[U-07_1AM2] Future Earth - The Integrated Research for Sustainable Earth

★ [U07-05] Global and regional platforms for integrated environmental and sustainability studies

*Makoto TANIGUCHI¹ (1.Research Institute for Humanity and Nature)

Keywords:global environmental change studies, global sustainability, future earth, platform, capacity building

Future Earth is a new 10 years initiative of international research program for global sustainability. The objectives of the Future Earth are to provide the knowledge required for societies in the world to face risks posed by global environmental change and to seize opportunities in a transition to global sustainability. Future earth was launched at 2013 by international academic, funding, organizations as alliances including ICSU, ISSC, IGFA, Belmont Forum, UNEP, UNESCO, and UNU. Future Earth focuses on co-design, co-production, and co-delivery, transdisplinarity, vertical (global-regional-local) and horizontal (multi issue with different sectors and stakeholders) integrations, and the involvement of young scientists. There are three themes, 1) Dynamic Planet, 2) Global Development, and 3) Transformation towards Sustainability. Researches on global environment and sustainability are urgent in Asia, because more than 50 percent of the world population lives in Asia, and drastic changes (both increase and decrease) of population, urbanization, material consumptions, environmental deteriorations, natural and social disasters, occurs in Asia, i.e. Asia is a hot spot area in terms of human and nature drives. Therefore core research hubs of the global environment and sustainability study such as Future Earth are needed in Asia, where is the hot spot area for global sustainability. Structures of the global and regional hubs for the Future Earth, core projects, and others are now under discussion during the interim period. Japan is expected to be Asian regional hub and a part of global hubs because many experiences and good practices on global environmental researches with stakeholders. Methodology, data, and knowledge for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary researches, should be established in a platform and networking as regional hub of the Future Earth in Asia Pacific and others. Capacity building and education for global sustainability are also very important in Future Earth. Beyond the existing one-way capacity building and environmental education, knowledge transfers between different stakeholders may be a key for the next step of capacity building and education for global sustainability.