RIHN has concluded 32 agreements on academic exchanges with research institutes and administrative agencies nationwide, and is working to promote cross-organizational academic research and to enhance and develop mutual research and education.

RIHN has actively concluded 19 memorandums of understanding with overseas research institutes, laboratories, etc., promoting joint research, sharing research materials, and encouraging personal interaction. In addition, in order to build closer ties with overseas researchers, we have invited many prominent researchers from various countries as invited foreign researchers.

RIHN, in collaboration with Nagasaki University, National Institute for Environmental Studies and other organizations, forms part of the consortium that hosts the Future Earth Global Secretariat Hub Japan.

Future Earth is a global network of scientists, researchers and innovators collaborating for a more sustainable world. This global community is composed of experts from the natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences, as well as practitioners from various sectors of society who facilitate research, mobilize networks, and turn knowledge into action.

In August 2021, the Future Earth Asia Regional Center, which had been hosted by RIHN since 2014, and the Future Earth Japan Hub in Tokyo merged to form the Japan Hub of the Future Earth Global Secretariat. This new Japan Hub is responsible for the global operation of Future Earth, including coordinating and managing research projects, cross-thematic and cross-regional cooperation, and collaboration with key partners, as well as developing research networks and research plans at the international, regional (with an Asia focus) and domestic level.

RIHN takes on the following key functions of the Japan Hub: organizing outreach and capacity-building development through the TERRA+ School (a training course on Transdisciplinarity for Early careeR Researchers in Asia+) (Photo 1, 2), supporting and advancing the research activities of the Future Earth Asia Regional Committee, providing support for the Future Earth Japan National Committee https://japan.futureearth.org/, liaising and convening the Knowledge-Action Network on Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production https://sscp.futureearth.org/ and disseminating information through various media.

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Photo 1 After a presentation about the game material developed by the LINKAGE project, TERRA+ School participants tried their hand at it.

Photo 2 TERRA+ School participants visited organic farmers’ fields in the suburb of Kyoto City and learned about their collaboration with the local government to provide school lunches.

Learn more about Future Earth's activities in Asia

The University Coalition for Carbon Neutrality aims to develop efforts to achieve carbon neutrality from universities, etc. to regions, countries, and the world, and to contribute to bringing about better changes in society through dissemination. The Coalition was established on July 29, 2021, and as of April 1, 2024, 214 universities are participating. RIHN conducts the overall operation as the secretariat of the Coalition.

In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in domestic and international debate on the issue of realizing carbon neutrality, and itis necessary for all participants, including the national government, local governments, universities, and companies, to work together according to their respective positions and strengths. Universities, whose mission is to create scientific knowledge that will serve as the basis for national and regional policies and technological innovation, and to disseminate that knowledge, are expected to play an especially large role both domestically and internationally. Universities are becoming more and more important in local communities, and collaborations between universities and communities are increasing to promote the decarbonization of local communities and the development of a model for this across the country and around the world.

From this perspective, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of the Environment, the University Coalition for Carbon Neutrality was established as a forum to share and disseminate information for universities that are actively working toward carbon neutrality or are planning to strengthen their efforts.

The Coalition currently has five working groups (Zero Carbon Campus WG, Regional Zero Carbon WG, Innovation WG, Human Resources Development WG, and International Collaboration WG) to achieve its goals.

RIHN, serving as the secretariat of the Coalition, holds a General Assembly (chaired by the Director-General of RIHN) where representatives (such as university presidents) of 214 participating institutions gather to manage the Coalition’s activity policies and progress. RIHN also holds a steering committee that manages and operates the Coalition based on the decision of General Assembly, hosts a symposium of the Coalition, and supports the daily activities of the five WGs.

University Coalition for Carbon Neutrality

On July 14, 2021, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, and the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) agreed to set up the cooperative body for adaptation to climate change in Kyoto, based on which the “Kyoto Climate Change Adaptation Center” was established at RIHN as a new facility in accordance with the natural and social conditions of the region.

Because of global-scale environmental changes brought about by human civilization, we have entered a new era of global history known as the “Anthropocene,” and we are now facing a variety of global environmental issues that will seriously affect the lives of many people and the sustainability of our society. These issues should be considered by the global community as a whole, but also by the diverse regions in which we actually live. In order to solve climate change, one of the most serious global environmental problems, we must work to mitigate it by reducing global emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2, the main cause of climate change. At the same time, it is necessary to consider how local communities, with their unique natural features and corresponding histories and cultures, should adapt to climate conditions that are not immediately reversible. Without these two approaches of global mitigation and local adaptation, there can be no solution to the climate change problem. The Kyoto Center for Climate Change Adaptation considers its mission to be to explore ways to comprehensively resolve climate change issues at a global scale by considering nature and society from the perspective of Kyoto, a region with history and culture.

This center was established to promote efforts in Kyoto to adapt to climate change through collaboration between Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, and RIHN, based on the Climate Change Adaptation Act enacted by the Japanese Diet in 2018; collect, analyze, and research information on the impacts of climate change and adaptation measures as described below; and act as a base to disseminate these results.

1. Collection, organization, and analysis of information on climate change impacts and adaptation, and prediction and assessment of climate change impacts
2. Aggregation of the latest knowledge on climate change impacts and adaptation through collaboration with universities and other research institutes
3. Dissemination of information on climate change impacts and adaptation, and enlightenment of citizens and business operators
4. Support for the creation of adaptation businesses for the autonomous dissemination of climate change adaptation measures
5. Information sharing and cooperation with related organizations such as the national government and the National Institute for Environmental Studies

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The five perspectives of the adaptation measures

Kyoto Climate Change Adaptation Center

“Japan Environmental Studies” explores the future possibilities of Human and Nature beyond anthropocentrism by co-creating an eco-system without dividing Human and Nature but rather brings them together. This research center was established as an endowed research center through a donation from the Uehiro Foundation on Ethics and Education.

〈Mission〉

1. “Japan Environmental Studies”, disseminate it domestically and internationally, and aim for its diffusion and practice.
2. Focusing on environmental issues at the boundary between Humans and Nature, which is becoming increasingly homogenized, the department aims to uncover the sensitivity hidden in traditional Japanese knowledge and indigenous knowledge, and to regenerate communities.
3. Foster dynamic commons values that span local, national, and global stages in collaboration with local communities, aiming to cultivate human resources.

〈Activities〉

1. Development of international research and educational programs on the question, “What is the environment for humans?”
2. Evoking a cultural community that connects the present and the future with the “power of the field” generated in the area where humans and nature are inseparable.
3. Design a systematic framework for the ‘Japan Environmental Studies’ program integrating theory and practice, and to curate it from Japan to the world.

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