The RENKEI Climate Change Researcher Workshop was held online on Thursday, December 10, 2020. Over 70 participants from member universities, ranging from students to senior-level faculty members, exchanged ideas on research and initiatives related to climate change. Two representatives from Tohoku University introduced the university’s efforts in this field. Professor Toshiaki Yoshioka, who is a professor at the Graduate School of Environmental Studies and the Director of the International Joint Graduate Program in Resilience and Safety Studies (GP-RSS), gave a presentation, and Professor Toshio Suga, who is a professor at the Graduate School of Science and the Program Director of the Graduate Program in Environmental and Earth Sciences (GP-EES), took part in a panel discussion.
The RENKEI (Japan-UK Research and Education Network for Knowledge Economy Initiatives) is a bilateral network of 12 universities, six from Japan and six from the UK. Through the RENKEI network, member universities collaborate with each other and with industries in carrying out joint research, knowledge transfer, and human resource development. In recent years, RENKEI has focused on conducting activities under the themes of “Climate Change” and “Health”.
The workshop, which was the first that RENKEI has held online, opened with an address by Mr. Matthew Knowles, the British Council Director for Japan. The British Council, an official international cultural exchange organization, acts as the secretariat for RENKEI. In the keynote speeches that followed, speakers introduced climate change initiatives being conducted by governments and higher education institutions in Japan and the UK, with specific reference to the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC), scheduled to be held in Glasgow in 2021.
In the sessions on “Low Carbon Societies and Green Infrastructure” and “Future Risks and Adaptation in Flooding, Water Shortage, Food Production, Society and Ecosystems”, Prof. Yoshioka introduced the GP-RSS program and his own research.
In the final session, the particpants were introduced to the COP26 Universities Network and CAS-Net Japan, two university networks which are seeking to address climate change within the higher education sector in Japan and the UK. Prof. Suga took part in a panel disussion, during which he commented on the work of Tohoku University’s GP-EES Program and the WISE Program for Sustainability in the Dynamic Earth (SyDE).
RENKEI is planning to hold another workshop on climate change in January 2021 to further develop the themes discussed.
The RENKEI Climate Change Researcher Workshop was held online on Thursday, December 10, 2020. Over 70 participants from member universities, ranging from students to senior-level faculty members, exchanged ideas on research and initiatives related to climate change. Two representatives from Tohoku University introduced the university’s efforts in this field. Professor Toshiaki Yoshioka, who is a professor at the Graduate School of Environmental Studies and the Director of the International Joint Graduate Program in Resilience and Safety Studies (GP-RSS), gave a presentation, and Professor Toshio Suga, who is a professor at the Graduate School of Science and the Program Director of the Graduate Program in Environmental and Earth Sciences (GP-EES), took part in a panel discussion.
The RENKEI (Japan-UK Research and Education Network for Knowledge Economy Initiatives) is a bilateral network of 12 universities, six from Japan and six from the UK. Through the RENKEI network, member universities collaborate with each other and with industries in carrying out joint research, knowledge transfer, and human resource development. In recent years, RENKEI has focused on conducting activities under the themes of “Climate Change” and “Health”.
The workshop, which was the first that RENKEI has held online, opened with an address by Mr. Matthew Knowles, the British Council Director for Japan. The British Council, an official international cultural exchange organization, acts as the secretariat for RENKEI. In the keynote speeches that followed, speakers introduced climate change initiatives being conducted by governments and higher education institutions in Japan and the UK, with specific reference to the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC), scheduled to be held in Glasgow in 2021.
In the sessions on “Low Carbon Societies and Green Infrastructure” and “Future Risks and Adaptation in Flooding, Water Shortage, Food Production, Society and Ecosystems”, Prof. Yoshioka introduced the GP-RSS program and his own research.
In the final session, the particpants were introduced to the COP26 Universities Network and CAS-Net Japan, two university networks which are seeking to address climate change within the higher education sector in Japan and the UK. Prof. Suga took part in a panel disussion, during which he commented on the work of Tohoku University’s GP-EES Program and the WISE Program for Sustainability in the Dynamic Earth (SyDE).
RENKEI is planning to hold another workshop on climate change in January 2021 to further develop the themes discussed.