Japan has overcome the severe environmental pollution of the 1960's and 70's, and has become one of the most environmentally-advanced countries in the world. During this process, we have accumulated a vast amount of knowledge, tools, and experience for practically solving environmental problems related to environmental technologies, legal systems, and environmental policies. On the other hand, most developing countries in the Asia region are still suffering from serious environmental problems, and our experience has not been fully utilized. This is mainly due to the lack of international education systems for transferring environmental technologies and practical training for solving real environmental problems.
Kyoto University has launched a new program called "The International Center for Human Resource Development in Environmental Management" with the aid of Strategic Funds for the Promotion of Science and Technology from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. This is a strategic program for fostering environmental leaders. The three graduate schools, Global Environmental Studies, Engineering, and Energy Science are taking the lead in this university-wide project. In this program, to meet the demand of developing counties, through various research projects, we will foster environmental leaders who have the ability to solve environmental problems in Asia. For this purpose, this program provides multidisciplinary coursework for understanding the situation in Asia, long-term internships for experiencing the duties of environmental leaders from problem finding to the presentation of solutions, and thesis research directly related to environmental issues in Asia. Also, to support overseas educational and research activities, we will establish three overseas field campuses in Hanoi, Hue, and Shenzhen. In these field campuses, resident faculty members are to be stationed. In addition, a network of satellite offices will be established throughout Asia.
For the success of this program, your participation is essential if you are a student strongly interested in environmental issues in Asia. Also, we believe that active collaboration with other institutions and companies is very important. We are looking forward to your active participation in this program.
Shigeo Fujii (Professor, Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies)
