Social Value Creation Research

Climate change causes the increasing occurrence of natural disasters, loss of biodiversity, and widening regional disparities that threaten the sustainability of humanity itself. We are now required to change our living spaces and lifestyles. Global organizations such as the Conference of the Parties (COP) are issuing urgent declarations every year, calling for cooperation and collaboration to gather our knowledge and technology to tackle these challenges.
All of these shared global issues are intertwined with the relationship between nature and human activity, and addressing them requires both expertise and practical skills from relevant academic fields. Landscape studies, with a long history of knowledge and techniques related to the harmonious formation of natural environments and people’s lives, is the only academic field capable of responding to these challenges in an integrated, comprehensive, and practical manner.

This study aims to create a new spatial formation theory and technique called “Resilient Landscape Studies” in response to today’s challenges of climate change. Chiba University, the only national university in Japan that offers a course and degree in landscape studies, takes the initiative in a joint international project with France, the UK, and the Netherlands, countries that lead Landscape Studies in Europe.
Furthermore, the project will focus on creating and universalizing new techniques through global comparative analysis of the world’s most advanced practical examples, identifying and overcoming technological challenges, building theoretical frameworks based on historical knowledge, and experimenting with social implementation. Our goal is to create a new academic field and social value of Resilient Landscape Studies in the era of climate change.

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Noriko AKITA's Article / News Release