Project Outline

With the support of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), we have been promoting the “Southeast Asia Research-based Network on Climate Change Adaptation Science (SARNCCAS)” project for four years. This project was originally planned for three years until FY2020, but it was extended to FY2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The goals of this project are to (1) develop a new adaptation research approach that considers the regional characteristics of Southeast Asia, (2) develop practical adaptation options that can be implemented by communities in different countries and regions, and (3) train young researchers and develop research networks. To this end, Institute for Global Change Adaptation Science (ICAS, 2018-2019) and Global and Local Environmental Co-creation Institute (GLEC, 2020-2021) at Ibaraki University have both played important roles.

In this project, we established a research network for climate change adaptation science that connects researchers from the Japan-Vietnam University in Vietnam, Phuket Rachapat University in Thailand, Bogor Agricultural University in Indonesia, and University of the Philippines Los Banos. We have also held international seminars and workshops once a year to exchange information and ideas. We are facilitating the transfer of local knowledge to interlocal knowledge in order to relativize and recapture challenges that are unique to each country/region by comparing them with others. By exploring the themes of coastal impacts, disaster prevention, and agricultural/ecosystem impacts we are developing practical adaptation options that can be adopted by communities in each country/region.

In FY2018 and FY2019, we held in-person seminars/workshops in Hanoi, Vietnam, and in FY2020 and 2021, which were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, we held online seminars/workshops. Even in situations where it is difficult to meet in person for discussions, we will develop activities that lend themselves to the online format, such as streaming fieldwork from the coast of Vietnam, and providing students of Ibaraki University Junior High School with the opportunity to give presentations online. In addition, we have conducted polyphonic exchanges with an online mind mapping tool called “miro” in conjunction with online Zoom presentations. Many young researchers are participating in the project.

The book, “Sharing interlocal adaptation lessons: Climate Change Adaptations and Development in East and Southeast Asia” was written by network participants and was published by Springer in early 2022. We are thinking of using these preliminary results as a stepping stone to better connect with other networks in related fields. In addition, from FY2022 onward, we would like to convene monthly online study group meetings to encourage the exchange of research among young people and promote interlocal collaboration.

Japanese Coordinator: ITO Tetsuji (Professor, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences / GLEC, Ibaraki University, Japan)