Laboratory of Environmental Economics, Okayama Univ.

A happy time for us. I hope you all have lots of smiles in this academic year!

Finally, the day has come.

Congrats for everybody. I wish you all the best for your bright future!

 

We held a small workshop titled "Towards a Co-creation of Sustainable Human-Nature Hybrids in the Age of Anthopocene: A Dialogue Between Humanities/Social Scientists and Natural Scientists" with Dr. Suvania.

Through related presentations in Asia and Africa, we deepened our knowledge of the relationship and interaction between nature and society. Despite all the differences, we could share the importance of "sense of attachment" that local people hold on nature in fostering a better relationship between humans and nature.

Thank you to all the participants!

*The photo was kindly provided by Ms. Tsunami from the Global Engagement Office.

 

Thanks to Prof. Shima's guidance, Dr. Suvania and I could visit the ex-industrial waste disposal site in Teshima island.

Ms. Shiokawa kindly explained the history of the villagers' struggle to protest against the illegal disposal. We were able to realize once again the significance of what happened here.

Thank you very much, Prof. Shima and Ms. Shiokawa!

 

Dr. Suvania kindly accepted my request to speak at the special seminar. Titled "My Engaged Research Journey", she talked about how she has conducted her own research. I am sure that the students enjoyed her talk.

Thank you very much, Dr. Suvania!

*A photo above was taken by Ms. Tsuha, Global Engagement Office, Okayama University.

As a visiting scholar, Dr. Suvania Naidoo has visited to our laboratory from the University of South Africa. During her two-week stay, she will give us lectures such as a student seminar and a joint research seminar.

Welcome to Okayama! Hope you have a pleasant stay.

Hiroki and Tan have finally received Ph.D. degrees. We took a celebration photo on a breezy autumn day.

Congratulations! Wish you all the best.

A scene in a Sarawak fieldtrip.

Trying to load an oil palm FFB. It's very heavy!

I went to Akita for a conference. It was the first Akita experience in my life.

Akita is said to be the most depopulated, but the people who took care of me on this field trip are very positive and creative. It was as if they were enjoying life there to the fullest.

"Sustainable society" can be summed up in one word, but it's important for each of us to enjoy choosing what to sustain, what to create, and what to throw away. It was a new learning for me too.

Thank you very much to all of you. Food and sake were quite delicious!

Since this April, the Graduate School of Environmental Life Science and the Graduate School of Natural Science have been merged to form a new Graduate School, named "Graduate School of Environmental, Life, Natural Science and Technology".

Just like we did in the undergraduate level, our laboratory has also moved to the Course of Environmental Ecology within the "Planet, Environmental Life Science" Degree Program of the new graduate school. At the same time, we have been merged with the Laboratory of Farm Management System and Information Processing, and have been reborn as "The Laboratory of Food and Environmental Policy".

We start this reassignment from the 1st year graduate students (M1 and D1) in AY 2023. We maintain existing education curriculum for others, such as senior students in the Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science and undergraduate students.

 

Congrats for everybody. I wish you all the best for your bright future!

B4 and M2 students after our spring cleaning.

Our two B4 students and two M2 students have finished oral presentations for their graduation theses.

Good job, everyone!

On January 25, we had the 2nd joint seminar in this academic year. Two B4 students and M2 students in our laboratory has made their presentations.

Two more weeks to go. Hope your further efforts to complete your theses!

Autumn leaves in our university

The graduation day for B4 students. All the best for your bright future!

Our three B4 students have finished oral presentations for their graduation theses.

I hope the students have enjoyed the event.

The new semester has begun!

Two students have joined us; Mr. Musah Abugri (M1) and Ms. Zhang Meng (RS).

Welcome to our laboratory. I hope you'll enjoy our activities!

 

Today was a graduation day of our university. In our laboratory, Dinh san received a Ph.D. degree, while Linlin san and Tien san got Master degrees. Unfortunately, only Linlin san could come to the campus. So we celebrated online.

Congratulations! All the best for the bright future ahead of you.

Late summer is one of the busiest seasons for some graduate students.

In our laboratory, a Ph.D. student and two Master course students have just finished oral presentations for their dissertations. Fortunately we could successfully organized these events online.

Due to COVID-19, we had a lot of difficulties in doing research and education. We are trying to do our best under this circumstances.

Unfortunately, I could not visit Hue for Okayama-Hue Program this time. I therefore gave the students an online lecture during 21-25 June.

It was a nice experience, though online, to communicate with the young promising Vietnamese students. I really hope to see you in Okayama in next April.

Until then, Hẹn gặp lại!

 

On April 1, 2021, our undergraduate level education was reassigned to the Faculty of Agriculture, owing to a faculty reorganization.

We start this reassignment from the 1st year undergraduate students in AY 2021. We maintain existing education curriculum for the senior students in the Faculty of Environmental Science and Technology,and for the graduate students in the Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science.

A photo under a cherry blossom tree. I wish you all the best for your future.

B4 and M2 students has submitted their dissertations.

We also did our spring cleaning.

Well done, everyone!

Now we have five newcomers; three 3rd year students, plus a Msc. and a Ph.D. student.

Welcome to our laboratory! Welcome back, Tan san!

We are looking forward to seeing you here soon, Tien san!

 

A new book about the Asian Economy.

In detail, please look at the flyer above and Routledge website. I am responsible for the Ch.12 (Environmentally Challenged Asia: in the Context of Backwardness and Diversity).

Hi, everyone!

I am pleased to announce you that I have just created facebook page of the lab. Please find the attached link in our website.

A photo in the campus. Under cherry blossom trees.

As you know, our society and economy are greatly confused by the global expansion of a new coronavirus. Our university is not this exception. Unfortunately, we have no clear answer at this moment. Each of us, from an individual to an international organization, struggles to find out solutions for this unprecedented situation. It will also take a while for us to see how our life and the world would change after this event.

In such an uncertain world, I may say only one thing that it is sure: we all must learn something from this experience. No matter how much we suffer, we can observe what is happening, listen to our friends, and think with our cool head.

It is such a will to learn that makes our life better, and develops the world step by step.

Thank you for a bunch of flowers!

It includes our following paper in Chapter Five.

Ubukata, F. and Hoang, T. Q. 2020. “Local Struggles for the Coproduction of Natural Capital: Payment for Forest Environmental Services in Central Vietnam”, In Devlin, J. F. ed. Social Movements Contesting Natural Resource Development. Routledge, Abingdon and New York. 83-97.

Our new term has started. Enjoy!

Two internship students returned home the other day.

During the internship period, Olivia reviewed Japanese energy policy and surveyed knowledge and opinions about energy mix in our university students. Andry explored water pollution issue in Kojima lake by reviewing documents and field visits.

It was impressive that they did their best in many constraints; time, documents, and more than anything, a language barrier. I believe that they enjoyed their life here, and hope they can benefit from this experience in the future.

We took French internship students into Kojima lake.

 

We enjoyed broiled eel (fished in the lake!) in the lunch time!

 

We visited one of the largest solar power plants in Japan.

Huge!

Now we have two internship students from France. Andry came from Poitiers, and Olivia came from Grenoble.

Welcome to Okayama. Hope you enjoy your stay!

We welcomed four newcomers in this term.

We held the first seminar in FY2019. It was also the first occasion for us to introduce web conferencing in seminar. Now every member CANNOT ESCAPE :)

Wish you bright futures!

Congratulations!

Happy birthday, Daisuke san! Happy wedding, Sai san!

I have been to Palu for a few days in 2017. I stayed at a seaside hotel, and enjoyed the seaside view in the morning. It was quite calm and beautiful. Now I am sad to think that the view which I enjoyed may no longer exist...

My deepest condolences to the victims of this disaster, and I do hope all the people affected, including my friends and colleagues, can get over this hard time.

A scene from my lecture at Hue University, Vietnam. I hope you enjoyed the lecture. Thank you and see you again!

 

Summer is ending. We enjoyed BBQ party for a memory of this summer.

 

Enjoy!