Overview

This is an overview of the New Large-Scale Research Program “Promoting the Study of Sustainable Humanoshpere in Southeast Asia” that has been initiated as of 2011. In this program, we aim to strengthen the sustainable humanosphere as a leading principle supporting the construction of an East Asian academic community. In order to overcome the political and economical imbalances inherent in globalization and worldwide environmental problems, we will develop research that actively makes use of “local knowledge” that has accumulated in response to Southeast Asia’s specific characteristics.

In order to do this, the program has three principle objectives.

1. We aim to promote research on plural co-existence by focusing on social capital, the strengthening of social infrastructures, and supranational regional restructuring. The key to this is to look at how social networks serve as public property.
2. We aim to promote research on tropical biomass society by taking the global capitalization of tropical biomass as our key concept. To do this we focus on the glocal linkages between tropical biomass society and global interests.
3. In order to foster cooperation among academic communities in Southeast Asia and East Asia and to strengthen Japan’s role in it, we will hold sustainable humanosphere seminars in the region; promote graduate level education; develop and maintain an international system for sharing research results; and, establish an Asian Consortium of sustainable humanosphere research.