On December 21, 2024, the kick-off symposium for Nagasaki University’s Research Center for Global Risk (CGR), newly established in June 2024, was held at Bunkyo Sky Hall. Approximately 70 participants attended in person and 50 people attended online. Those in attendance had lively discussions on global risks in planetary health from inter-disciplinary perspectives across the humanities and sciences. The event proved to be highly informative in elucidating future research to be done by the CGR.
The details of each session will be described separately. Please read below for general information.
First, the distinctive lineup of speakers is indicative of the unique nature of this symposium. The panelists of the pre-session, titled “Global Risks and Intelligence,” included experts on cultural anthropology, international radiation health and public health, nuclear disarmament, and plant ecology. This might seem like an unrelated assortment of topics, and each of the talks seemed disparate at first glance but the moderator, Director Iwashita, found a golden thread, linking all the topics in his moderation. A clear answer was not provided for the major question of how to avoid disinformation and misinformation from developing into global risks; however, this will be an important research topic for the CGR going forward.
The first session of the afternoon, “Global Risks Threatening Planetary Health: What Should We Do?” was keynoted by Professor Paul Shrivastava, Co-President of the Club of Rome, who studies transdisciplinary sustainability, and Dr. Shirahase Sawako, Senior Vice-Rector of the United Nations University, who specializes in social demography. The second session, “Pursuit of Value in the Age of Polycrisis,” featured a keynote address by Christian Felber, an advocate of the “Economy for the Common Good,” an economic system based on intrinsic human values. Both speakers gave a macroscopic and cross-disciplinary view of the international community as a whole from a completely new perspective, which was perfect for the CGR’s kick-off symposium.
In response to our luminary speakers, CGR faculty members who specialize in international politics, medical sociology, sociolinguistics, environmental policy, and the history of economic thought, discussed the issues from various perspectives. This made the keynote speakers’ talks that much more substantial and helped elucidate the direction in which the cross-disciplinary research in the humanities and sciences that the CGR should be head. At the same time, this also means that it may be easy to lose sight of a clear direction for research. However, this also signifies that the study of global risk is a challenging area of research that requires a multilayered and multifaceted perspective. The future endeavors of the CGR will be exciting to witness. (Michiru Nishida, Deputy Director of CGR)
※There are several videos, and the playlist is provided.
Session1 Report
The title of Session 1 was “Global Risks Threatening Planetary Health: What Should We Do?” Two keynote speeches were followed by comments by two discussants from the Nagasaki University Research Center for Global Risk (CGR).
The first keynote speaker was Paul H. Shrivastava, Professor and Vice President of Pennsylvania State University and Co-President of the Club of Rome. He unfortunately, due to health reasons, could not travel to Nagasaki, but gave his keynote speech online. The title of his speech was “Existential Risks and Planetary Peace in the Anthropocene.” He explained that changes in the environment, the depletion of resources, and large-scale violence as symbolized by the Great Acceleration and the deviation of planetary boundaries which occurs in the current age, the Anthropocene, can lead to catastrophic crises that affect the survival of the human being. He further explained that the following are necessary in order to deal with these crises: cross-discipline integrated analysis, trans-disciplinary research that goes beyond the boundaries of academia, a mindset for planetary peace that evokes the renewal and continuous reaffirmation of life, and a systems approach to that end. He also outlined the Club of Rome’s initiatives related to planetary peace.
The next keynote speaker, Professor Shirahase Sawako, Senior Vice-Rector of the United Nations University and Project Professor at the University of Tokyo gave a talk titled “Global Risk and the Gender-Generation Nexus.” She showed that progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) varies by country and region, and that demographic transition and gender inequality are global issues which show disparities in various indicators related to wellbeing, as well as differences in education and generation. She also explained that gender disparity is highest in East and Asia including Japan and the Pacific Islands and highlighted the problem that the world is becoming polarized. Lastly, she stated that international collaboration based on data is important to detect and cope with the risks associated with these issues.
In response to the two lectures, Associate Professor and CGR affiliate Kompel Radomir of the Graduate School of Multicultural Studies and Associate Professor Rina Madaniyaz (also a CGR affiliate) of the Graduate School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health commented based on their own interpretations and thoughts.
For Prof. Shrivastava’s talk, Dr. Compel cited concerns pertaining to holistic thought and systems thinking at the foundation of the ideas of Regenesis and Ecocivilization, how Planetary Peace and this thinking is interconnected, and asked more about the Club of Rome’s initiatives.
To Prof. Shirahase, he asked about the “reflexivity” of scientific “risk management” methodologies and about the effects of Western neoliberal and (post)colonial biases inherent in the “SDG mindset.”
Dr. Compel also touched upon the fusion of nature and humanity in Okinawa, which is his research field.
As an environmental epidemiologist, Dr. Madaniyazi emphasized the importance of an adaptive and flexible perspective and expressed the importance of transdisciplinary collaboration in addressing health impacts related to climate change, referring to the interconnectedness of risks as shown in Prof. Shrivastava keynote speech.
She strongly agreed with Prof. Shirahase, pointing out the vulnerability of women to climate-related disasters, particularly in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, and mentioned that addressing these vulnerabilities is crucial for understanding and mitigating the broader impacts of climate change on health.
This session showed that modern global risks are interconnected and pose a threat to human survival. It was pointed out that even in inclusive, international frameworks for dealing with these risks, basic issues such as gender and human rights are still being neglected. Although this session did not provide an answer to the question “What should we do?”, it did indicate the direction in which that CGR should take its research. The beginnings of a method for finding a solution were also recognized in the pre-session and Session 2. This Session 1 was moderated and introduced by Prof. Kasuga Fumiko, Professor of the Graduate School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health and Deputy Director, CGR, who also mentioned the connections between sessions in her summary. (Fumiko Kasuga, Deputy Director of CGR)
Session2 Report
Session 2, entitled ‘the Pursuit of Value in the Age of Polycrisis’, featured a keynote speech by Christian Felber, who advocates a holistic approach based on universal values (the Economy for the Common Good) as a way to overcome polycrisis. This was followed by a panel discussion on the issue of whether human values can overcome polycrisis, with CGR faculty members Associate Professor Gülbeyaz Abdülrahman (semiotics, social theory), Associate Professor Shigeta Minamimori (Japanese economic history, history of Japanese economic thought) and Associate Professor Sunhee Suk (environmental economics).
A polycrisis refers to a situation in which the simultaneous occurrence of individual crises (e.g., environmental destruction due to climate change, natural disasters, pandemics, loss of biodiversity, economic deterioration, outbreaks of conflict, nuclear risk, cybercrime), brings about an interaction between each crisis, and amplifies them. It also includes the phenomenon in which response to crises are delayed, just as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is delaying response to climate change. We are certainly entering an era of polycrisis.
Keynote speaker Mr. Felber began his presentation by showing how the society has been turned upside down. He asked the question: is it possible to do a handstand without any hands. The answer was that it is only possible for a moment. It was a striking metaphor for how precarious and unsustainable this state of the world is. Mr. Felber continued by asking the audience what are the things they value most in their relationships. The audience responded with “peace,” “love,” “trust,” “respect,” “dialogue,” “justice,” and “dignity.” He then asked: “What are the things that are valued in the economy?” The audience responded “competition,” “profit,” “profit margins,” “efficiency,” “growth,” “money,” and “pride.” Mr. Felber explained that the things valued in interpersonal relationships are the same all over the world and can be considered “universal values,” but that these “universal values” are not being emphasized in the economy. He explained, using images, that this is the cause of the polycrisis we are facing. He then introduced a new economic model, the “Economy for the Common Good,” which he initiated in 2010. In this economic model, companies implement a ‘Common Good Economy Balance Sheet’ to measure their degree of commitment to the Common Good, rather than to the pursuit of profit. The idea is to change the economic system to the pursue the Common Good, rather than profit. According to Mr. Felber, this is a new kind of economic model, a third one that is different from both capitalism and communism.
During the panel discussion, comments addressed the following: the feasibility of the “Economy for the Common Good”; how companies can be encouraged to change their behavior; what incentives need to be introduced for companies to adopt a ‘Economy for the Common Good’; and whether a certain degree of regulation is necessary to prevent the unbridled, barefaced pursuit of profit.
Although the panel discussion was very lively, there was only so much time, so it was agreed that discussion on this topic would continue upon another occassion. (Kazuko Hikawa, Deputy Director of CGR)