How can we face the problem of the global environment, and how can we take steps toward solving this problem? This program brings together research that approaches this question from the perspective of changes in culture and values. Firstly, there is a need to be “aware” of the kind of “problem” that global environmental problems manifest themselves as. To accomplish this, we will analyze a massive amount of complex data through collaboration between various fields in the natural and social sciences, and “visualize” the actual crises. Such research will enable us to “recognize” environmental crises and “share” our awareness of them. By using the power of science to “visualize,” “recognize,” and “share” crises, we can prepare for solutions to global environmental problems.
However, this is not the overall purpose of this program. We must go further and clarify how we, as well as society, are changing our behavior and values in response to the awareness of global environmental crises that were “shared” in this way.
The starting point for developing such discussions is by exploring how we can incorporate the perspective of “culture” into the field of global environmental problems and discussing how we can build a sustainable society. The perspective of culture is not at the global or national scale. Rather, it emphasizes the unity of people who live together in a more familiar and intimate place and places importance on the value of how people in those settings can live better lives. This includes values that are different from scientific knowledge. For such values, there will be a need to create a mutually transformative, convivial (i.e., how different things are connected by making use of each other’s characteristics), and creative perspective that is neither unilaterally corrective nor approving. This program will bring together research projects that create these perspectives.
History of this program.
How can we face the problem of the global environment, and how can we take steps toward solving this problem? This program brings together research that approaches this question from the perspective of changes in culture and values. Firstly, there is a need to be “aware” of the kind of “problem” that global environmental problems manifest themselves as. To accomplish this, we will analyze a massive amount of complex data through collaboration between various fields in the natural and social sciences, and “visualize” the actual crises. Such research will enable us to “recognize” environmental crises and “share” our awareness of them. By using the power of science to “visualize,” “recognize,” and “share” crises, we can prepare for solutions to global environmental problems.
However, this is not the overall purpose of this program. We must go further and clarify how we, as well as society, are changing our behavior and values in response to the awareness of global environmental crises that were “shared” in this way.
The starting point for developing such discussions is by exploring how we can incorporate the perspective of “culture” into the field of global environmental problems and discussing how we can build a sustainable society. The perspective of culture is not at the global or national scale. Rather, it emphasizes the unity of people who live together in a more familiar and intimate place and places importance on the value of how people in those settings can live better lives. This includes values that are different from scientific knowledge. For such values, there will be a need to create a mutually transformative, convivial (i.e., how different things are connected by making use of each other’s characteristics), and creative perspective that is neither unilaterally corrective nor approving. This program will bring together research projects that create these perspectives.
History of this program.
Research Progress
The program was initiated in April 2022. Several types of research projects that share the aims of the above programs, from early-stage to well-established, are participating in the overall program. To integrate various projects with different research themes and approaches with different organizational forms, this program shares a single question, hosts regular workshops and research activities to compare answers to this question, and organizes a symposium that integrates these answers.
The question is as follows: “what does it mean to understand the culture from the perspective of how people and society change their behavior and values in response to crises in global and regional environments?” Specifically, at the sites of global or regional environmental crises (problems), there is often a disconnect between the scientific recommendations for resolving the crisis and the way of life and coping strategies of the people living at those sites. In many cases, scientific guidance is offered as the only “solution.” Unfortunately, it often collides or comes into conflict with local cultures and values. However, an alternative approach would be to combine scientific guidance with unique local knowledge (referred to as indigenous or native knowledge) to form a “solution.” The complex relationship between “science” and “culture” is frequently observed in the field of environmental problems, but there has been insufficient research to look into this relationship directly. The research projects participating in this program are pushing to elucidate this complex relationship from their respective tasks and fields. We aim to report on the process of these conflicts at program workshops and share them with as many people as possible.
The program was initiated in April 2022. Several types of research projects that share the aims of the above programs, from early-stage to well-established, are participating in the overall program. To integrate various projects with different research themes and approaches with different organizational forms, this program shares a single question, hosts regular workshops and research activities to compare answers to this question, and organizes a symposium that integrates these answers.
The question is as follows: “what does it mean to understand the culture from the perspective of how people and society change their behavior and values in response to crises in global and regional environments?” Specifically, at the sites of global or regional environmental crises (problems), there is often a disconnect between the scientific recommendations for resolving the crisis and the way of life and coping strategies of the people living at those sites. In many cases, scientific guidance is offered as the only “solution.” Unfortunately, it often collides or comes into conflict with local cultures and values. However, an alternative approach would be to combine scientific guidance with unique local knowledge (referred to as indigenous or native knowledge) to form a “solution.” The complex relationship between “science” and “culture” is frequently observed in the field of environmental problems, but there has been insufficient research to look into this relationship directly. The research projects participating in this program are pushing to elucidate this complex relationship from their respective tasks and fields. We aim to report on the process of these conflicts at program workshops and share them with as many people as possible.
