Workshop and plenary at the AGS Annual Meeting 2010
18 March 2010, The University of Tokyo, Japan

How can societies progress towards sustainability under rapid demographic change? This was a key issue at the AGS Annual Meeting 2010. The demographic structure of most developed countries is changing dramatically as a result of people living longer but having fewer children. At the same time, these societies must make drastic changes in the use of energy and natural resources to move towards environmental sustainability. (more…)

by Hiroshi Komiyama and Steven Kraines, The University of Tokyo

Vision 2030: roadmap for a sustainable earth

From the book’s introduction:
“Can we humans continue to live and work as we have until now within the resource limits of the earth? And can we sustain the earth’s bountiful resources, including a clean and healthy environment, for generations to come? The goal of this book is to propose a concrete vision of a road to a sustainable future for humanity and the earth. (more…)

AGS Annual Meeting, 17 March 2010, The University of Tokyo, Japan

For some, the Climate Summit in December 2009 was a success for achieving agreement on the Copenhagen Accord; for others it was a complete failure to agree on any basis for post-Kyoto negotiations. The end of the summit left deep uncertainty as to what the basis for international negotiations towards COP-16 was. At the AGS Annual Meeting, we had a panel discussion to evaluate the COP-15 and future options for action on climate change, chaired by Akimasa Sumi, IPCC AR4 Lead-author and professor of the University of Tokyo. The panel of climate change policy researchers gave perspectives from Japan, the US, Switzerland and the European Union, and China – together responsible for 60% of global carbon emissions. (more…)

Global Change and Sustainability: Pathways to the Sustainable Society in 2050
17-19 March 2010, The University of Tokyo, Japan

The main themes of the AGS Annual Meeting 2010 were: Mitigation and adaptation strategy to climate change and demographic change; Sustainable city-regions; Energy pathways to the future: smart grid and smart infrastructure; Information exchange and communication between academia and society. The meeting included discussions of the post-COP 15 situation and CO2 reduction, venture capital, legal frameworks, energy pathways to the low carbon society, adaptation to climate change, food and water sustainability, and pathways to sustainable urban futures. (more…)

16-20 March 2010, The University of Tokyo, Japan

Text by Yoshimasa Takahashi and Susanne Droescher

The AGS-UT Student Community hosted an international student workshop in Tokyo in March 2010. Our goal was to discuss and propose solutions for sustainability problems in Asia and to launch a sustainability network among Asian students. 50 students from Bhutan, China, India, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and other Asian countries, as well as Japan, were joined by students from the other AGS universities (ETH, MIT and Chalmers). (more…)

The poster session of the AGS Annual Meeting 2010 featured 44 posters addressing energy and mobility in urban areas, pro-poor urban futures, sustainable building and construction, challenges for business and politics, urban ecology and natural resources, urban design and sustainability/visions of future cities, education for sustainability, student activities for sustainability, and food and water. Five posters were awarded best poster certificates.

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IPoS 2009 – “Food, Energy and Water”
The IPoS 2009 summer session was held in Rayong Province, Thailand, 1-12 August. The theme was “Food, Energy and Water”. These are closely related with each other. Water and energy are necessary for food production. Energy can be produced either by growing crops (as energy crops) using water or by using water in hydropower stations. Using large amounts of energy, fresh water can be gained from seawater through desalination, or agricultural water use can be avoided by importing food from other countries (the virtual water trade). In this way, relationships among food, energy and water are very complicated and differ from place to place depending on local conditions. (more…)

International workshop, 24-25 February 2010, Tainan, Taiwan

This international workshop brought together researchers and students from Asian countries and focused on three themes: 1) urban metabolism (food, water, energy, waste); 2) designing rural-urban systems in Asia (food production, landscape, rural and urban planning); and 3) culture, economy and governance. (more…)

24 February 2010

“Opening remarks”, by Akimasa Sumi, TIGS, The University of Tokyo

Keynote speech:

“Disaster information management system in Taiwan”, Fengtian LIN, National Cheng Kung University

Session: Urban Metabolism – Energy and Resources

• “Towards a transparent land-use design tool for sustainable urban metabolisms focusing on energy, food and water”, Yasuhiro Fukushima, National Cheng Kung University
• “Empirical analysis of price transmission in palm oil crushing industry – the case of the province of North Sumatra, Indonesia”, Hirotaka Matsuda, IR3S, The University of Tokyo

Session: Food and Agriculture

• “Conflict of agriculture and development in peri-urban region”, Hirokazu Ozaki, IR3S, The University of Tokyo

Session: Water

• “Urban water metabolism”, Toshiya Aramaki, Faculty of Regional Development Studies, Toyo University
• “Water health issue in urban area”, Hiroyuki Katayama, Dept of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo
• “Urban traces in the environment”, Sebastien Rauch, Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology
• “Can participation mitigate water conflict?”, Mihoko Matsuyuki, Dept of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo

25 February 2010

Keynote speech:

“Topics in sustainability science and co-living philosophy, and conditions for the realisation of a sustainable society”, Tomonori Matsuo, Toyo University

Session: Designing Rural System in Asia

• “Sustainable urban structure and transport policy in metropolitan region”, Noboru Harata, Dept of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo
• “Impact of road network upon flood inundation”, Guangwei HUANG, Graduate School of Frontier Science, The University of Tokyo
• “Special feature of urbanisation and changes in thermal environment in Jakarta, Indonesia”, Akinobu Murakami, Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Tsukuba
• “Housing supply, affordability and land use in the Mumbai Metropolitant region”, Rajiv R. Mishra, Principal Sir JJ College of Architecture, University of Mumbai
• “Regional planning and projects in the Ruhr region, Germany”, Dietwald Gruehn, School of Spatial Planning, Dortmund Technical University

Session: Designing Rural System in Asia

• “Scaling-up: an overview of urban agriculture in North America”, Matthew Potteiger, Dept of Landscape Architecture, State University of New York
• “Restoring agricultural landscapes in shrinking cities: Reinventing traditional concepts in Japanese planning”, Makoto Yokohari, Graduate School of Frontier Science, The University of Tokyo

Session: City, Region and Governance

• “Sustainable city-regions and the formation of regional governance”, Tetsuo Kidokoro, Dept of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo
• “Regulatory and governance issues in controlling urban development in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region”, Apiwat Ratanawaraha, Dept of Urban and Regional Planning, Chulalongkorn University
• “Lusaka, from Garden City to Metropolitan: toward sustainable African City Region”, Norihisa Shima, Dept of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
• “Informal collaborative network: Meinung Cultural Mobilisation in Soutern city region, Taiwan”, Peipeng LI, Dept of Bio-industry Communication and Development, National Taiwan University
• “Urban sustainability and vulnerability indicators: how do we evaluate our sustainability and vulnerability?”, Naesun Park, cSUR-GCOE, The University of Tokyo
• Presentation to second session by Hideki Koizumi, Dept of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo
• “The circulative dwelling in a town escaping from the legend of one family in one house on one site”, Otsuki Toshio, Dept of Architecture, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
• Presentation by Daisuke Abe, cSUR-GCOE, The University of Tokyo
• “The village inside: from Mumbai to Tokyo and back”, Matias Sendoa Echanove, URBZ
• “To build city-regions anew: space for citizens’ participation and initiatives”, Marco Kusumawijaya, Jakarta Arts Council, Taman Ismail Marzuki

Closing

“The management of urbanisation, development and environmental change in the 21st century”, Terry McGee, University of British Columbia

Student Session:

• “A re-evaluation of green space planning in peri-urban Tokyo transformation processes of land use in the Shimousa Plateau”, Mariko Miyamoto, Graduate School of Frontier Science, The University of Tokyo
• “Tragedy of the commons or tragedy of privatism? a triangulation of peri-urban community forestry in England, the United States and Japan”, Gerald Bolthouse, Graduate School of Frontier Science, The University of Tokyo
• “Wood energy and sustainable satoyama management: using urban waste wood to enhance economic viability”, Terada Toru, Graduate School of Frontier Science, The University of Tokyo
• “Transformation of peri-urban agricultural lands in Bangkok Metropolitan region: case studies of Nonthaburi and Rangsit”, Davivong Vudipong, Graduate of Frontier Science, The University of Tokyo
• “Conservation strategies of different municipalities for satoyama woodland in the urban fringe of the Tokyo metropolitan area”, Kazuaki Tsuchiya, Graduate School of Agricultural Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo
• “Agricultural process and agricultural land use change in Tianjin”, Dingyang ZHOU, Dept of Ecosystem Studies, The University of Tokyo
• “”The tree protection ordinance on private lot and the implementation in Seattle city, Washington, USA”, Hirofumi Hori, Dept of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo
• “The transition of common spaces in high density housings and of facilities for children”, Saori Imoto, Dept of Architecture, The University of Tokyo
• “The living environment in a depopulating mountanous village: a case of Niyodogawa-cho Kochi, Japan”, Haruka Tsukuda, Dept of Architecture, The University of Tokyo
• “Toxicity characterization of urban river sediments using two benthic crustaceans”, Haruna Watanabe, Dept of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo
• “Evaluation by environmental burden and value of products for plastic cascade recycling”, Asako Okuno, Dept of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo
• “Virtual water flows and national water footprint of Taiwan”, Yenchi CHEN, Dept of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University
• “Biomass utilisation towards sustainability: a case study – GHG emissions from cassava derived starch and ethanol”, Tingting KUO, Dept of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University
• “Metabolism of energy self sufficient village in Indonesia,  a case study: Desa Haurngombong West Java”, Badariah Yosiyana, Dept of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University

Global sustainability challenges need partnerships between academia and industry. AGS Todai has been doing this in its monthly Strategic Sustainability Seminars since 2007. Over twenty Japanese companies active in diverse business fields, including construction, food, chemical, cement, and real estate, have joined. They come to get comprehensive knowledge about sustainability for the future. (more…)