Educational and research unit on the links connecting forests, villages and the sea

This Unit was an interdisciplinary project affiliated with Kyoto University’s the Center for Interdisciplinary Education and Research (CPIER), in which the Field Science Education and Research Center (FSERC), also of Kyoto University, served as Secretariat.
Japan is a forested country surrounded by ocean. For such a country, a healthy ecosystem from the forest to the sea is extremely vital, not only for the biota of rivers and seas but also for regional prosperity and the safe and secure lives of individuals. Guided by this perspective, the Unit proclaimed a new academic discipline of “the study of the links connecting forests, villages and the sea” and moved forward with education, research and social partnerships on that basis.
This Unit, assisted by funding from the Nippon Foundation, launched the Link Again Program, a joint project with the Foundation “to reconnect forests, villages and the sea.” The project was a four-year program that began in 2018. Research proceeded with the aim of building a base for innovative social activities. Researchers asked which kinds of links among forest, villages and sea would be beneficial, visualized those links and partnered with regional communities to identify problems in each region, working with citizens to repair the links connecting forest, villages and sea. The project was wrapped up in March 2022.