Global COE Program - Kyoto University - In Search of Sustainable Humanosphere in Asia and Africa

 This program stands on two pillars: the first is research work to formulate a new paradigm for sustainable humanosphere, and the second is inter-disciplinary human resource development aimed at training young researchers who are expected to contribute to sustainable development of Asia and Africa. Nine organizations under Kyoto University jointly organized this program. These include area studies-oriented organizations, (the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, the Center for Integrated Area Studies, the Center for African Area Studies, and Institute for Research in Humanities), and science and technology-oriented organizations (the Research Institute of Sustainable Humanosphere, the Institute of Sustainability Science, the Graduate School of Agriculture and the Graduate School of Engineering).

 Research, education and training programs will be supervised by a steering committee and the four divisions of the program.

 We organize a series of seminar clusters whose focus will be for paradigm formulation, and four research initiatives whose goal is to promote inter-disciplinary research. The monthly paradigm formulation seminars will be the central nexus of the program, and all members are expected to attend, express their views, analyses, and approaches from their own disciplines, to criticize each other constructively, and to integrate their theories and knowledge towards formulating a new paradigm of sustainable humanosphere.

 In order to develop this new paradigm, G-COE will organize individual and group research projects, as well as create a humanosphere database around four themes: (Initiative 1) The long-term dynamics of environment, technology and institutions; (Initiative 2) The study on human co-existence with nature; (Initiative 3) The forestry model of sustainable humanosphere: the case of a Sumatran Community; and, (Initiative 4) Studies in the potentialities of local culture, institution and technology.

 We will also develop an open system of career development for Ph. D candidates, post-doctoral fellows and assistant professors. A "Course on Sustainable Humanosphere" will be established in the Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, in which "Methodology of Sustainable Humanosphere Studies" will be the core course. Following closely at the heels of the achievements of the 21st Century COE program "Aiming for COE of Integrated Area Studies," we hope to strengthen on-site education by making use of the COE field stations in Asia and Africa.

 We will likewise launch several programs to promote the training of young researchers. These will include an international intellectual leadership program aimed at upgrading young researchers' facility in English and their ability to plan and lead research projects, a series of workshops and joint field work aimed towards paradigm formulation, and the young researchers' research initiatives program to organize inter-disciplinary projects. We will produce a working paper series to disseminate our research outcomes in Japan and abroad.

 The institutional manifestation of all these projects will be the establishment of an international academic center for a new type of area studies where different disciplines interact with each other, and where, specifically, science and technology research and the social sciences and humanities mutually incorporate each others' analyses and develop common perspectives. To achieve this, we will pursue robust collaboration with the appropriate research and education institutions in Japan and abroad, actively recruit post-doctoral fellows and assistant professors and promote the young researchers' research initiatives program on our web site. We sincerely welcome and appreciate your interest and collaboration.