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Grant No.

18－G29Research Report
Name : Ricelli Laplace Resende
Organization (at the start of the grant period): Kyoto University
Title of Research: THE FORGOTTEN TREASURE: Indigenous architecture and practices as keys for oursustainable future. Comparative studies in Mongolia, Indonesia and Japan.
Purpose of Research:（200 words）
The Nomadic people in Mongolia, Balinese people in Indonesia and ancient indigenous Japanese society, havesomething in common: they are the ones usually the most adapted to their climate, living in balance with nature.
Indigenous is understood as something originated/occurring naturally in a particular place. Being knowledge holders
and by using local resources, they know (have) traditional building and living practices aligned with the environment.
To deal with the complexity of global environmental problems, this research aims to study Indigenous building
knowledge to bring back to life certain practices that can contribute to environmental management practices andresearch. This study explores how academic research and local indigenous communities can work together to dpromote sustainable development trough sustainable architecture in three different case studies: Mongolia, Indonesia
and Japan. The study of sustainable building practices helps to protect local environment and resources, as well aspreserve cultural heritage and historical value of our societies. Therefore, this research aims to; 1) Investigate how
indigenous building knowledge and practices can contribute in solving environmental issues--2) Strengthen
participatory methods between indigenous communities and environmental professionals--3) Demonstrate the capacity
for indigenous participatory projects can contribute to environmental research and sustainable development projects.
Content/Methodology of Research:（400 words）
The Mongolian case study was the focus of this study in 2018 and 2019, where 30 to 40% of the population are
nomadic, moving seasonally with their traditional house called GER, with amazing potential for collecting data about
indigenous knowledge and practices that are still used nowadays. During the summer of 2018 (July to September) and2019 (June to august) our team travelled around the country visiting 8 different provinces (Tov, Gobi, Semi-Govi,Bayanhongor, Khusgol Arhangay, Bulgan and Ovorhangay). Data was collected by conducting field survey withnomadic families in the countryside and also with those who moved to the city but still lives in the traditional house.
Methods used includes: semi structured interviews, measurement survey, questionnaires, observation and children’s
participatory drawing survey (for children data collection). In total 80 families where interviewed and 100 children’sdrawings were collected for data analysis. Workshops with parents and children was conducted in the informal
settlements of Ulaanbaatar city (called Ger district areas, similar to slum). Local partnership was stablished with local
NGO Eco-Town, local NGO GerHub and Mongolian University of Science and Technology to collect, analyze andtranslate data.
Conclusion/Observation（200 words）
The Konosuke Matsushita Memorial Foundation grant was used to collect data of the Mongolian case study, buy
equipment necessary to carry this and the other case studies and present preliminary findings in conferences. Within
preliminary results of this research, we presented a paper in The 5th International Conference “Archi-culturalinteraction trough the silk road” under the title of “Will the Next Generation Live in Gers? Children’s Perspectives on
the Future of Mongolian Traditional Dwellings in Urbanizing Times”. This paper is about the change of architectureand lifestyle in modernization of Mongolia and possible environmental and cultural impacts of the loss of traditionalarchitecture. Another paper was published in 2019 Joint Annual Meeting & International Conference on Vernacular &Earthen Architecture towards Local Development under the title of “Amarbuyant Monastery: Conservation andRevitalization through Community Engagement and Digital Documentation”, this paper focus in a traditional earthen
Monastery in Mongolia and its relationship with local indigenous families that are supported by and support the temple.
Data analysis still need to be finished for us to be able to write more articles, we expect around 2 or 3 more articles canbe published in near future.