For construction of sustainable cities, environmental challenges need to be addressed promptly. The Environment Unit will contribute to resolve various problems of cities through Academic Consortium promoted by Global Cooperation Institute for Sustainable Cities, Yokohama City University.
 


Aims

The GCI's Environment Unit aims to;

  1. Recognize and analyze various issues in cities from an environmental aspect, and contributes to resolve these challenges by suggesting concrete and practical solutions.
  2. Establish relationship with universities, international organizations and other stakeholders for broaden our education and research collaboration in Asia Pacific region.
 


Research Project of the Environment Unit

Research on the Environmental Cooperation Model towards Eco-Cities in East Asia - Public-Private-People Partnership for the Prevention of Environmental Contamination and Disaster Mitigation



Objectives

  • To analyse environmental policies and formulation/implementation of action plans from aspects of waste, global warming and biodiversity in urban areas (comparison of nations)
  • To understand the current situation of environmental activities by governments, companies, educational and research organisations and NPO/NGOs, and find issues and/or challenges
  • To consider disaster prevention and adaptation based on international cooperation in the region


Key Points

  1. To verify 3 factors of eco-cities. Analysis of countermeasures against environmental issues (waste management and efficient utilisation, climate change mitigation, transboundary air pollution etc.) in cities focusing on 1) resource circulation, 2) low carbon, 3) biodiversity.
  2. To consider environmental cooperation models. Comparative analysis of 14 cities from 10 countries in different political/economic/environmental situations from aspects of prevention of environmental contamination and disaster mitigation by local governments.
  3. To suggest 'Public-Private-People Partnership' model. Finding out key factors for promotion of civilian participation suggestion of civilian participation for a synergy of top-down and bottom-up approaches.
 


Activities in the Past

International Academic Consortium for Sustainable Cities (IACSC) Symposium



The IACSC symposium was first hosted by Yokohama City University in 2010. The Environment Unit organised the presentation sessions, in which diverse environmental researches were reported. It became a wonderful oportunity for researchers and students to deepen their researches through active discussion. Furthermore, students also participated in the poster session.

Environment Workshop



The Environment Unit hosted a workshop in collaboration with the World Bank, the Chinese Academy of Social Science and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The network among universities, institutions and the World Bank was reaffirmed.

YCU-IGES Joint Seminar on Low-Carbon and Smart Cities



The YCU-IGES joint seminar was held on the occasion of the International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP). In the seminar, stakeholders of local governments and companies for establishment of sustainable cities shared their challenges and discussed about solutions for these issues.

Eco-Products Exhibition



In the Eco-Products Exhibition - the largest environmental exhibition in Japan - students did research presentations, conducted a survey on environmental awareness and collected various information related to the environment.