GSES SUMMER SCHOOL 2024
Environment and community; how we engage local people to build a sustainable future.
September 9 – 13, 2024
Click the poster below for more detailed program (PDF)
Program
September 9 (Monday)
08:30-09:00
- Registration
09:00-09:15
- Opening remarks
- Kazuyo MATSUBAE (Vice Dean, Professor, GSES, Tohoku University, Japan)
09:15-10:45
- Invited speaker 1
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- Kazuyo HIROSE (Ph.D., Japan Space System, Japan）
"Utilizing satellite imagery in mining sector"
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Mining is crucial for the extraction of minerals that are indispensable to our daily lives. In recent years, there has been a surge in demand for minerals that are vital for clean energy technologies. This has led to increased global interest in the exploration and extraction of these minerals.
Utilizing satellite imagery is useful not only for mineral exploration but also for environmental monitoring in relation to mining activities. Thanks to recent technological advancements and the availability of free satellite data with open-source software, satellite imagery has become accessible to anyone.
I will present some examples of satellite imagery application in the mining sector. It will specifically focus on mapping both formal and informal mining activities, including Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM), a challenging issue in developing countries.
10:45-11:00
- Break time
11:00-12:00
- Open discussion/Panel discussion/Student Activity
12:00-13:30
- Lunch break
13:30-14:45
- Workshop
14:45-15:00
- Break time
15:00-16:00
- Workshop
September 10 (Tuesday)
- 1-day field work to Fukushima nuclear power plant: tbd (to be informed to the participants)
September 11 (Wednesday)
- Free work day, co-research meeting, etc.
September 12 (Thursday)
08:30-09:00
- Registration
09:00-10:30
- Invited speaker 2
- Takeshi TAKAMA (CEO, Su-re.co, Indonesia)
"Integrating Sustainability and Resilience: The Think-Do-Be Tank Approach"
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This lecture will provide an in-depth exploration of the innovative approaches and impactful projects undertaken by su-re.co, a unique Think-Do-Be tank focused on sustainability and resilience. Dr. Takeshi Takama will share the journey of su-re.co, highlighting key initiatives such as the implementation of biogas digesters across Indonesia, the development of climate field schools, and the significant influence on policy dialogues that led to the establishment of national targets for clean cooking stoves.
The lecture will delve into the Think-Do-Be tank approach employed by su-re.co to address climate change and enhance community resilience. Dr. Takama will discuss the collaborative efforts with local and international stakeholders, showcasing how practical solutions are co-created and implemented on the ground. The Think-Do-Be tank methodology emphasizes the integration of scientific research (Think), actionable projects (Do), and the pursuit of genuine sustainability through education and policy engagements (Be). This approach is pivotal in searching for the true meaning of sustainability and driving impactful change.
Participants will gain insights into the challenges and successes encountered in these projects, the lessons learned, and the future directions for su-re.co. Specifically, Dr. Takama will discuss large-scale carbon credit projects, including a 43,000-hectare agroforestry plantation and extensive biogas deployment, highlighting how these initiatives aim to significantly reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable land use practices.
The lecture aims to inspire and equip the audience with practical knowledge and innovative ideas to apply in their own sustainability and resilience efforts, aligning with the goals of the GSES Summer School 2024.
10:30-10:45
- Break time
10:45-12:15
- Invited speaker 3
- Damien GIURCO (Professor, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia)
"Creating change towards sustainable futures – resources, energy, society"
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This lecture will explore a range of 'paths to impact' for linking insights from research to end-users in support of creating change towards sustainable futures. It will begin by outlining the dimensions of the sustainability challenge and the imperative for new modes of consumption and production which are consistent with living within planetary boundaries. The possible contributions and challenges with adopting a steady state economy, bio-economy and circular economy will be discussed.
Drawing on experiences from the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures, the lecture will highlight examples of transdisciplinary research conducted in collaboration with government, industry, and communities, particularly within the resources and energy sectors.
Key enablers will be examined and discussed, including adopting a systems view, seizing windows of opportunity, and finding effective ways to engage champions and society. The discussion will illustrate how different levers of change can support the transition to sustainability and potential strategies for overcoming barriers.
By showcasing a range of more and less successful case studies and perspectives arising from different modes of collaboration, the lecture aims to provide practical strategies for integrating scientific research into policy and practice, emphasizing the importance of collaboration across different sectors and disciplines.
12:15-13:00
- Lunch break
13:00-14:30
- Invited speaker 4
- Jacob FRY (Ph.D., National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan)
"Linking producers and consumers at global and local scales – multi-scale environmental assessment"
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Our ability to model the environmental impacts of global production and consumption has been steadily improving in recent decades. Large-scale environmental-economic models can be used to unravel the complex web of interactions and supply chains linking consumers, producers and environmental impacts. These models allow us to attribute global impacts resulting from local consumption, and vice versa – impacts occurring locally as a result of consumption in the global economy. However, work still remains to improve the spatial resolution of these models, to reduce uncertainty, and to further ground these models in reality. Recent efforts to perform this multi-scale assessment and to improve modelling capabilities are explored through a collection of case studies: city carbon footprints, biodiversity impacts, forced-labour practices and the circular economy.
14:30-14:45
- Break time
14:45-16:00
- Open discussion/Panel discussion/Student Activity
(with Dr. Takeshi TAKAMA, Prof. Damien GIRUCO, Dr. Jacob FRY)
September 13 (Friday)
08:30-09:00
- Registration
09:00-10:30
- Invited speaker 5
- Thanh H. (Helen) Nguyen (Professor, University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign, US)
"Co-creation of a digital platform to combat antimicrobial resistance in humans, animals, and the environment"
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Antibiotic resistance (AR) is a "silent pandemic" that poses a global threat to human and animal health, as well as threats to food safety and security, crop-based fuel production, and the environment. The emergence of resistance is accelerated by the widespread overuse of antibiotics in both clinical and agricultural settings. Yet, the emergence of resistance is almost exclusively monitored in acute hospital settings and misses the long-term and invisible evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance in agriculture and the environment. There is an urgent need for intelligent monitoring and stewardship, which unifies information across interdependent human, animal, agricultural, and environmental networks. I will present a project which recently received 1 million British pounds from the Trinity Challenge to combat antimicrobial resistance in Vietnam.
10:30-10:45
- Break time
10:45-12:15
- Guest speaker 6
- Ronald C. Estoque (Senior Researcher, Forestry & Forest Products Research Institute, Japan)
"Spatial analysis of forest cover changes and urban heat health risk"
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This lecture will introduce two studies: (1) scenario analysis of forest cover changes in Southeast Asia, and (2) urban heat health risk assessment in Philippine cities.
(1) Southeast Asia's forests are crucial for biodiversity and global carbon balance, yet the region is a deforestation hotspot. Using the five shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), we model future forest changes with a spatially explicit land change modeling procedure and remote sensing data. By 2050, under the worst-case scenario (SSP 3: regional rivalry), forests would shrink by 5.2 million hectares, reducing aboveground forest carbon stock (AFCS) by 790 Tg C, with 21% from old-growth forest loss. In the best-case scenario (SSP 1: sustainability), the region would gain 19.6 million hectares of forest and 1651 Tg C of AFCS.
(2) Over half the world's population lives in urban areas, facing risks from urban heat islands and climate change. Using remote surface temperature data, social-ecological indicators, and the IPCC risk framework, we assessed heat health risks in 139 Philippine cities (40% of the population). High-risk cities are in Metro Manila, with high heat hazard and exposure levels. The most vulnerable cities are outside the capital, where sensitivity is higher and adaptive capacity is lower.
12:15-13:30
- Lunch break
13:30-15:00
- Invited speaker 7
- FAN Xuezhou (Associate Professor, Zhengzhou University, China)
"How to build Sustainable Solid Waste Treatment and Recycling Model"
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In recent years, treatment and recycling use of solid waste become important in many countries. For instance, waste plastics recycling use in Japan and Household waste Treatment in China. In Japan, situations such as restrictions on the import of waste plastics as well as the excessive quantity of microplastics in the ocean become severely; at the same time, more and more domestic waste brings serious social problem In China. In order to build solid waste treatment and recycling model, in addition to macro-flows at the national level, it is necessary to understand the detailed flow of waste at the regional level. For instance, in accordance with the Waste Disposal Law and ordinances, there is an obligation to report industrial waste to prefectures, such as the implementation status reports of industrial waste large-volume discharge business operators, status reports on industrial waste management and those on electronic manifest registration, and the actual results reported by the industrial waste disposal industry. In this lecture, we developed a model for estimating material flow and spatial movement volume from the bottom up by using the preceding administrative report data.
15:00-15:15
- Break time
- Open discussion/Panel discussion/Student Activity
- Closing remarks
- Atsushi OKAMOTO (IESLP-WG Head, Professor, GSES, Tohoku University, Japan)
15:15-15:45
15:45-16:00
16:00-17:00
- Social gathering