Date: 21 Sep ，2007
In the Global COE program, we will aim to build a database for a humanosphere using a GIS (geographical information system), with the goal to envisage technology and institutions that will make a sustainable humanosphere possible in Asian and African regions in the time span of one century. At this workshop, based on interim findings of the four research projects conducted by the Center for Integrated Area Studies in the last fiscal year, we examined the expected contents of the database and the expected development to be gained by the database analysis. They are: “GIS applications to protect the safety and security of a society with multiple hazards,” “technological integration and institutional design for the sustainable use of mountain ecological resource – focusing on Southeast Asia,” “expanding regional information studies to unify the subsurface structure and ecology of nature, society, and human beings – in the case of urban areas of Southeast Asia,” and “formulating a database for humanosphere simulation.” The significance of building a database on the humanosphere of individual regions is that particularly in case of a large-scale disaster, it will function as a foundation that can offer, in real time, up-to-date geographical information on the scale of damage and need for reconstruction. In short, the humanosphere database itself will contribute to creating the sustainability of the local community. It was also pointed out that there is a need to build a database that reflects the current status of the sustainable humanosphere in order to clarify a regional unit that can envision a sustainable humanosphere, or regional divisions based on the humanosphere. The concept of a sustainable humanosphere can expand in time and space. The workshop was meaningful in having participants share this concept. From now on, we can narrow our focus to the path of technological progress and the characteristics of the humanosphere, which should become the key elements for designing a sustainable humanosphere, and further the need to clearly define the structure and components of the humanosphere. (Sato Takahiro )