Outline
The Institute of Sustainability Science (ISS) is one of the newest groups on the Uji campus. It began in April 2006 as a joint research unit of the four research institutes on Uji campus (Institute for Chemical Research, Institute of Advanced Energy, Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, and Disaster Prevention Research Institute) and the Center of Southeast Asian Studies. The objective of the organization is to incubate “Science for society” seeds that will be involved closely and extensively with human sustainability, and seeds of “ Frontier science ” that will nurture young researchers who will assume vital role in Japan’s future scientific and technological endeavors. ISS is not bound by the conventional education system, but rather is a flexible research institute that:
- Creates a strategic contact point among different fields
- Embodies and promotes the creative integration of research, and
- Synthesizes advanced research in various fields.
Projects
CSEAS leads two projects below in cooperation with other four institutes.
Exploratory Research
“Mutual Collaborative Practice-Oriented Area Studies on Locally Existing Wisdom for Disaster Reduction & Development and Sustainable Base( Nature・Health・Society) between KEIGI Region in Japan and Bangladesh”
Term：2008-09
Agenda：Learning the lesson of overcoming flood disaster and Traditional “Practices” in Bangladesh and “Kei-Gi (Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures),” this research project tries to re-build the “Practical Wisdom” shown by the “Wisdom” of “ Sustainability Science”
Project Members：ANDO, Kazuo (Project Leader, CSEAS), MATSUBAYASHI, Kozo (CSEAS), SHIMIZU, Hiromu (CSEAS), YAJIMA, Kichiji (CSEAS), HAYASHI, Taiichi (Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University), KOBAYASHI, Kenichiro (ISS), OHNISHI, Nobuhiro (Kyoto Gakuen University), TAKAYA, Yoshikazu (Seisen University), YAMANE, Yusuke (Pioneering Research Unit for Next Generation)
A new four year project named “Mobile site type research on sustainability science” has started with an approved budget. This project intends to promote the integrated research on the sustainability of human based on the transdisciplinary study in the Institute and the tradition of the mobile field research style of Kyoto University, not as a desk theory, but as a practical solution, implementation and application at actual sites. This study also encompasses the training of young scientists as competitive leaders with broad view for the research. Activities will be planned at the outside of the campus, and “material recycling in the environment”, “meta-genome study in ecological system”, and “risk control and mitigation” will be investigated in Aomori and Shiga prefectures. Collaborations with other research institutes, universities and local government will be also considered as a part of the project. This project is also meaningful because of the approval and recognition as a 4 year program with financial support for the new concept of the research by the Institute. We expect active participation and support by the researchers from various fields. (From The 5th Newsletter “ISS”)
CSEAS also plays a key role in the project below.
Mobile Site Research
(From 2012, this program continues as a field station program.)
“Practice-Oriented Area Study on Re-vitalization of Networking Societies by ‘Zaichi’ (Village-Communities) and Local Towns (Rural Urban)”
Term: 2008-11
Agenda：Applying the methodology of “Practice-oriented Area Study”, we are trying to disclose “Area-Systems” in “Zaichi” or village-communities, being consist of Agricultural Fields, Mountains, Fishing Villages and Rural Towns through “Kei-Gi Field Station Program” at Moriyama Field-Station, Kutsuki Field-Station and Kameoka Field-Station. Finally, we are targeting to build the “Welcomed Area-Vision” in collaboration with local people at each Field-Station.
Project Leader: MIZUNO, Kosuke (CSEAS)
Cordinator: ANDO, Kazuo (CSEAS)
