Activities to promote industry-government-academia
collaborative research on the Arctic region

The 36th International Symposium on the Okhotsk Sea& Polar Oceans, February 2022 Mombetsu, Hokkaido

D-1
Activities to Promote Industry-Government-Academia Collaborative Researchon the Arctic Region
supported by Japan Arctic Research Network Center (J-ARC Net)
Masato TANAKA1, Natsuhiko OTSUKA1 and Yasushi FUKAMACHI1
1

Arctic Research Center, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan

Abstract
Activities to promote Industry-Government-Academia (I-G-A) collaboration project in Japan Arctic
Research Network Center (J-ARC Net) are shown in this report. These activities are consisting of the Arctic
region open seminar, I-G-A collaboration planning meeting, I-G-A feasibility study, and promoting researcher
nurture supported by planning, coordination and fund of J-ARC Net. And effective disseminating results areaiming to increase Japanese national presence of international Arctic research.
Key words: J-ARC Net, Arctic region, industry, government, collaborative research
INTRODUCTION
J-ARC Net as a center of excellence certified by theMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology was funded in April 2016 as the first
formulated network cooperated by three researchcenters constituting J-ARC Net conductive to solve
issues toward rapid environmental and amplified
climatic changes and to promote sustainable utilization
for industries in Arctic Region.
J-ARC Net promotes advanced and interdisciplinary
collaborative research conducive to understanding
environmental-human interactions and creation of newacademic fields regarding sustainable utilization andpreservation of Arctic region.
For promoting advanced and interdisciplinary
collaborative research, J-ARC Net makes the best useof research infrastructures of three organizations towhich three centers belong such as research vessels andoverseas laboratories, and mediates between researchcommunities, industries and government offices topromote activities conducive to solve problems in
Arctic region.
J-ARC Net also nurtures personnel who have broad
outlook and can lead international discussion to solve
challenges in Arctic region.
J-ARC Net disseminates the results of the above
activities effectively and aims to increase Japanesenational presence in international Arctic research.
ACTIVITIES(1) Supporting Research Communities Project (SRC)a) Challenging Exploratory Interdisciplinary Joint
Research (EI): J-ARC Net supports and promotes
Challenging Innovative Interdisciplinary Researchdeveloped from Meeting for Collaborative Researchand Collaborative Promoting Research, conducive tosolve problems in Arctic regionb) Joint Promotion Research (PR): J-ARC Net
encourages bottom-up joint research for researchers
not only in natural sciences but also in humanities,

social and practical sciences and those new to theArctic region.
c) Joint Research Meeting (RM): J-ARC Net provides
meeting opportunities for researchers in various fields
to plan research projects for Challenging Innovativeinterdisciplinary research and collaborative promotion
research.
(2) Promotion I-G-A Collaboration Projects (IGA)a) Arctic Region Open Seminar: J-ARC Net holds theopen seminars for personnel in industries andgovernments to provide the latest information on theArctic region in natural and social sciences, and topromote new entry to activities to solve challenges in
Arctic region, which have been held six times asshown in Table 1.
Table 1. The Arctic Region Open Seminar in FY2016-2021
No. DateSubjects
I*5
G*6 A*7sJan 17
Future Arctic Region, and North
1st44
19 24
2017

Sea Route (NSR)

Mar 17
2017
July 242017

Utilization for NSR and its
Perspectives
Utilization for the Arctic Region tocreate industries

4th

Dec 142017

5th

July 202018

6th

Dec 122018

7th

*1

2nd27

529

75

2427

1426

1932

227

July 24
2019

Trend of the economic development
25
and international governancearound the Arctic region
Progress of the latest Arctic
21
research and the possibility ofapplication to industry and society
Possibilities and challenges
29
for application to industry on the latest
Arctic observation and prediction
technology
Changing Arctic environment and25
its impact on Hokkaido

341

8th

Dec 122019

Current status and prospects ofArctic oil and gas development

198269th

Oct 222020

Arctic Ocean as East-West Corridor,
Sustainable Use and Future"451949

Feb 8,2021

Finnish-Japanese Data Center Seminar; Connectivity,
137 32
Sustainability and Regional Development*2

3rd*1*2

*1

*2

*1
*2

*3

10th
*4

37

Activities to promote industry-government-academia
collaborative research on the Arctic region

11th*312th*3

Oct 192021
Dec8-92021

Current status, impact andcountermeasures of environmental
pollution in the Arctic region
The development of sustainablecruise industry in the Pacific Arctic:
Past developments and futureprospects

Total 575

The 36th International Symposium on the Okhotsk Sea& Polar Oceans, February 2022 Mombetsu, Hokkaido

2331285270130265 94

232*1: Sapporo, *2: Tokyo, *3: Online, *4: Hybrid, the number ofparticipants from Industries (*5), Governments (*6) and Academia (*7),
respectively

Results of survey regarding the Arctic region byparticipants in the 11th the Arctic Region Open
Seminar are shown in Fig. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
【Q1】Was the seminar useful for you ?

Fig. 4 Expected industrial fields in the Arctic region (%)
【Q5】What do you expect from this Open Seminar topromote new entry to industrial activities in theArctic region ?

(%)

Fig. 1 Usefulness of the Arctic Region Open Seminar【Q2】Which fields of natural science in the Arctic region
can you expect the possibility of social
implementation efforts ?

Fig. 5 Expectation to the Arctic Region Open Seminar (%)b) I-G-A Collaboration Planning Meeting (PM): J-ARC
Net provides meeting opportunities for personnel inindustries and governments to discuss problems to besolved by I-G-A collaboration and to plancollaborative research.
c) I-G-A Collaboration Feasibility Study (FS): For
personnel in research, industries and governments,
J-ARC Net promotes feasibility studies to carry out
problem-solving joint research with I-G-Acollaboration.

【Q3】Which fields of human and social science in the
Arctic region can you expect the possibility ofsocial implementation efforts ?

(3) Collaborative research in SRC (EI, PR and RM) andIGA (PM and FS)
Results of acceptances from public applicableproposals for promoting advanced and interdisciplinary
collaborative research in SRC and IGA from FY2016 toFY2021 are shown in Fig. 6 to Fig. 8.

Fig. 3 Expected human and social science fields in theArctic region (%)
【Q4】Which Industrial fields in the Arctic region can you
expect the possibility of social implementation
efforts ? ＊NSR: North Sea RouteFig.6 Trend of the number of collaborative research
projects (The data of International Ratio for FY2021 isestimated.)

Fig. 2 Expected natural scientific fields in the Arcticregion (%)

Activities to promote industry-government-academia
collaborative research on the Arctic region

Figure 6 shows the change in the number of joint
research proposals. In FY2021, a total of 31 researchprojects were accepted. The number of international
joint research projects has been increasing year by year,
and almost half of the last four years have beeninternational joint research projects.

The 36th International Symposium on the Okhotsk Sea& Polar Oceans, February 2022 Mombetsu, Hokkaido

Table 2. Research Projects of I-G-A in FY2021
FieldsResearch Subjects

ObservationEngineeringFig.7 Trend of the number of collaborative researchers(The data of International Ratio for FY2021 is estimated.)

The number and ratio of overseas researchers areincreasing year by year as shown in Fig.7. Fig.8 shows
the number of interdisciplinary joint research accounts
for almost 80% of the total.

Sustainable
Utilization

Meteorological profiling using aninexpensive Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Pack ice observations by UAV andSentinel-2 Satellite
Zooplankton community in coastal wateraround Mombetsu during sea-ice season
Consequences of wildfires in boreal
forests underlain by ice-rich permafrost
near Batagai, NE Siberia
Study on Arctic marine plastic pollution
Needs for technical research on theArctic region / Seeds analysis andmatching study meeting report
Evaluation of Ship Resistance in Ice
Regime using Ice Chart
Trans-Arctic
submarine
fiber-optic
communications
cables:Recentdevelopments and future prospects
Research exchange between Japan andFinland on data centers in the cold
climate region
Prospects for sustainable development of
the cruise industry in the Pacific Arctic:
Outcomes of the Japan-Russia online
workshop held on 8-9 December 2021
Breaking the ice as a tourist experience:
local initiatives facing global challenges
ArcticTourism
forCommunity
Resilience

Total: 139 (I:33, G:37, A:73)(*including 18 from overseas)

Researchers756111420
18810111812139*(3) Promoting researcher nurture programs
For not only personnel in research but also inindustries and governments, J-ARC Net provides
courses to nurture personnel who can contribute tosolve challenges in the Arctic region as shown in Table
3. And the field course, “Winter School” will be held in
the Okhotsk area instead of the usual Yakutsk due to theinfluence of the new corona pandemic this year as
shown in Table 4.
Table 3. Nurturing courses for the Arctic region No.1
Lectures for Introduction of Arctic region
from Nov.24 to 26, 2021 held online
Fig.8 Trend of the number of interdisciplinary research
Themes(The data of Interdisciplinary Ratio for FY2021 isestimated.)(※Interdisciplinary: collaboration of two or three of Human &Social Science, Natural Science and Engineering)(4) IGA research Projects in FY2019
Research projects of IGA in FY2019 are shown in
Table 2. Eleven social implementation collaborative
research related to I-G-A collaboration are progressing
at the present with 134 researchers as the total number.

Participants from relatives I-G-A:39 auditors including 13
females in total involving I:5, G:10, A:24 including 18 graduateand undergraduate students

Program
1. Opening, Guidance and Self-introduction、2. Lectures; (1)Geography & History, (2) Atmosphere, (3) Snow and ice, (4)Ocean (5) Ocean Ecosystem, (6) Terrestrial Ecosystem, (7)North Sea Routes, (8) Resources Development, (9) Humanbeings and Society, (10) Governance、3. Social Gathering、
4. Presentation & Discussion、5. Closing

Table 4. Nurturing courses for the Arctic region No.2
Winter School as Field courses on” Arctic Nature andActivities to promote industry-government-academia
collaborative research on the Arctic region

People's Life Learned from Winter in Okhotsk”
from Feb 14 to18, 2022 at Okhotsk Sea region, JapanFor entry, public applicable proposal started on the lateof Nov. and were accepted on the mid of Jan.
Participants will be planned around 20.
Program (tentative)
1.Opening & Orientation, 2.Observation of snow cover, lowtemperature room (-50 ℃) and Ice core, 3.Sea ice and ecologyof the Okhotsk Sea, 4. Drift Ice Observation at Okhotsk Sea,5.
Icebreaker sightseeing ship “Aurora” embarkation and sea iceprediction, 7. Lectures (1) Shiretoko World Heritage Sites,
Wildlife Conservation and Management, Relationships withPeople, (2) Remote sensing observation of terrestrial ecosystem,(3) Permafrost ecosystems under changing climate, and (4) Lifein the north: culture and history of Sakha Republic, Russia (fromRussia online), (5) Opinion exchange and presentation etc.

(4) Disseminating resultsa) international symposium: J-ARC Net holds
international symposiums, for example International
Symposium on the Okhotsk Sea & Polar Oceans todisseminate results of activities and invites experts tothe symposium for discussion of our future activities.
b) Website: J-ARC Net provides a website todisseminate results of activities and J-ARC Net
information opens to the public by mail magazine etc.
(5) Prospective effectsa) Advance of interdisciplinary research conducive tosolve problems in Arctic region and creation ofinnovative academic fields by interdisciplinary
research.
b) Adoption of new viewpoints and technologies
through interdisciplinary collaboration and creation ofinnovations.
c) Promotion of international collaboration throughadvanced and interdisciplinary researches, andexpansion of industry- academic-government Arctic
research community.
d) Creation of new industries and markets in Arcticregione) Supply of personnel with broad outlook who cancontribute solving problems in Arctic region.
f) Contribution to increase Japanese presence
internationally by solving problems in Arctic region.

CONCLUSIONSJ-ARC Net has started entry of collaborative research
for FY2020 by Dec.21 in 2020. Your participation toJ-ARC Net Projects as below aside from Open Seminar
will be very appreciated.
For details: https://j-arcnet.arc.hokudai.ac.jp/news/22137/
Ⅰ. Researcher’s Community Support Projects(1) Innovative interdisciplinary collaborative research(2) Collaborative promoting research(3) Meeting for collaborative research
Ⅱ. I-G-A Collaboration Support Projects(1) Arctic region open seminar(2) Feasibility study

The 36th International Symposium on the Okhotsk Sea& Polar Oceans, February 2022 Mombetsu, Hokkaido(3) Planning meeting for setting issues
Ⅲ. Researchers Nurture programs
J-ARC Net also will prepare to entry Researchers
Nurture program for FY2020 on website around mid ofDec.,2020, although that of collection in FY2019 wasclosed.
j-arcnet@arc.hokudai.ac.jp
http://j-arcnet.arc.hokudai.ac.jp/
http://www.arc.hokudai.ac.jp
Tel：+81-11-706-9625 Fax:+81-11-706-9623

REFERENCES
Masato TANAKA and Sei-Ichi SAITOH (2018). Activities toPromote Industry-Government-Academia Collaborative
Research on the Arctic Region, Proc., 33rd Int’l. Symposium
on Okhotsk Sea and Polar Oceans:113-116
Masato TANAKA, Shingo TANAKA, Yasushi FUKAMACHIand Sei-Ichi SAITOH (2019). Activities to Promote
Industry-Government-Academia Collaborative Research on
the Arctic Region, Proc., 34th Int’l. Symposium on Okhotsk
Sea and Polar Oceans:167-170
Masato TANAKA, Shingo TANAKA, Natsuhiko OTSUKA,Yasushi FUKAMACHI (2020). Activities to Promote
Industry-Government-Academia Collaborative Research on
the Arctic Region, Proc., 34th Int’l. Symposium on Okhotsk
Sea and Polar Oceans:185-188
J-ARC Net (Japan Arctic Research Network Center) was fundedin 2016 and organized by Arctic Research Center in
Hokkaido University, Arctic Environment Research Center in
National Institute Polar Research and Institute Arctic Climateand Environment Research in Japan Agency for MarineEarth Science and Technology.
http://j-arcnet.arc.hokudai.ac.jp/organization/

Summary in Japanese「北極域をめぐる産学官連携共同研究活動」～北極域研究共同推進拠点産学官連携事業～
田中雅人 1, 大塚夏彦 1, 深町康 11

北海道大学北極域研究センタ－2016 年度より文科省共同利用共同研究拠点に認定された北極域研究共同推進拠点において、北極域の持続可能な利用と保全に関する新たな学術領域の創成に向けて、国際・異分野共同研究、人材育成プログラム、国際シンポジウム等を推進中。その中で特に 2021
年度産学官連携支援事業として、北極域オープンセミナー、課題設定集会、フィ－ジビリスタディ等の共同研究による課題解決、課題解決型人材育成などの活動を中心に報告する。

Correspondence to: Masato TANAKA,
mtanaka@arc.hokudai.ac.jp
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