Addressing problems of human survival and security
Welcome to UNU-ISP
The United Nations University Institute for Sustainability and Peace (UNU-ISP) seeks to achieve and promote a better understanding of the broad, intersecting themes that extend across three of the most pressing issues on the UN agenda.
UNU-ISP News
Climate Change
The Role of Higher Education in Adapting to Climate Change
Speakers on the first day of the conference (from left, first row): S. B. S. Abayakoon, Konrad Osterwalder, Isao Kiso, (second row) Janette Lindesay, Diqiang Li, Nobuo Mimura, Toshio Koike, (third row) Kazuhiko Takeuchi, Kazushige Taniguchi, Hiroyuki Yoshikawa, and Srikantha Herath. Photos: UNU-ISP
2009.06.29 • Representatives from more than 18 universities and research organizations from across the Asia-Pacific, as well as international and intergovernmental organizations, gathered at UNU headquarters in Tokyo to put higher education on top of the climate change adaptation agenda. The first of its kind in the region, the three-day event entitled ‘The Role of Higher Education in Adapting to Climate Change’ was jointly organised by the UNU Institute for Sustainability and Peace, and the Institute for Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science (IR3S) of the University of Tokyo.
Interviews
Janette Lindesay on the role of higher education in adpating to climate change.
Nobuo Mimura on climate change and Japan. (Watch Part 2 and Part 3)
The event successfully established a regional network that will provide the foundations for a comprehensive postgraduate educational programme to produce the necessary students, educators, and research needed for effective adaptation to climate change. More than 100 educators, researchers, policy makers and administrators participated.
The first day of the event, June 10, was a public conference featuring four keynote speakers: Prof. Janette Lindesay, Deputy Director, Australian National University Climate Change Institute; Prof. Diqiang Li, Director, Chinese Academy of Forestry; Prof. Nobuo Mimura, Director, Institute for Global Change Adaptation Science; and Prof. Hiroyuki Yoshikawa, Director-General for The Center for Research and Development Strategy, Japan Science and Technology Agency.
Panelists were drawn from presidents, deans and heads of departments from leading universities in Japan, Sri Lanka, South Korea, India, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.
The conference also provided an ideal opportunity for the UNU to ask keynote speaker, Prof. Nobuo Mimura, about the recent landmark report he lead on the economic costs of climate change for Japan.
During the two-day closed workshop that followed, participants shared information on existing climate-related teaching and research within their institutions, with the final day dedicated to brainstorming innovative ideas for a regional curricula, joint research projects and resource sharing, as well as future action plans. The conclusion of the event was celebrated by a round-table commitment to further develop this initiative, with follow-up workshops to be held this year in Vietnam (September), Ghana (October), and next year in Indonesia (February). The outcomes will make an important contribution to UNU-ISP’s graduate study programmes which will begin in 2010.
Agreement of Cooperation with Yunnan University
Developing a research network on culture and environment
Srikantha Herath (left), UNU-ISP senior academic programme officer, signs the agreement with representatives from Yunnan University. Photo: UNU-ISP
2009.06.03 • As stated in the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, "cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature". Together, cultural diversity and biological diversity hold the key to ensuring resilience in social-ecological systems in the face of global change. Human cultures are a driving force shaping our environment. It is therefore essential to improve our understanding of co-adaptation, and to promote the synergy between culture and environment for harmonious and sustainable development, especially in culturally diverse regions.
A major challenge is to see how one-to-one relationships between culture and environment in particular localities can be viewed from a global or regional perspective under the increasing dynamics and pressure of local and global interactions. This may help us to not only preserve and promote lessons learnt and practices perfected in the past, but also propose new sustainable community-based approaches in meeting the new challenges and opportunities of globalization.
UNU-ISP is very pleased to see Yunnan University Nationalities Research Institute (YNU-NRI) take an important step to mobilize five university partners in southwest China with the creation of a research network for promoting research and capacity development for the conservation and sustainable development of ethnic cultures and environments.
On 24 March 2009, UNU-ISP signed an agreement of cooperation with YNU-NRI to jointly develop this network for the western part of China and the bordering regions in South-East Asia and South Asia where diverse ethnic cultures and varied environments co-exist. The cooperation will be focused on joint research and the training of Ph.D. students, with dissemination via international forums and publications.
About UNU-ISP
From the Director
UNU-ISP takes an innovative, integrated approach to sustainability — one that encompasses global change, development, peace and security. The Institute bridges these cross-cutting issues through research, educational, and collaborative initiatives with the aim of solving current problems and anticipating future challenges.
UNU-ISP works in collaboration with other UNU Research and Training Centres and Programmes as well as through co-operative relationships with the global academic and policy-making communities.
Within the context of sustainability and peace, UNU-ISP:
- Conducts research; undertakes education, training and capacity development; and facilitates the dissemination of scientific knowledge and information to the United Nations and its agencies, to scholars and to the public.
- Provides opportunities for postgraduate students and professionals to obtain a wider understanding of relevant issues.
- Integrates the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities into a transdisciplinary approach that contributes to the development and strengthening of policy frameworks and management actions at all levels.
The research and education activities of the UNU Institute for Sustainability and Peace are carried out across three thematic sections:
- Global Change and Sustainability;
- Peace and Security;
- International Cooperation and Development.
UNU-ISP aims at cross-fertilizing natural science and social science methodologies through teams working on institute-wide, cross-cutting themes. Integrated, holistic approaches to identify practical solutions are promoted.
UNU Graduate Degrees
The UNU Institute for Sustainability and Peace is in discussions with top universities in Japan and other countries regarding the initiation of joint graduate degree programmes. UNU-ISP will undertake graduate study programmes leading to the granting of master’s and doctorate degrees on themes relevant to UNU-ISP’s focus on sustainability and peace.
Institutional Twinning
The UNU Institute for Sustainability and Peace will build up twin partners in developing countries by dynamically developing and engaging in activities in Africa and the Asia–Pacific. A first step towards this twinning relationships is a partnership with the UNU Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) located in Accra, Ghana.
About United Nations University
The mission of the United Nations University is to contribute, through collaborative research, capacity development and advisory services, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare that are the concern of the United Nations, its Peoples and Member States.
The UNU functions as a global network of Research and Training Centres and Programmes in 13 UN Member States, co-ordinated by UNU Centre in Tokyo.
◊◊◊
Page last modified 2009.09.08.
