• Other

【Combining Knowledge for a Fundamental Innovation of Land Use Program Seminar Series No.16】
International Seminar “Re-thinking Scaling Up: Institutions, Governance, and Place-Based Land Use ”

Date 12 March 2026, 9:30 – 18:00
Venue Lecture Hall(RIHN) and online (zoom)
Language Japanese and English(Simultaneous Interpretation)
Register Registration in advance is required. Click here and register.
https://forms.gle/XGG99Xh4ivNKk9wo8 【Deadline:10 March】
Abstract Land-use outcomes are fundamentally shaped by region-specific social, ecological and institutional contexts. This recognition has led to broad consensus in land-use and sustainability research on the importance of place-based approaches. At the same time, it raises a persistent theoretical challenge: how can locally embedded initiatives be extended, connected, or re-articulated across scales without losing their contextual relevance or normative grounding?
This international seminar aims to advance both theoretical and empirical discussions on the institutional and policy mechanisms that support the scaling up of land-use initiatives. Drawing on empirical case studies and participant experience, it will critically interrogate “scaling up” as an analytical and normative concept in sustainability-oriented land-use governance.
Program 9:30
Opening Remarks: Objectives and Analytical Orientation of the Seminar
Professor Mikitaro Shobayashi (Program Director, RIHN)

9:45
Session I: Conceptual and Institutional Dimensions of Scaling Up
Theme 1: Institutionalization and Policy Alignment
Dr. Leo Maier (Former Head of the Policy Evaluation Unit, Directorate-General for Agriculture, European Commission)
Dr. Lucy MacLennan (Director, Organic Research Centre, ADAS, UK)
Dr. Takayuki Kimura (Director, Environmental Policy Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Japan)
Comments: Dr. Hiroyuki Suematsu (Former Permanent Secretary, MAFF in Japan)

Theme 2: Re-situating Local Initiatives within Multi-level Governance
Dr. Nina Denisova (University of Sofia, Bulgaria)
Dr. Taku Fujita (The Nature Conservation Society of Japan)
Ms. Eri Otsu (Organic farmer and Visiting Associate Professor, RIHN)
Comments: Dr. Eiichiro Nishizawa (Professor, Hosei University)

12:30
Lunch Break

13:30
Session II: Empirical Reflections from the FairFrontiers Project
Speaker: Dr. Grace Wong (FairFrontiers Project Leader, RIHN)
Discussion: Professor Janet Dwyer (SATOCONN Project Leader, RIHN) and Dr. Norie Tamura (Pluriverse Project Leader, RIHN)

14:45
Session III: Workshop — Co-producing the Meaning of “Scaling Up”(Closed session)

17:00
Roundtable: Toward a Shared Research and Policy Agenda on Scaling Up Land-Use Innovation Facilitator: Dr. Ei (Senior researcher, SATOCONN Project, RIHN)

18:00
Thanks and Close of Seminar
Contact Combining Knowledge for a Fundamental Innovation of Land Use Program, RIHN
E-mail: katsuyama[at]chikyu.ac.jp  *Please change [at] to @

To List.