Projects in this domain trace human impact on the global cycles of nutrients and water that create and define the biosphere. As these cycles are characterized by great complexity and dynamism, research projects in this domain typically entail several data surveys designed to indicate cause-and-effect linkages across spatial scales.

	Human Activities in North-eastern Asia and Their Impact on the Biological Productivity in North Pacific Ocean (SHIRAIWA Takayuki)
	Human Impacts on Urban Subsurface Environments (TANIGUCHI Makoto)

	Effects of Environmental Change on the Interactions between Pathogens and Humans (KAWABATA Zen'ichiro)
	Global Warming and the Human-Nature Dimension in Siberia (HIYAMA Tetsuya)
	Megacities and the Global Environment (MURAMATSU Shin)
	*Designing Local Frameworks for Integrated Water Resources Management (WATANABE Tsugihiro)
	*Initiative-based Project

Projects in this domain address global environmental problems arising from or associated with the loss of diversity, whether biological (including genetic diversity and availability of niches or habitats), or cultural (including diversity of languages, social structures, religions and world-views).

A New Cultural and Historical Exploration into Human-Nature Relationships in the Japanese Archipelago (YUMOTO Takakazu)

	Human Life, Aging, and Disease in High-Altitude Environments (OKUMIYA Kiyohito)
	Collapse and Restoration of Ecosystem Networks with Human Activity (YAMAMURA Norio)

Projects in this domain investigate the features of the planet that humankind finds to be of immediate utility: those plants, animals, and materials that humankind uses to satisfy its material and cultural needs, and whose use in turn forms the cultural landscapes of a time and place.

	Historical Interactions between the Multi-Cultural Societies and the Natural Environment in a Semi-Arid Region in Central Eurasia (KUBOTA Junpei)
	Environmental Changes and Infectious Diseases in Tropical Asia (MOJI Kazuhiko)
	A Study of Human Subsistence Ecosystems in Arab Societies (NAWATA Hiroshi)
	Managing Environmental Risks to Food and Health Security in Asian Watersheds (KADA Ryohei)

Projects in this domain take a historical approach to circulation, diversity, or resource questions. There is particular emphasis on using new technologies to examine ecological dynamics involved in past civilizational rise and decline, and so to advance empirical and theoretical understanding of human-environmental dynamics throughout human history.

Agriculture and Environment Interactions in Eurasia: Past, Present and Future (SATO Yo-Ichiro)

	Environmental Change and the Indus Civilization (OSADA Toshiki)
	Neolithisation and Modernisation: Landscape History on East Asian Inland Seas (UCHIYAMA Junzo)

Projects in this domain examine the manner in which contemporary environmental problems both contribute to and result from global phenomena and processes. Description is focused on the specific social and environmental contexts in which environmental problems are found, their linkages to social and material phenomena in other places, and the conceptual models used to describe such interconnection.

Vulnerability and Resilience of Social-Ecological Systems (UMETSU Chieko)

Desertification and Livelihoods in Semi-Arid Afro-Eurasia (TANAKA Ueru)

	Lakes as Sources and Sinks: Social and Ecological Dynamics Affecting Downstream/Pollution-Accumulating Lakes (FUKUSHIMA Takehiko)
	Coastal Area Capability in Southeast Asia (ISHIKAWA Satoshi)
	*Formation of Local Environmental Knowledge Systems for Creation and Sustainable Governance of New Commons (SATO Tetsu)
	*Scenario for Environment-conscious “Mature Society” in East Asia (SATO Yo-ichiro)
	Designing Agriculture in the Era of Petroleum Scarcity (MATOH Toru)
	The History of Human-Water Interactions in East Asian Livelihood Complexes (MURAMATSU Koichi)
	Water-and Food-Sheds in the Noto Peninsula: New Scales of Analysis in Global Environmental Studies (NAGAO Seiya)
	Historical Adaptation to Climate Change in Japan: Integrating Palaeoclimatological Data and Archaeological Evidence (NAKATSUKA Takeshi)
	The Effect of Local Governance on Incentive Programs for Forest Ecosystem Service Conservation (OKUDA Toshinori)
	*Survivability and Autonomy in Southeast Asia: Perspectives from Land Use Changes and Resource Chains (YOKOYAMA Satoshi)
	Environmental Change and Immunological Adaptation in the Mekong River Region (WATANABE Hisami)
	*Initiative-based Feasibility Study