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 selectionthat includes “incubation” and “feasibility” stages, these ideas are graduallydeveloped into fully-fledged projects and only get officially underway afterevaluation by an international external review committee. At this point, theproponent becomes joins the RIHN community by becoming a staff memberof 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 preexisting academic disciplines or domains. Three Research Programs andone Core Program are each home to multiple projects that carry out
research in line with the Program’s broad direction. The bundling andintegration 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 (seeRIHN Project Trajectory on pages 7 & 8). RIHN endeavors to improve its
research by making good use of the review results while also respecting theindependence of each Program.

6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 Trajectory : Research 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).
7

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, the Core Program will develop concepts andmethodologies to solve global environmental problems in collaboration with society.

RIHN Project Trajectory : Core Project

RIHN Center
The RIHN Center provides the foundations for collaborative research and activities
at RIHN. Its four Divisions manage and operate the laboratories and the information
systems of the Institute, and facilitate communication, networking and capacity building(see detailed description on page 42.). Center faculty also engage in research in pursuing
the goals of the Center. Collaboration is fundamental 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 Institute and engages abroad range of societal stakeholders in problem-solving research processes.

Above: TERAMOTO Shun, Life with a well pump, Los Baños, Philippines
Bottom: HONDA Naomi, Investigating electrical resistance on a beach, Fukushima, Japan89Project Index10Full Research

FR

Research Program 1: Societal Transformation under Environmental Change

SUGIHARA Kaoru

12-13

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

NAKATSUKA Takeshi

14-15

MIZUNO Kosuke

16-17

YOSHIDA Takehito

18-19

Research Field : Japan

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

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

Research Program 2: Fair Use and Management of Diverse Resources

NAKASHIZUKA Tohru 20-21

Biodiversity-driven Nutrient Cycling and Human Well-beingin Social-Ecological Systems

OKUDA Noboru

22-23

Research Program 3: Designing Lifeworlds of Sustainability and Wellbeing

SAIJO Tatsuyoshi

24-25

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

Steven R. McGREEVY

26-27

YAMAUCHI Taro

28-29

TANIGUCHI Makoto

30

TAYASU Ichiro

31

KONDO Yasuhisa

32

Research Fields : Japan, Philippines

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

Core Program

Proposal and Verification of the Validity of Isotope
Environmental Traceability Methodology in EnvironmentalStudies
Research Field : Japan

Information Asymmetry Reduction in Open Team Science forSocio-environmental Cases
Research Field : Japan, Oman

11