• RIHN International Symposium

RIHN 20th International Symposium
Knowledge and Training for Green Transformation

Date Wednesday, 10 December 2025, 10:00 - 18:30
Thursday, 11 December 2025, 10:30 - 18:00
Venue Lecture Hall, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (Online)
Registration Registration Forms for online participation
Day 1　
Scheduled to be posted as soon as it is completed.
Day 2
Scheduled to be posted as soon as it is completed.
*Simultaneous Japanese-English interpretation available.
Precis Achieving sustainable societies requires new human knowledge and workplace skills, but the definition, education, up-skilling and mainstreaming of everyday ‘green human resources’ are still in initial stages. RIHN’s new Green Knowledge Center (GKC) was established in order to create and link green human capacity across the research, government, and private sectors, with the goal of supporting local-to-global sustainability transformations. The GKC amplifies earlier efforts at RIHN in this field by the Education Division, Uehiro Research Center for Japan Environmental Studies, and Future Earth Center, including the annual TERRA School, as well as within the University Coalition for Carbon Neutrality in Japan, which includes working groups on human resource development and international relations. Such initiatives are aimed at both domestic and global green transformations, and require collaborative local, national and international engagements and development.

The 20th RIHN International Symposium will create a forum for key parties to discuss the design, direction and expansion of integrated human capacity building for the green transformation.
Program
(Tentative)		 Day 1：Wednesday, 10 December 2025

Opening Remarks: YAMAGIWA Juichi (RIHN)
Introduction and Symposium Overview: ASARI Misuzu (RIHN)
Keynote speech: Ilan CHABAY (Arizona State University, USA/RIHN)

Session 1. Manga as Method in Environmental Communication
Moderator: Daniel NILES (RIHN)
Speakers:
Nick SOUSANIS (San Francisco State University, USA)
Frederic JOULIAN (School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, France)
SHIMOMOTO Sayuri, TAKEMOTO Tomoji (GOMIC Exploring Club, Japan),
FURUTAKA Hikaru (Friends of High-Moon, Japan)
Oussouby SACKO (Tokyo Metropolitan Public University Corporation, Japan)
Discussion

Session 2. Carbon Neutrality beyond the Policy Discontinuity and the Selfishness-altruism Separation
Moderator: TANIGUCHI Makoto (RIHN)
Speakers:
Joonha PARK (Kyoto University, Japan)
Curran CRAWFORD (University of Victoria, Canada)
TAKAMA Takeshi (su-re.co, Indonesia)
Comments: Daniel HUNKELER (Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland)

Day 2：Thursday, 11 December 2025

Session 3. Beyond the Circular Economy: Area-capability Approaches towards Socio-ecological and Cultural Circulations
Moderator: KONDO Yasuhisa (RIHN)
Speakers:
ISHIKAWA Satoshi (Kyoto Prefectural University, Japan)
Naima BENKARI (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman)
Monia BOUSNINA (Sétif 1 University Ferhat Abbas, Algeria)
WAKITA Ken’ichi (NPO Biwako-Chishin, Japan)
Discussant: KANBARA Sakiko (Kobe City College of Nursing, Japan)

Session 4. Toward a Resonant Future of Life: Innovation Emerges from Dialogue Beyond the Human–Nature Divide
Moderator: YOSHIKAWA Narumi (Uehiro Research Center for Japan Environmental Studies, RIHN)
Speakers:
Stephen MURPHY-SHIGEMATSU (Stanford University, USA)
INOUE Takekazu (The Japan Research Institute, Japan)
NIELSEN KITAMURA Tomoko (Cultural Translator, Denmark)
Discussant: Han GENG (University of Southampton, UK)

Session 5. Hot Collections of Cherishing Green Human Resources in Our Society
Moderator: ASARI Misuzu (RIHN)
Keynote speech: MAKI Yoko (McDonald’s Japan/Hitotsubashi University, Japan)
Panel Discussion:
MAKI Yoko
Ilan CHABAY
YAMAGIWA Juichi
and others
Organized by Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
Contact RIHN International Affairs Subsection
E-mail: kokusai[at]chikyu.ac.jp *Please change [at] to @
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