maintain properly thedistributed land plots to individuals. The target
project research areas are informal settlements in
Latin American countries. We strategically introduce community engagement projects to explore
the possibility of the scattered living sphere atneighborhood level and through generations.
Such idea is inspired by the informal community
logic that might have also links to the Andean
pre-modern knowledge.

Workshop with local people sharing knowledge about the neighborhood, Barrio Cantera, an informal
settlement with land slide risk in San Martín de los Andes, Argentina, October 2017.

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